Hi my fowl friends,
I'm most of the way through building my 4'X8' chicken coup and starting my 86 ft2 chicken run. So far, all I've purchased from a hardware store or lumber yard are the 2"X4"s and chicken wire.
I'm using a lot of left-over lumber, siding, etc. from a major house addition two years ago, the building of my mom & step-dad's new house six years ago and a tree house we built the kids almost 10 years ago. Part of this is because I'm cheap, but mostly because I'm raising chickens as a way to eat more ethically, and it makes sense to re-use and re-purpose.
Along those lines, I'd like to share with you a neat and cheap source for building supplies that may be in your area. It's called "The RE-Store" and it is the thrift shop (sort of like Salvation Army or Goodwill) for Habitat for Humanity. Builders donate their leftover building supplies like flooring, paint etc. and folks remodeling drop off their old cabinets, doors, windows, bathroom vanities etc. If you are the creative type and could see turning an old kitchen cabinet into a laying box or just need a scrap piece of linoleum for the floor of your coop the RE-Store may be just the thing.
I like thinking that I'm keeping stuff out of landfills, supporting a good cause and getting cheap materials. I hope this doesn't constitute an advertisement.
I'm most of the way through building my 4'X8' chicken coup and starting my 86 ft2 chicken run. So far, all I've purchased from a hardware store or lumber yard are the 2"X4"s and chicken wire.
I'm using a lot of left-over lumber, siding, etc. from a major house addition two years ago, the building of my mom & step-dad's new house six years ago and a tree house we built the kids almost 10 years ago. Part of this is because I'm cheap, but mostly because I'm raising chickens as a way to eat more ethically, and it makes sense to re-use and re-purpose.
Along those lines, I'd like to share with you a neat and cheap source for building supplies that may be in your area. It's called "The RE-Store" and it is the thrift shop (sort of like Salvation Army or Goodwill) for Habitat for Humanity. Builders donate their leftover building supplies like flooring, paint etc. and folks remodeling drop off their old cabinets, doors, windows, bathroom vanities etc. If you are the creative type and could see turning an old kitchen cabinet into a laying box or just need a scrap piece of linoleum for the floor of your coop the RE-Store may be just the thing.
I like thinking that I'm keeping stuff out of landfills, supporting a good cause and getting cheap materials. I hope this doesn't constitute an advertisement.
