Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Amberjem]

 

[gevshiba]

I've been lurking on this thread since it started. Picked up a lot of useful info. I'm about to order glasses for the first time, thanks to some of you near the beginning of the thread.

Now I have a question. I asked at the local grocery store today about produce and, since the boss and health dept. workers weren't in the store, I was given 3 boxes of produce for the chickens and turkeys. Can they eat mushrooms? There's several packages in one of the boxes.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Linda, a suggestion when putting up shower curtain or plastic: use a flat plank like 1/2 inch by 3 inches by what length you need ( often we use several scraps to fill the distance) and nail in with many nails. the boards do a big part of the job to hold the material in place whereas just staples will rip . We have had great luck with this method over many years for horse barns, sheep barns and now chickens. So no need to change using the shower curtains . . . I reuse huge clear plastic bags. . . .lol

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
do you have a suggestion for how to build a wooden milking table?????

 

[Beekissed]

I saw the cutest one built from a twin size wooden bedstead once...simply adorable! Here's a sweet and simple design:




And one made from PVC....



Here's some plans and material's list...

 

[Arielle]

Oh Bee this is PERFECT!! Easy construction too!!

 

[LindaB220]

Linda, a suggestion when putting up shower curtain or plastic: use a flat plank like 1/2 inch by 3 inches by what length you need ( often we use several scraps to fill the distance) and nail in with many nails. the boards do a big part of the job to hold the material in place whereas just staples will rip . We have had great luck with this method over many years for horse barns, sheep barns and now chickens. So no need to change using the shower curtains . . . I reuse huge clear plastic bags. . . .lol

Fabulous idea. It looks like I''m going to be the one doing it. I can't get the fellow when I need or afford him when he's available.

I bought one of those Black and Decker thingys that vacuums, and mulches and bags it up. I have a utility cart that I can pull around . I have a lot of leaves still in prime shape to mulch. With winter here, I can get a better idea of the amount of space available for my runs and garden. Plenty.....

Just a note. Still holding on the hatching on my Marraduna Basques. 4 out of 8 and 3 Lemon cukoo Orphington still to hatch. Cute babies. Watching me watching them. Look me in the eye. So sweet.

 

[erinszoo]

Quote:
do you have a suggestion for how to build a wooden milking table?????

Ours is kind of like the second picture. We made it out of recycled pallets that we cut down and then covered it with a piece of stall mat we cut from a bigger sheet. Because ours is between two stalls in the barn, we use one rail of the stall as a side and I sit on the other to milk. We have a dog leash suspended above from the rafters that we clip to their collar and then have a rail on the barn wall for a feed trough. We don't use rails for their head because they stand still just fine. The leash allows them to flip around if they feel like it, which one of our girls always does, then we just move the feeder to the side of the stall for her.

I used the remainder of the stall mat on the floor of the milking area for ease of cleanup. I wash their teats before I milk and then use the remainder of the wash water to clean off the stand and rinse down the floor between milkings and at the end. They invariably poop while milking or have muck on their feet sometimes. In a perfect world I would have a trough for them to walk through before they entered the milking area but because we aren't selling the milk, I haven't worried about it.

The biggest trick with the milking stand is to not make it too big. If it's too wide, you'll have trouble reaching across it to milk them and for seemingly big animals, they can plaster themselves against a rail and become like a pancake when they want to. Lol.

 

[nayeli]

Since this is a frugal post I thought I would issue a frugal challenge! I write my own blog in addition to being a urban chicken keeper... its about being frugal, being green (as in Eco friendly, I can't grow a plant for anything although I'm going to try again this year for a garden!), and DIY (house remodels mostly).

One post I have been putting off doing for an inordinately long stretch of time is my snap challenge results, because I've been putting off doing the snap challenge. This challenge was a big thing over a year ago and one I blogged about and intended to try, and never did.

I'd love to have some of you join me for the Snap Challenge for the first week in February! I have since changed towns so the only grocery store I have here is Walmart, but Kroger is just 5 minutes past it so that is probably where I will do all my shopping ( I don't shop at Walmart ). For anyone joining me, your weekly amount should be based on the SNAP benefits for your state... mine is pretty low, but I live in a low cost of living area compared to NY or CA.



http://thenewdaybringshope.blogspot.com/2013/09/snap-challenge.html
http://thenewdaybringshope.blogspot.com/2013/10/prep-snap-challenge.html

 

[Beekissed]

I would love to do it, sounds like fun! But...I don't eat or buy like that, so it's nearly impossible to do. We live 20 mi. from the closest town and we eat what we've grown, harvested or stored to make things from scratch, so it's impossible to figure up what each meal costs and such when you live that way. I think it's a good challenge for town folks, though, to see what's it's like to live small and on the cheap. I've done it all my life, so it's not much of a challenge to me...out here we just call it living.