Wonderful FREE /CHEAP alternatives to HARDWARE CLOTH, & more!!!

[PoultryPedia]

Passing along a resourceful idea for options that may be useful in some instances--

Free or cheap alternatives to hardware cloth / wire:

WIRE SHELVES from an old
REFRIGERATOR, FREEZER or OVEN

These are often FREE or very cheap and offer good, strong protection for window & ventilation openings!

Sources:

USED APPLIANCE STORES
If you ask your local used appliance store, they are likely to cheerfully give you for FREE the shelves from appliances (esp. fridges & freezers) that they are about to send to recycling. If you think it would be good, you could also offer them $5 for a batch. Or bring them some cookies.

LANDFILLS
You can check with a landfill.
With fridges & freezers, there is a chance the landfill may have a contract with a recycler where they have to give them everything. If the landfill does give you permission, open closed frig doors only with EXTREME caution because fridges dumped with food in them will billow out mold & rot. You DON'T want to retrieve those shelves.
With ovens, a landfill may be willing to give you the shelves.

JUNKYARDS / SALVAGE YARDS
Some may have these shelves or other similar things that they would gladly sell you for probably a buck.

RECYCLERS
Call & find out if they will sell you some for maybe 50 cents to $2 each. Some recycling companies' operating licenses forbid them from re-selling anything they've taken in as recycling material, but it may be worth checking.
BUIDING TIPS

• Spray painting wire black makes it easier to see through--for both you & the chickens! Silver & white reflect light and are difficult to see past.
• It is best if at least two opposite sides of a shelf can be against wood for solid fastening.

Fasteners

• Heavy fencing staples or bent-over nails.
• Strips of trim boards screwed through the ends sections of wire shelves into solid wood structures.

Cautions

• The wide spacing of oven shelf wires can allow through rodents & small predators. You may want to use these only for barriers INSIDE a coop.
• Mini frig shelves can be somewhat bendable.
• Large predators with big claws--such as cougars & bears--may be able to get a good grip on shelves (esp. from ovens), and pull hard and possibly dislodge them.

Also:
Free or cheap alternatives to WINDOWS:

GLASS SHELVES from an old REFRIGERATOR or FREEZER

If you know someone you want to pass these ideas along to, you can also refer them to my site PoultryPedia.com for easy look-up, because I'm also adding a "Tips for Chicken Coops" page with these on there.

Anyone else that has found other useful alternatives to hardware cloth / wire, please add them to this thread so we can know about them, too!

Wishing everyone happy, safe & cheap window-ing!

 

[Cargo]

Great tips!

I also like to use clear rolled vinyl for windows. Just like they use for Jeep soft top windows.
Not free, but very easy to work with and lasts years and years.

 

[3forfree]

Don't forget pallets for building material. They're free too.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I used the wire grate off my old BBQ grill for the top of my brooder. For my mini coop that I built out of old lumber-- I used a flat picture-frame for a flip out "glass window" for light and ventilation. Just have to be sure to seal and paint it and caulk it.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Great thrifty ideas!

Anyone else have more to share for chicken coops on the cheap?? Or unusual but very helpful coop materials??

 

[coberdor]

I get all my roofing materials from old truck bedliners. You can find many of them on craigslist. They cut up really easy with a demolition saw. They are UV protected since they are in the back of pickup trucks. You can use the sides for the bottom of nest boxes and awnings over windows.

I also contace line-X spray on liners for trucks near my house. I call every other week and have picked up some 6 of them to cut up and use. I covered a whole pen with these, pluse made some small coops and tractors.

 

[PoultryPedia]

I get all my roofing materials from old truck bedliners.  You can find many of them on craigslist.  They cut up really easy with a demolition saw.  They are UV protected since they are in the back of pickup trucks.  You can use the sides for the bottom of nest boxes and awnings over windows. 

I also contace line-X spray on liners for trucks near my house.  I call every other week and have picked up some 6 of them to cut up and use.  I covered a whole pen with these, pluse made some small coops and tractors. 

OK--We've GOT to see pictures of these!!!

 

[wilbilt]

Old C-band satellite dishes are generally 10'-12' in diameter and can be used as a roof over a circular structure. Some are solid (usually fiberglass) and others are made with aluminum ribs and expanded mesh, which provides a "shade cloth" effect in filtering sunlight.

A solid dish could be used as a roof for a coop and a mesh dish could cover a run while providing ventilation and protection from predators. I built a "greenhouse" using a mesh dish mounted on poles. I wrapped plastic sheeting around the poles and tacked it on. The mesh top kept it from getting too hot inside while the plastic shielded young plants from the cold and wind. The sun eventually destroyed the plastic and I am now considering covering it in wire and using it to expand my run as it is right next to my coop.

There used to be a lot of these dishes free for the asking as people were switching from the "big dish" systems to the smaller units as used by Dish Net and DirecTV.