DIYGuy24
In the Brooder
TLDR: My journey with chickens, up-cycling and being creative to be as cost effective as possible. Check FB marketplace for cheap finds, be patient, and enjoy the experience. "Freebie alert" app is what helped me find most of the great FB marketplace treasures. The sooner you get chickens the sooner you get to enjoy them!
So my journey was somewhat of a surprise. I was still in my "research everything and be as fully prepared as possible" faze when there was a craigslist ad for 6 free chickens that were around 5 months old. 4 belgium bantams(2 cockerels+ 2 pullets) and 2 Isa Brown pullets.
I was not prepared for chickens yet, I had a 2+4 yr old, a 6 month pregnant wife, hunting and holidays coming fast, no coop, no fenced in area, nothing but the desire to raise chickens. I started the conversation anyway and I was on a deadline and a small budget to get things ready fast.
Thankfully I found someone giving away a small coop on FB marketplace, just needed to haul it home.
From my research from BYC and YouTube I knew I needed to modify it some so they wouldn't sleep and more importantly not poop in the nesting boxes. So I went to work cleaning it all out, and then built my own roll away nesting boxes, added roosting bars from 2"-3" branches removing any burrs or bumps, and a longer ramp to the door.
So the coop was covered but the run needed addressed. In my planning ahead I had found a FB ad from someone who needed their 10'x10' chain link dog pen (again just for labor and hauling) that I got the previous month and set it up around the 4'x4' coop. I had the screen from around a trampoline that I then zip tied to the top rail of the chain link to enclose it all.
Finished with a day to spare and the only cost so far being a 55gal drum for feed storage ($15) and feed ($25). So on October 2 we became chicken owners and our fate was sealed.
A week later Oct 9th and our chickens gave us our first egg!
My kids loved the chickens, always wanted to be out with them, fighting over who got to bring the egg or 2 inside, and telling everyone and I mean everyone that "we has chickens". With that being the case, and chicken math, before the end of the month we ended up getting 4 more chickens. A maran and 3 Araucanas($10) as well as upgrading the coop with an automatic solar door($40). That was a true quality of life improvement.
M&M
Rufio
Chickoletta
With the increase in our flock size and needing to separate them before incorporating them, I went back to Facebook marketplace to help make our run larger. I removed someone's 3-4' high chain link fence that was about 60' long. This made about a 25' x 15' extended chicken run with t posts from my garden. Covered it with a bird netting(~$10) thinking this would be my movable run to give them different areas to explore and a temporary second coop made from my garage wood scrap cache.
As you might have noticed in some of the pictures when I got the solar door I also bought ½" hardware cloth (150' -$125)and some other odds and ends. Water heater, water bucket cups, BSF larvae, bowls, straw. I ordered it all together because there was a large rebate and what would have cost me ~$250 I got for $85. (@ each item I put what the price would have been). It was a crazy deal.
Holidays came and we had a chicken Christmas - from chicken socks, to blankets, and even pancakes!
We had caught the chicken bug. We loved our chickens (especially M&M) and we're thankful we didn't have to buy eggs from the store!
Which was just the beginning of the price increase and regular eggs.
Things were going great! However for one of the roosters (greybeard) the honeymoon was over. I went away for a week and he was going after my kids and wife. He even forgot I was head honcho when I got back and so he went to someone else's flock where he could be head of the flock.
We're in Pennsylvania and had a rainy start to winter, wood chips and straw were great additions to the coop/run to fight the mud and help with the cold. Before I got the water heater, I tried out fermented feed (we called it chicken oatmeal) to see how it worked for me since there's mixed reviews online. The chickens enjoyed eating it and it helped them get extra water but had the unfortunate effect of freezing by the evening. The chickens were doing great through the cold weather but I wasn't happy with their living situation.
That's where the hardware cloth comes in.
Another marketplace find of a free 12' x carport frame that I had originally planned to use as a woodshed was about to be converted into a chicken run. I started with putting furring strip(1" x 3" boards) on the carport frame roof every 2' to secure some metal roofing onto it. However I only got half of the metal roof(on before I ran out of both time and materials. With the weather forecasting snow I got most of the original 10 x 10 coop run covered and put up wind block.
Straw went down after this picture.
The new year brought more craziness and an addition to our home in a newborn daughter. Projects were put on hold and sleepless nights were the new norm. Thankfully the chickens were easy and just needed water and food to keep pumping out eggs for us. Our Isa browns are rock stars in production giving us 3-4 eggs in 2 days regardless of short winter light or cold weather. Our bantams started laying in November but when we sold one of the roosters/shorter days they stopped laying. On the plus side though our Araucana hen started laying mid-end of January giving us our first blue eggs!
