What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[SkyAJK]

Years ago, I used similar methods that required daily cleaning. It was a lot of work, like you said. I have since switched over to dry deep bedding and only cleaning out the coop twice a year. It just works better for me. I'm too old to be cleaning out a chicken coop twice a day!

When I started out having my first flock of chickens I used shred papers which I had plenty from the office. My chickens ate it and one had such a impacted crop, stupid chickens!!

Then I moved to deep litter method, I got bitten by something whenever I walk into the chicken runs. My chickens were infected with lice/mites, and it was so much hard work treating 6 chickens.

Then I moved to I used hemp, that was expensive & a few of my chickens eat that as well.

Then I put in fine sugarcane mulch and that was also causing bites everywhere for chickens and me.

Then I used newspaper which is hard to come by, so I found cardboards are freely available, but that is a lots of work removing in the morning and put new one in at night, so much work, but it still better than treating them lice/mites.

For the now I can do it, but when I can not do it anymore, I might resort to having the chicken coop floor wired so that poop just dropped down. I don't like this wire thing so if it comes to that I will use the plastic fence so it is doing the job and easier on their feet.

I am trying everything until I find one that work, for the time being the cardboards are free, not lice/mites issue. It is a lots of work, but still less than treatment and cost of stuff to treat it with.

 

[gtaus]

I am trying everything until I find one that work, for the time being the cardboards are free, not lice/mites issue. It is a lots of work, but still less than treatment and cost of stuff to treat it with.

I have not had the same problems as you. I know a lot depends on where you live. It sounds like you have tried a number of methods of coop litter without much success. I hope you find a method that will work for you. Best wishes.

 

[saysfaa]

When I started out having my first flock of chickens I used shred papers which I had plenty from the office. My chickens ate it and one had such a impacted crop, stupid chickens!!

Then I moved to deep litter method, I got bitten by something whenever I walk into the chicken runs. My chickens were infected with lice/mites, and it was so much hard work treating 6 chickens.

Then I moved to I used hemp, that was expensive & a few of my chickens eat that as well.

Then I put in fine sugarcane mulch and that was also causing bites everywhere for chickens and me.

Then I used newspaper which is hard to come by, so I found cardboards are freely available, but that is a lots of work removing in the morning and put new one in at night, so much work, but it still better than treating them lice/mites.

For the now I can do it, but when I can not do it anymore, I might resort to having the chicken coop floor wired so that poop just dropped down. I don't like this wire thing so if it comes to that I will use the plastic fence so it is doing the job and easier on their feet.

I am trying everything until I find one that work, for the time being the cardboards are free, not lice/mites issue. It is a lots of work, but still less than treatment and cost of stuff to treat it with.

You might look into coffee grounds.

I haven't looked it up, but there might be enough tannins or pH or something to greatly discourage the mites. I think it would be consumable enough to not cause problems while the chickens tested whether it was good to eat. They are scoopable - or work with a more standard deep litter system. They are relatively light weight when dry. They are good for compost piles/bins.

They can be free if you find the right manager of a coffee shop or maybe a big office. Most people would rather someone use such things than they go to landfills. And they smell good.

They do need to be dried, most of the time, but those who use them don't have trouble with that. I can't remember why they don't have trouble drying them - same reasons they might be mite-resistant, maybe

 

[Sally PB]

I top water my started plants. I do this because I don't have a way to bottom water them. The cottage cheese containers are big enough that they don't fit into a pan easily, and I have about 80-100 pots of various plants when I start my plants. Yeah, that's a lot of plants! Mostly tomatoes, several peppers, and then everything else.

Round pots make inefficient use of the space in pans, so I'd need a lot of pans/saucers. I fill up two 30"x60" tables with just the pots.

That's why I take a couple of days and soak the soil in the pots before I plant the seeds. I want to make sure the soil is damp all the way through.

I plant seeds around April 1st, depending on the weather forecast. They're in the green house, and it's only passive solar heat. I start to harden them off around May 20th or so, depending on the weather. I aim to have the plants in the ground around Memorial Day.

April 1st is still cold here. I use clear totes to cover the pots in the green house at night and on colder days. I put black fabric over the tables to make them warmer.

 

[gtaus]

I top water my started plants. I do this because I don't have a way to bottom water them.

I use clear totes to cover the pots in the green house at night and on colder days.

I found a good way to solve both those problems using one tote...

Over the past few years, I have picked up a number of these clear totes at Target for less than $10.00 on sale.

Since I don't have a greenhouse, I simply use these totes turned upside down. The lid becomes the watering pan which allows me to bottom water my starts. If I want to take the plants outside on my deck, I put the clear tote on the lid and latch it in place. Then I can carry them outside. Instant mini greenhouse!

I have a couple of holes drilled in the sides of the clear tote for air flow. You don't want holes on the top (bottom inverted) of the clear tote because if it rains it could flood out the plants.

I know there are many brands of clear totes, but I will mention these Hefty totes specifically because the lids are reinforced in such a way that they are very strong, and flat, making them better for loading up all those starter plants. The totes also stack and lock into place even when used upside down as mini greenhouses. That allows me to keep stacks of 4 totes by my sliding window to the deck without being spread all over the room.

Here is a good YouTube video worth watching for anyone considering investing in clear tote mini greenhouses. Not all totes are made the same and some will just work better than others. This guy goes through what to look for in a clear tote to use as a mini greenhouse.

