Quote:
My post was not aimed at you. It was a general response to a culmination of responses I've read on BYC over the past few months. No one is saying that it's mandatory to spend $2,000 on starting new to raising chickens. At the same time, it's not realistic to tell somebody they can raise chickens for no cost, or virtually no cost either (none of these comments are aimed at you). Comments I've read from posters saying, "The decision to raise chickens should only cost you $125, you shouldn't have to spend more than that!", in general isn't realistic for a person completely new to building or raising animals. Although I don't think the majority of people think this, I have observed that there are select members that have the attitude that spending hundreds of dollars is wasteful and that we should all be able to raise chickens for the cost they did.
The more sensible members believe that chickens are an investment as pets or animals they are happy and proud to raise. It has cost some more than others; some have the ability and wish to put in more into their chickens. Others don't have the money and have to come up with solutions that are more cost effective. And there are those that are able to pay more but purposely or (purposefully) choose to spend less by finding alternate solutions.
As I originally posted, I do think it's bad advice for someone to claim you don't need more than a couple hundred dollars to raise chickens, giving a person totally new to raising chickens that that is what it will cost. It's the same with any sort of purchase. One could say buying a car only costs $200, paying your child through college can only cost $500 for a 4-year college, or Christmas presents this year should only cost $10 for the year; that's great for that person but telling others they can do it for the same amount does not give a realistic impression. It's the same as telling a young child learning arithmetic that it should only take 10 seconds to figure out a simple arithmetic operation in their head because that's what a parent/adult thinks how long it will take. For a learning child, it could take longer that that, a minute, 5 minutes, an explanation, or even another lesson to finally do it correctly. Eventually the child will be able to do it right, and faster too. I see this as analogous to the cost of raising chickens.
As for me, knowing what I've learned in raising chickens and building a coop and run, if I were to build another coop/run in the future, I'm confident I could build it for at least half the cost. Why? Because I've learned what has worked and what hasn't worked, what's needed and what's extraneous. You could say I learned the hard way or you could say that's what has come from learning and experience. And maybe I'll search around for recycled materials too.
also - thank you frog for letting me know you were not aiming at me! i hear what your sayin!
aloha
