$100 Chicken Coop Budget-- possible?

Given the serious expenditures going on as of late, we were aiming to keep the chicken coop costs to $100. And if you don't count the $450+ we spent on a new fridge on one of our Lowe's trips to pick up coop supplies, we did pretty well.

We were able to find reclaimed lumber at the Reconstruction Center and only needed to buy treated wood for the pieces that will lie on the ground. We also found a giant piece of plywood in a free pile on the curb a month or so ago, and luckily expended the effort to walk it home (a half a mile, probably through the rain...) because it will make up the majority of the henhouse. We had to buy one more piece of plywood and the chicken wire too. When all is said and done we came in around $110 for supplies.

We are extremely lucky in that we live in a neighborhood with a Tool Library--and we were able to borrow the tools we didn't already have. But then Lowe's was having a fabulous sale on drills, or so I am told. So we ended up with a new drill in the process. Ce la vie.

This week in gardening...and poultry

On Sunday we got the chicken's new abode half built. In a drizzly rain, and in the freezing cold. But it's half up. This weekend we'll finish it, though they are still scheduled to be living in the basement for another month or so.

That month can't go quickly enough, for their sake. They are getting quite big, and a bit rowdy. Constantly knocking over their water and making a giant mess...flying the "coop" whenever possible is also a favorite past-time. We put a screen on top to keep them in the brooder box, so a new favorite hobby is flying into the screen and knocking it off. Fun times for teenage chickens?

In between erecting pieces of the coop I managed to get peas and carrots in the ground. The lettuces are starting to pop up. I think. Either that or we have a sudden influx of clovers in the exact spots I planted greens... It's been stormy for over a week, so my time in the yard has been limited. Hoping for a sunny weekend. Or at least one sunny day...

On tap for next weekend: finishing the coop (**hopefully**), continuing to double dig the garden beds, and addressing the growing pile of yard waste in the back yard. It seems all my yard projects entail pulling up, digging up, or chopping down something. And it's generally ivy...