 

[Sally PB]

Yes! I use the totes as mini green houses in my green house!

I hadn't thought of using the lids as water trays... hmmmm!

 

[SkyAJK]

You might look into coffee grounds.

I haven't looked it up, but there might be enough tannins or pH or something to greatly discourage the mites. I think it would be consumable enough to not cause problems while the chickens tested whether it was good to eat. They are scoopable - or work with a more standard deep litter system. They are relatively light weight when dry. They are good for compost piles/bins.

They can be free if you find the right manager of a coffee shop or maybe a big office. Most people would rather someone use such things than they go to landfills. And they smell good.

They do need to be dried, most of the time, but those who use them don't have trouble with that. I can't remember why they don't have trouble drying them - same reasons they might be mite-resistant, maybe

Coffee grounds, that is something new. I will test this out with my smaller coop. You are right that many people prefer these to be repurpose instead of landfills. I collect fresh green vegetables from our grocery store for my chickens, they are happy to give it to me as they do not want to see that go into the bins.
Thanks

 

[SkyAJK]

I have not had the same problems as you. I know a lot depends on where you live. It sounds like you have tried a number of methods of coop litter without much success. I hope you find a method that will work for you. Best wishes.

My state weather is hot and stormy in spring and summer and mild winter without snow. Mosquitos is our big issue in dry/wet season.

I am constantly making adjustment to my chicken runs and coops with repurpose materials. I found that I have lesser worming issues with daily removing of poops, but that is so much work.

I will try out the coffee grounds.

 

[gtaus]

Home Depot Diablo Spade Bit Set Clearance

I was in town today and found the Diablo Speed Demon Spade Bit 16-piece set with pouch marked down to $10.00 at my Home Depot! I had a smaller set of these Diablo spade bits and paid more for it a year ago. If you need some good spade bits, these are really good, IMHO....

For $10.00, I bought another set because it has more, both larger and smaller, bits than my other set. It was worth it for me. I also like the "Speed-tip" on these bits. They really help to center the bit and bore into the wood. They really are Speed Demon fast compared to my other spade bits. Check them out if you are in the market for a good spade bit set.

 

[gtaus]

Yes! I use the totes as mini green houses in my green house!

I hadn't thought of using the lids as water trays... hmmmm!

Yes. The Hefty tote lids are great as water trays. I use the lids for my starts on my starting shelf under lights, and then later they get used as the bottom of the mini greenhouse when I take them outside. It really works great for me. Again, not all clear plastic totes are the same and many of the other tote lids are not reinforced nor flat, making them unusable for bottom watering.

For many years, I used the standard 10X20 trays and domes...

When brand new, the trays work fine if you only leave them on the shelf. But if you want to move them around, like maybe outside for some sunshine, that plastic is just not very strong and cracks. When the water tray cracks, I cannot use it anymore inside the house on my seed starting shelf. I was only getting about one year's use out of the trays.

The domes are good only for a few weeks, and then the plants outgrow them. In my case, I just did not use them outside at all because my plants were too tall for the domes by the time I could set them out on the deck.

Anyways, a few years ago, I had five 10X20 trays and only one was not cracked and leaking. So, I either had to buy new 10X20 trays or some other system. That's when I found out using the Hefty Storage Totes as mini greenhouses and the lids as water trays.

I have used those Hefty totes for 3 years now and they are still as good as new. They should probably last me my lifetime. I had to invest a little money upfront on the purchase of the totes, but it only took a couple years to break even on that investment. Now, it's like having free water trays and domes every year. I certainly have saved money by using those tote lids as water trays and the tote bin as a mini greenhouse.

If I had a proper greenhouse and just left the trays on the shelf all the time, maybe the 10X20 trays would have worked out better for me. But since I move my trays around, in and out of the house, they just did not stand up and broke. My 10X20 trays only lasted about one year.

I did like the accessories like all those 4- and 6-pack starter pot sets that fit into the 10X20 trays, but I am using those larger 3" net pots now and they fill up the 10X20 trays too fast. Also, they get too heavy to move around in the 10X20 trays. So, the Hefty tote lid is much better for my needs. And I can still use those 4- and 6-pack starter pot sets in the Hefty tote if I want.

Also, the Hefty totes have those latches on the side to lock the lid to the tote. You can easily carry the entire mini greenhouse as one unit. Also, you can stack them one on top of the other both inside and outside if you want. You just can't do that with the 10X20 trays and domes I used to use years ago.

I have saved a lot of money by investing in those Hefty clear storage "mini greenhouse" totes compared to buying new 10X20 trays every year. So, I guess that is being frugal. Certainly, growing some of your own food is sustainable. Well, I just enjoy it.

Well, I had a really good crop of food last year that was very much appreciated by our local deer...

(Google picture for reenactment)

I think I lost maybe 70% of my harvest last year to a herd of deer that visited in the night. First time ever they found my garden, but they took everything they could.

At the end of last summer, I made wire cages for almost all my raised garden beds. So, this year I hope to actually harvest most of my efforts!

(Similar to what I built for each raised bed).

We have about a foot of snow out in the yard, and already I am seeing deer tracks up and around my raised garden beds. Those deer are going to be disappointed this year when they see all those tomatoes behind the chicken wire cages!