I don't know if Gus the groundhog saw his shadow or not, but we had a swing in the weather that melted all the snow. I took the opportunity to open up the run, free range the chickens and get the carport converted before it swung back. I doubt I'll find more metal roofing for free, but until I get to the store for some more metal roofing, half of the roof is a leftover piece or rubber roofing. I secured 3 sides with ½" hardware cloth extending out 18" beyond the edge on the ground. On the 4th side I was running out of daylight and didn't have time to frame a door so I temporarily secured the dog pen panel with a door to the last side. The side with the coop is where most of the wind comes from so I put some rough cut boards up to block it. What a drastic difference having the coop outside the run makes! The run is now 12' x 16', fully covered, and I can't wait to continue adding more toys for them to enjoy.
Now this is only the beginning of the 2.0 version of my coop and chicken run and it isn't finished yet. I know what I have in mind right now might change as my needs change especially since I've only had chickens for 4 months. I'm excited to try incubating some eggs this spring and teach my kids about the whole process. This coop has the room to include a brooder, chicken hospital/jail, and so much more! I'm excited to see where the chicken math journey takes me and my kiddos!
The biggest lesson I've learned from this whole experience is to not let all the info that's out there overwhelm you and freeze you from action. If I hadn't been pushed by free chickens who knows when/if I would have gotten chickens and missed out on all the fun my kids and I get from them. Plus if anyone has kids they know how much food they waste and now it's not an issue, it's just turned into eggs!
I know not everyone will be able to find the same stuff being given away or able to haul or build or whatever, but don't let what youtube or other big setups have intimidate you. You can start small and as you learn and get the experience as well as joy from your chickens build up to what your ideal or dream chicken coop might be someday!
Besides time, gas, and the effort of getting/not getting things off marketplace it doesn't take a lot of money to get started in chickens. For the 4 months I've had chickens my costs have been as follows:
Feed: 4- 50lb mash ($50)
1- 50lb scratch ($10)
Chickens ($10)
Waterers, feeders, hardware ($40)
Now I could have stopped here, but there were improvements and quality of life things that I wanted and had in the budget because I wasn't picky in other things.
Door ($20)
Hardware cloth ($55)
Chicken treats ($10)
Total spent $195 and I'll need to buy more metal roofing and other bits to finish the coop which could easily double what I've spent already but that's why I upcycle.
So that's my total cost right now and I'll probably update this as I go. On the plus side I've got to enjoy the chickens, my kids love them, I sold the one rooster for $12, and I've estimated that I've collected between 20-24 dozen eggs.
I don't know what made me decide to write all this out, but I hope it helps someone or if nothing else I included enough pictures to entertain you. Money can make life easier, but you can enjoy what God blesses you with in any situation.
May your roosts be high, your feed overflowing, and your eggs free of poo.
So my journey was somewhat of a surprise. I was still in my "research everything and be as fully prepared as possible" faze when there was a craigslist ad for 6 free chickens that were around 5 months old. 4 belgium bantams(2 cockerels+ 2 pullets) and 2 Isa Brown pullets.
I was not prepared for chickens yet, I had a 2+4 yr old, a 6 month pregnant wife, hunting and holidays coming fast, no coop, no fenced in area, nothing but the desire to raise chickens. I started the conversation anyway and I was on a deadline and a small budget to get things ready fast.
Thankfully I found someone giving away a small coop on FB marketplace, just needed to haul it home.
From my research from BYC and YouTube I knew I needed to modify it some so they wouldn't sleep and more importantly not poop in the nesting boxes. So I went to work cleaning it all out, and then built my own roll away nesting boxes, added roosting bars from 2"-3" branches removing any burrs or bumps, and a longer ramp to the door.
So the coop was covered but the run needed addressed. In my planning ahead I had found a FB ad from someone who needed their 10'x10' chain link dog pen (again just for labor and hauling) that I got the previous month and set it up around the 4'x4' coop. I had the screen from around a trampoline that I then zip tied to the top rail of the chain link to enclose it all.
Finished with a day to spare and the only cost so far being a 55gal drum for feed storage ($15) and feed ($25). So on October 2 we became chicken owners and our fate was sealed.
A week later Oct 9th and our chickens gave us our first egg!
My kids loved the chickens, always wanted to be out with them, fighting over who got to bring the egg or 2 inside, and telling everyone and I mean everyone that "we has chickens". With that being the case, and chicken math, before the end of the month we ended up getting 4 more chickens. A maran and 3 Araucanas($10) as well as upgrading the coop with an automatic solar door($40). That was a true quality of life improvement.
M&M
Rufio
Chickoletta
With the increase in our flock size and needing to separate them before incorporating them, I went back to Facebook marketplace to help make our run larger. I removed someone's 3-4' high chain link fence that was about 60' long. This made about a 25' x 15' extended chicken run with t posts from my garden. Covered it with a bird netting(~$10) thinking this would be my movable run to give them different areas to explore and a temporary second coop made from my garage wood scrap cache.
