I have gotten addicted to chickens in the last year, but DBF and I are both at the tail end of our undergraduate degrees and thus have *no money at all*
I want to share my cheap chickens project!
The coop itself is a prefab storage unit that was designed for attractively hiding a couple big trash cans. They are about $150 at Lowe's but you can get them for half that if you hover on craigslist and so forth.
Our pen is about 20x20, and we made it from scrap posts and scrap fence bits. Almost free!
The nest boxes were the tough part! Our boxes are made of milk crates, and they were a #!@$# to find! Once we got them, however, they were easy. Six crates made enough nests for our small flock of ~15 birds. Take two crates and turn them upside down for the boosters, then use a teensy saw and a couple tubes epoxy to make four nests sitting above those two.
There was a nest pooping problem until a bit of plywood was added as a roof.
It is possible to have chickens and be somewhat self sufficient on any budget!
I want to share my cheap chickens project!
The coop itself is a prefab storage unit that was designed for attractively hiding a couple big trash cans. They are about $150 at Lowe's but you can get them for half that if you hover on craigslist and so forth.
Our pen is about 20x20, and we made it from scrap posts and scrap fence bits. Almost free!
The nest boxes were the tough part! Our boxes are made of milk crates, and they were a #!@$# to find! Once we got them, however, they were easy. Six crates made enough nests for our small flock of ~15 birds. Take two crates and turn them upside down for the boosters, then use a teensy saw and a couple tubes epoxy to make four nests sitting above those two.
There was a nest pooping problem until a bit of plywood was added as a roof.
It is possible to have chickens and be somewhat self sufficient on any budget!
