What type of material?

[cabinonalake]

I've ordered 10 pullets that will arive the week of May 21st, from mypetchicken.com. I have a chicken coop that is 6x4 with 3 nest boxes and a 50 lb auto. feeder. Our girls will also have a 16w'x20'lx6'h completely enclosed run (we live in the woods by a lake and have just about every predator you can imagine in our front yard, eagles, fishers, coyotes ect). The run will have 1 foot of hardwire cloth buried underground, my question is can i make the framing of the run with un-treated 2x4's? I've never built anything before and as my darling boyfriend says "this is your thing, I am the lacky, you say the commands and I get it done" I've been reasearching for a while now but the exictement has me confused lol. Do I need the round pole/log things for the run or will the 2x4s be okay???? thank you in advance for all of your help!

 

[AlienChick]

If the wood is coming into contact with the moist ground, it should be treated in order to last longer.

If you only plan on keeping chickens for a short time, then you can go ahead and use the untreated wood.

I use treated 2x4's for my run since the larger logs seem to be overkill.

But if you have an overabundance of logs, USE 'EM!

 

[blueferral]

If the ground is moist, the untreated logs will not last very long at all. Between moisture and insects it will be damaged in a year, two at the most. If money isn't a concern, you could lay landscaping bricks as a base and put wood above it. This would allow the wood to drain and dry out. You could also look at using cypress or redwood. (Not sure if they have any negative effects on chickens). Metal poles could be an option. If you're not concerned about looks, pvc pipe. Lots of options.

Also,

tell your man, "you don't want me to get mad if something goes wrong. So, your not giving me any advice. If something goes wrong and you didn't tell me something you knew wouldn't work, ILL BE SUPER MAD."

Good luck on the coop, have fun. Think about it before you build it. Man oh man I would have done mine different. But, I'm a man, decided I wanted chickens and threw up a coop before I did enough research. My wife calls it Chicken Ft Knox.

 

[cabinonalake]

We (I) plan on doing a few chicken this year for our family (me, mom, boyfriend, and our little girl) and a few for relatives if there's enough left over, then next year getting a couple roosters and a few more layers to build up my own breeding stock that way we will have a constant supply of eggs and meat, of course this all depends on how high the demand for our eggs is and what not. I plan on selling them for about 0.50 to 0.75 cents a dozen, with the idea that cheap prices means more buyers! We will see.. My boyfriend is very smart actually in not getting involved... i tend to get a little over bearing when things dont go the way I plan, he's learned that sometimes just sitting on the side lines till I come to him is sometimes best in the last 3+ year of our relationship... Im going so large with the run, so that I can prep now for what my plans are in the future. if it doesnt go to plan than my gals will have LOTS of room to forage!

 

[blueferral]

I guess he knows you better than I do. Just a fyi if you sell your eggs at the price you will lose money. There are lots of posts in here debating egg prices. Give the first dozen away, after that they will be hooked and more than willing to pay at least what they pay at the grocery store if not more. My wife sells our eggs at work for 3.50 a dozen and I have sold them for 4 dollars a dozen where I work. Don't sell yourself or your girls short

.

 

[AlienChick]

. . . I plan on selling them for about 0.50 to 0.75 cents a dozen, with the idea that cheap prices means more buyers! We will see..

I would be careful about selling eggs for "too cheap" since people will think there is something wrong with your eggs or they're old.
The cheapest I've seen a dozen eggs in the store is $1.80, so I would say if you want to sell cheap, a price like that seems right.
GOOD LUCK with your egg selling!!!

 

[cabinonalake]

I figure we're only selling to neighbors and relatives, we have relatives who sell theres $1 a dozen, and their "pets", if we get extra from them great if not atleast we've got enough for our family.

@ alien chick- thank you for your suggestion, still not exactly sure what EVERYTHING will end up being.... though I would like to think everything will go as planned I know that the chances of that actually happening are slim and I have LOTS of learning to do on the way!

Thank you all!

oh the breeds I chose were 1 of each: Welsummer, Ameraucana, Pearl White Leghorn, Australorp, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Buff Orpington, Light Brahma, Partridge Plymouth Rock, Speckled Sussex, and Barred Plymouth Rock. Does anyone esspicially like any of these breeds in particular more than others??? I was thinking about the Orpingtons and Brahmas as part of my breeding stock...?

 

[R_Chickens]

We sell ours to friends, family and neighbors at $ 2.50/dz. We HAD to go up from $2, then 2.25 as feed prices increased. Actively looking at feed mills for better priced food. These layers are my daughter's pets, for sure

I've looked at landscaping timbers a couple of times as they are treated and cheaper than 4x4's.

- JC

 

[cabinonalake]

I found feed at our petco thats $8 and some change for a 20lb bag of layer feed. I don't remember the name of the brand but I found it online and will have it shipped free..

 

[lesgo54]

around here the going price for eggs is 1.50 -2.00 a dozen