As you might have noticed in some of the pictures when I got the solar door I also bought ½" hardware cloth (150' -$125)and some other odds and ends. Water heater, water bucket cups, BSF larvae, bowls, straw. I ordered it all together because there was a large rebate and what would have cost me ~$250 I got for $85. (@ each item I put what the price would have been). It was a crazy deal.
Holidays came and we had a chicken Christmas - from chicken socks, to blankets, and even pancakes!
We had caught the chicken bug. We loved our chickens (especially M&M) and we're thankful we didn't have to buy eggs from the store!
Which was just the beginning of the price increase and regular eggs.
Things were going great! However for one of the roosters (greybeard) the honeymoon was over. I went away for a week and he was going after my kids and wife. He even forgot I was head honcho when I got back and so he went to someone else's flock where he could be head of the flock.
We're in Pennsylvania and had a rainy start to winter, wood chips and straw were great additions to the coop/run to fight the mud and help with the cold. Before I got the water heater, I tried out fermented feed (we called it chicken oatmeal) to see how it worked for me since there's mixed reviews online. The chickens enjoyed eating it and it helped them get extra water but had the unfortunate effect of freezing by the evening. The chickens were doing great through the cold weather but I wasn't happy with their living situation.
That's where the hardware cloth comes in.
Another marketplace find of a free 12' x carport frame that I had originally planned to use as a woodshed was about to be converted into a chicken run. I started with putting furring strip(1" x 3" boards) on the carport frame roof every 2' to secure some metal roofing onto it. However I only got half of the metal roof(on before I ran out of both time and materials. With the weather forecasting snow I got most of the original 10 x 10 coop run covered and put up wind block.
Straw went down after this picture.
The new year brought more craziness and an addition to our home in a newborn daughter. Projects were put on hold and sleepless nights were the new norm. Thankfully the chickens were easy and just needed water and food to keep pumping out eggs for us. Our Isa browns are rock stars in production giving us 3-4 eggs in 2 days regardless of short winter light or cold weather. Our bantams started laying in November but when we sold one of the roosters/shorter days they stopped laying. On the plus side though our Araucana hen started laying mid-end of January giving us our first blue eggs!
I don't know if Gus the groundhog saw his shadow or not, but we had a swing in the weather that melted all the snow. I took the opportunity to open up the run, free range the chickens and get the carport converted before it swung back. I doubt I'll find more metal roofing for free, but until I get to the store for some more metal roofing, half of the roof is a leftover piece or rubber roofing. I secured 3 sides with ½" hardware cloth extending out 18" beyond the edge on the ground. On the 4th side I was running out of daylight and didn't have time to frame a door so I temporarily secured the dog pen panel with a door to the last side. The side with the coop is where most of the wind comes from so I put some rough cut boards up to block it. What a drastic difference having the coop outside the run makes! The run is now 12' x 16', fully covered, and I can't wait to continue adding more toys for them to enjoy.
Now this is only the beginning of the 2.0 version of my coop and chicken run and it isn't finished yet. I know what I have in mind right now might change as my needs change especially since I've only had chickens for 4 months. I'm excited to try incubating some eggs this spring and teach my kids about the whole process. This coop has the room to include a brooder, chicken hospital/jail, and so much more! I'm excited to see where the chicken math journey takes me and my kiddos!
The biggest lesson I've learned from this whole experience is to not let all the info that's out there overwhelm you and freeze you from action. If I hadn't been pushed by free chickens who knows when/if I would have gotten chickens and missed out on all the fun my kids and I get from them. Plus if anyone has kids they know how much food they waste and now it's not an issue, it's just turned into eggs!
I know not everyone will be able to find the same stuff being given away or able to haul or build or whatever, but don't let what youtube or other big setups have intimidate you. You can start small and as you learn and get the experience as well as joy from your chickens build up to what your ideal or dream chicken coop might be someday!
Besides time, gas, and the effort of getting/not getting things off marketplace it doesn't take a lot of money to get started in chickens. For the 4 months I've had chickens my costs have been as follows:
Feed: 4- 50lb mash ($50)
1- 50lb scratch ($10)
Chickens ($10)
Waterers, feeders, hardware ($40)
Now I could have stopped here, but there were improvements and quality of life things that I wanted and had in the budget because I wasn't picky in other things.
Door ($20)
Hardware cloth ($55)
Chicken treats ($10)
Total spent $195 and I'll need to buy more metal roofing and other bits to finish the coop which could easily double what I've spent already but that's why I upcycle.
So that's my total cost right now and I'll probably update this as I go. On the plus side I've got to enjoy the chickens, my kids love them, I sold the one rooster for $12, and I've estimated that I've collected between 20-24 dozen eggs.
I don't know what made me decide to write all this out, but I hope it helps someone or if nothing else I included enough pictures to entertain you. Money can make life easier, but you can enjoy what God blesses you with in any situation.
May your roosts be high, your feed overflowing, and your eggs free of poo.
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