True cost of starting a backyard flock.

[annaraven]

I think that, IF you're handy, AND you already have tools and wood and stuff laying around, THEN you could get started without spending more than a couple hundred. Otherwise, it goes up from there. So people need to be realistic about their own abilities for scrounging and for making stuff. If you're already good at it - you'll be able to get by cheap. If not (or if you have to meet some housing code stuff), you'll have higher expenses. Seems fairly obvious to me...

 

[wannabchick]

Quote:
Amen to that

 

[wannabchick]

Seeing my dh wants nothing to do with this....he hates this whole chicken thing as he calls it..

Let's not talk about what I have spent, total newbie

Purchased
Coop to be built by fellow byc member
Looking at run, now from k9 kennels
Mini advance brisnea
Eggs
4 silkies
Shavings
Food
Vitamins
Medicine
Feeders
Heat lamp
Platic bin
Yep Iam over $ 1500 to $ 2000 dollars, depending on which run and shipping cost

Ayayyaaa

 

[crosbygroup]

Priceless!

 

[wannabchick]

Quote:

 

[annaraven]

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To me tools are a basic necessity of life, they're not just for the coop, you use them for all sorts of things. So why attribute their cost just to the chickens?

Anyhow, even if you are not previously a tool-ownin' kind of gal, tools needn't cost much (especially if you are not planning on using them for much else). Often they can be borrowed. Or for a few things it even makes sense to *rent*. Even if you buy new -- and I don't have many tools I got that way -- you can get a perfectly usable and adequate drill and either jigsaw or circular saw for well under $100. (THere'd be room left over for a staplegun too, as you mentioned, but I'm not sure why you'd need one for a coop, tho certainly they are nice to have for other projects). t

Okay, you caught me. Remodeling the shed for a coop was just an excuse to get tools. Living in an apartment in Italy with my DH, we didn't have much call for tools. And when we relocated to California, we didn't bring any of the few we did have (power conversion sucks...) but donated them to his family. So I haven't really had a excuse, I mean reason to get tools here. Until now.

ETA: the staplegun is to attach hardware cloth along the bottom of the coop to make sure nothing can get in where the floor/walls meet.

 

[AllCoop'dUp]

Quote:

What I spent on my coop and run actually had very little to do with "pampering my chickens" and a lot more to do with what was convenient for me. Did I want it to look nice? Yes! Did I want it to house and protect my flock from predators? Yes! Did I want to be able to clean and gather eggs efficiently? Yes! My chickens would probably have to lay a dozen solid gold eggs to repay what I spent. In fact, even now there are things that I wish I had improved upon...But that is for this summers project, as it's too wet and cold to work outside for now. What they repay me in amusement and serenity is plenty enough!

 

[sheetmetalpete]

A friend of mine is a carpenter so he and I elected to build a new coop instead of modifying an old fish house I had laying around. We had a free insulated steel door, a new vinyl slider window and some free framing lumber but bought most of the materials.

I had a huge used dog kennel and built a a corrugated steel roof over it for the run. The kennel & steel were free but I had to buy a bit of framing materials.

I ran 150 feet of electrical wire in the ground to get service to the coop.

When all was said and done, I'm another one in the $2K range ... but I'm the first to admit it didn't have to be. I could have modified that fish house and been in the "next to nothing" category. Certainly the chicken wouldn't mind. Instead I chose to spend money for a new, relatively maintenance free coop/run.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
That's not real safe, unfortunately. Predators can rip staplegunned stuff back off fairly easily.

Either use hammer-in staples, or screw thru fender washers or a batten (sandwiching the hardwarecloth between that and the wood you'r attaching it to)

Pat, a big fan of stapleguns for other purposes, e.g. putting plastic on parts of run for wintertime

 

[Royd]

Quote:
That's not real safe, unfortunately. Predators can rip staplegunned stuff back off fairly easily.

Either use hammer-in staples, or screw thru fender washers or a batten (sandwiching the hardwarecloth between that and the wood you'r attaching it to)

Pat, a big fan of stapleguns for other purposes, e.g. putting plastic on parts of run for wintertime

But if she had bought a small aircompressor and a crown stapler, which accepts up to 2 1/4" staples, she can fasten anything 3/4" thick, quite nicely.....Nothing like putting on hardware cloth with a pnuematic stapler.