The improvements to transition half of the garage to a chicken coop will cost approximately $2,500. To minimize other costs and to seize the opportunity, we have used Craigslist and Freecycle to obtain various items we will require for the chickens.
Our first Craigslist experience involved the purchase of the brooder, heat lamp, small roll of hardware cloth, a chick feeder, 2 chick waterers, 1 chicken feeder and 2 chicken waterers, empty egg cartons and a partial bag of chicken feed for $50 from a family that was moving.
Our next Craigslist experience was 50 feet of fence and metal posts for and 8 tomato cages for $30 from another family what was moving.
Other Craigslist purchases involved 50 more feet of wire fencing ($50) and finally that blue, plastic 55 gallon drum ($25) which was fitted with 2 valves for watering and the lid replaced by a fine mesh screen to keep out bugs, leaves and debris while recovering rainwater from a downspout. We managed to obtain a 12 x 12 foot sheet of linoleum to cover part of the coo floor for free.
A target of opportunity at Freecycle was a camo winter jacket for one of the grandsons.
While electric power, fuel and many other necessities aren't free, resources such as these can help save homesteaders, preppers or hardcore survivalists money that could be used elsewhere.
Nice. Alas, I got kicked off Freecycle by some petty little tyrant for a barter transaction...
ReplyDeleteI think more and more people's places are going to be looking like Fred Sanford's. You never know what you'll need or when you need it. Also, it's great to have barter items.
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