How to keep chickens cheap?

[HenOnAJuneBug]

You can make nests out of cardboard boxes. Plastic milk crates if you want something more permanent. My nest boxes are plastic vegetable crates that I got for $1 apiece.

 

[PirateGirl]

Yeah, CL and trade groups are certainly hit or miss. Just keep scanning them in case something good comes up that will help with your shed conversion.

Also search "fencing" on CL. You can often find used fence posts and remnants of fencing rolls cheap. They may not be enough to fence a whole pasture, but often enough for a small chicken run, or just to cover your windows and openings.

 

[Mrs. K]

Once you got the building, and birds, the big expense is feed. A lot of people waste feed and that is expensive. Double bowling feed bowls will catch some. And there are various ways to build them.

I do not feed 24/7, birds do not eat in the dark. I only put out enough for the day. And this is not the same amount day in and day out. If the bowls are empty, then I feed a bit more, if there is feed left, I feed less the next day. Some days I don't feed them right away in the morning, which tends to encourage them to clean up the feed out of the bowls.

But the other way to reduce the expense of feed, is to reduce the number of birds you have.

Mrs K

 

[RWise]

Time for a little networking at school, how many of your friends are sons of carpenters? This trade tends to run in families (at least here).
Watch CL for materials, may not be fast but one can find cheap or free materials to build that coop with. Something else to look at is building codes in your area! Yes even chicken coops have codes for in town/city folk. Another code to check would be can you have a rooster,,, many in towns/cities cannot. (in Tulsa one can have a rooster until it crows, it is then violating codes, and has to go, if it gets a complaint)
Once set up, the big cost is feed! I dont put out bowls full of feed, it is wasteful and draws predators etc.. I feed first thing in the AM to get them off the roost, and just before dusk as I gather eggs. (in the winter months I put out a high protein feed once per day). I free range all day, this is the cheapest way to feed the girls, they go eat bugs, snakes, lizards, spiders, mice, grass and grass seed, etc.. Not everyone can do this, it takes space, lots of space per bird, and one has to deal with predators, hawks, dogs, cats, and any wild critters in your area..
If you get to many and need to thin down, CL can be good as is this site.
Good Luck!!

 

[Col1948]

I'm in the UK and in a lot of DIY stores there is a notice board of local builders etc, have you got that in your country, if so look for someone who might build you a shed/coop.

I use cardboard boxes for nests as well.

 

[Melky]

Facebook I would check because they frequently have free to a good home items that could work and even former chicken coops or sheds. Look for scrap wood, pellet wood, crates for nest boxes. I saw someone turn a bucket sideways to wall and cut lid leaving small lip at bottom. When on bucket, it keeps bedding in. Mount to wall or leave loose with brick or rock on side to keep still. Think about items you have around the house you can repurpose. Some make nest boxes out of old sterilite containers. Plastic and easy to clean. Free book case can be modified to nesting boxes. Bushel baskets turned sideways for nesting boxes. Tons of ideas. Roosting bars can be 2x3 or 2x4 or old tree branches from property. Think cheap and easy to clean. There are free plans on line for chicken coops and if you own a drill, saw, measuring tape, and pencil. You got it. Some screws done. Cheap paint from store or leftovers from garage. Free pellet wood is available on Facebook all the time. If have store near you throwing them out into dumpsters jack pot. It saves them the fee of disposal. Be creative! It doesn’t matter if you have never made anything before. Challenge yourself.

 

[sean_wonder]

so we have an old, unused play/swing-set in our backyard... yesterday i spent a lot of time sitting in it and thinking. i could probably convert it into a two level coop pretty easily. i just need to measure it. the bottom is bigger than the top, so most likely the top will contain most of the roosts nesting boxes for protection against snakes, and the bottom will be a sheltered coop type thing connecting to the run.

honestly, i could leave the swings on for a fun chicken swing type thing, as well as the slide. I'll make a door with a padlock on it for the opening of the slide, so the girls can't hurt themselves but i can open it slide down the dirty bedding for ease of cleaning

it has a small rock wall that is pertinent to the integrity of the coop, but i figured since it only comes up to my chest i could put a solid wall over the opening of that and then cut 2 holes for nest boxes. i should probably take pictures to better explain what I'm talking about, but first and foremost i need to see if it even has enough space...

there's a tractor supply not too far from me. they sell live chicks at the store right? do they have an all-pullet bin? what's the minimum you must buy? as much as i love chickens, i feel like seven is far too many for a first time coop haha

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

so we have an old, unused play/swing-set in our backyard... yesterday i spent a lot of time sitting in it and thinking. i could probably convert it into a two level coop pretty easily. i just need to measure it. the bottom is bigger than the top, so most likely the top will contain most of the roosts nesting boxes for protection against snakes, and the bottom will be a sheltered coop type thing connecting to the run.

Height is not going to deter snakes. They can and do climb. I once had a snake climb my house siding to get to a bird nest near the top of the door.

 

[Melky]

Three standard large fowl birds produce about a dozen eggs per week. Only buy what you can eat. You will have to ask tractor supply what they are selling. Check if they are advertising pullets. Ask what the return policy is if turns out not a Pullet. You should be able to get your money back. If no gaurantee enter at own risk. Pics would be good.

 

[sean_wonder]

Height is not going to deter snakes. They can and do climb. I once had a snake climb my house siding to get to a bird nest near the top of the door.

Goodness!! That's crazy!!! I'm so sorry if you experienced any losses.

The only snake I'm aware we have locally is garter snakes, and they're pretty small and shy. Plus, the only way to get in the coop would be a widely spaced staircase. The birds will kind of have to hop/flap their way up there.