My "Free" Eggs are costing me a FORTUNE! - ITS DONE!! pg 15 pics

[mommas_got_peeps]

These are hilarious! So glad to read your posts and see the to do's and not to do's. We haven't started yet. But we have a ton of lumber left over from builiding our home so we will recycle/use alot of that. Still hunting for little windows but I may just have to make those out of wood frames and glass. Really don't want $8.00/egg cost...that will send my husband over the edge.

 

[Baba Yaga's Hut]

I wanted to use recycled barn wood - we have a converted 100 yr tobacco barn. I wanted to use the wood from it, sealing it with several coats of weather sealer. Hubby wants no part of that and refuses to allow it. He'd rather burn all that gorgeous old oak....THAT'S not happening! So, we've "compromised" (i.e. I've given in because its a waste of time to try to convince him otherwise). The coops will be made from metal siding that is left over from the house & barn - white w/ red roof. Ok, so they'll match the house & barn, I can live with that. I can insulate and use that old barn oak on the inside! So, we both get what we want.

The run is new chicken wire fencing w/ new posts - but paid for by selling on Craigslist a few things that had been stored in the shed for several years. So, technically the run is "free".

The banties' run will be a 6' x 8' chain link kennel wrapped w/ hardcloth to keep them in and "things" out. The kennel was given to us a couple of years ago and we never used it. Now it will be getting lots of use.

So, while ours isn't as completely made from recycled things as I'D like, at least it won't cost an arm & a leg. The chicks will be ready to go out in about a month, so we need to get their coops built. I've been trying to get the garden ready first....one project at a time. We enlarged the garden 8x's the size it was previously so trying to decide where to put the chickens had to be put off until we got the garden's size settled. Now that's done, just have to finish digging it out, then on to the chicken coops & runs.

Still think it would've been much cooler looking to have an old barn wood coop w/ old tin roof.

 

[GardenerGal]

I suspect that any hobby, from chickens to sailing to golf and even square-dancing, can be or become as expensive as we make it. I've seen plenty of humble farmsteads with a few chickens pecking around the yard and fed kitchen scraps and scratch grain, etc., and those really are the "cheap" ones. They get housed in an already existing barn or storage shed with maybe some chicken wire added for security. That's it. But beyond that, we just makee our pasttimes expensive!

I recommend y'all read this book:

The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander (Paperback - Mar 2, 2007)

Excerpt - Page 247: "... I would try to figure out just what this “free” tomato really cost. I started with the costs of building the ..."

Sound familiar?

 

[Kudzu]

Got my chickens today and I am waiting on the most expensive egg ever layed in the State of Mississippi, so don't feel bad.

 

[marymac]

there is no such thing as free eggs!!! when you consider every thing they are way more expensive than store bought, but Oh my what a better tasting egg. I consider the chickens my hobby, and the eggs are just a benefit . My DH is a carpenter too and I think when they build something it's just in their blood to build it like they are going to live in it, or maybe they think we'll get tire of our chickens and then the coop will be theirs for more of their junk, [ I mean tools] My coop which is 8x8 was about 800.00 and that's using free rough sawn siding. It looks really nice, but my chickens don't care. I don't think hubby cared either, since it was my money he was spending! Maybe I'll have to start charging him for the eggs he eats, cause I have to pay for the feed too. he always says your chickens!!!!

 

[Mallory]

Quote:
More like Tajmahen!! lol

I'm newer here so I'm only just reading thru this thread, but I can sort of relate. (Sort of!!) I'm perfectly fine upcycling some old things and being thrifty about it all. But DH doesn't want it to look cheap or trashy (nor do I but I feel if I had the know-how I could do it decent looking.) He also says he wants to build it to last, which I agree with so okay, I won't argue the point. LOL I just wish I could buy some birds already and get this adventure started! Unlike yours, my hubby would've killed me if I walked in the house with chicks and no where to put them! LOL

 

[harri]

so far i've spent $165 and i only have a floor to show for it. I plan on spending another $125 tommorow and that should get all the walls up and sheathed. I have enough studs for three walls, and i have the vapor barrior also. I think i'll be in the $750 ish range when im done. Luckilly I do carpentry on the side and i have some materials around the garage, should have enought roof shingles,most of the vinyl siding.
Oh i Almost forgot, windows and door kit will be coming in tom. aniother $170
Plus by using what i have I can't wait to get it out of the garage!

 

[AZKat]

We only spent about $200, but we used an existing shed, and used a lot of recycled material. One thing to keep in mind is that the coop is an one time start up expense, so those eggs will get cheaper as time goes on.

 

[Bookworm chick]

Ha, I know how that goes. My hubby was going to build a coop, and I suggested he just convert a wooden shed that was housing the lawnmower, and fertilizer spreader and leaf blower/vacuum. Ok, he says, I can do that. So we move everything out, clean it, and he builds a roost and nest boxes and a ramp leading up to it all. This was mostly scrap lumber. Next comes the run. That requires a trip to Lowes. On the way back from Lowes he says he wants to stop at Harbor Freight. He saw one of those "sheds" that you put up yourself. This is for the lawn equipment that is now sitting out in the weather. As we're leaving Harbor Freight in our pick-up truck (which is paid for in full), he makes a wrong turn and realizes it and says he'll just make a u-turn in the Chevrolet dealer. Then he says he doesn't want it to look like he's just making a u-turn in their parking lot so he'll get out and pretend to look at the pickup trucks. Okay. I wait in our paid-for, still looking like new pickup, while he pretends to look at trucks. Now, this was at the time that dealerships were starving for customers. I see a salesman come out of the showroom so I roll my window down and get my husband's attention and "quick, get back in the truck". Too late. The salesman (also was overweight) huffing and puffing makes it to my husband and "I can give you a really great deal, which one do you like". We left the dealership the owners of a brand new Silverado all because my hubby made a u-turn in their lot. So, we're still paying payments on our "free eggs".

 

[KimberlyJ]

To the OP..... I checked out your pictures....awesome! The only thing I have to say is..........how soon you building your second one?? You have 6 chicks and only room for six. so when chicken math kicks in, where are you going to put the NEW BABIES???