Yes, you can become a homesteader pretty easily and on the cheap following these simple steps.
- Build a hoop house-cheap, quick, easy, and predator proof. Links are included at end of this post for several hoop house ideas.
- You can use cattle panels, or hog panels. But always cover your enclosure in hardware cloth, NEVER in chicken wire.
- You can use 17 gauge fence wire or zip ties to attach hardware cloth to the panels.
- Make sure you put a ‘bib’ of hardware cloth around the hoop house to predator proof your enclosure. Also, it is a good idea to run the hardware cloth up the front and back of the house if using wood to close the ends.
- I only use treated wood for contact with the ground for the 1X6 boards holding the panels. We don’t recommend houses made of PVC.
- I also don’t recommend using bulldog clasps for door closures. Inevitably, doors sag and then they no longer fit. I use hasps exclusively.
Nests and Roosts.
- Nest Ideas:
Milk crates or empty Cat Litter containers
set on top of creatively fabricated shelves.
Shelves could be made of straw or cinder blocks.
Get these from craig’s list, or garage sales.
Hold in place with bungee cord. - Roosts:
2X4’s laid flat and arranged inside of cinder blocks.
2×4’s laid flat, hung from the top of the hoop house.
Feed Storage.
2 Large Aluminum trash cans with lids, and if kept outside-bungee cord.
set on top of 3 cheap patio bricks to prevent condensation
Alternative: non-working chest freezer. (Call freezer sales.)
Gather supplies
Feeders-
Pail with carabiner attached to wall.
OR round Gravity feeder hung from height.
Waterers-
Pail hung with carabiner-can be filled from outside. - Tarp
Necessary for the top of hoop house, keeps out snow, wind
and rain.
Held onto the hoop house with 17 gauge galvanized
steel fence wire.
Other supplies: Wheelbarrow, pitchfork (straw), wide shovel, rake,
scissors, wire cutters.
Plus-Tools needed for building a hoop house. - Decide on Bedding type. Locate source. Buy. Store.
Straw: Cheap, warm, compostable.-Pine chips: Cheap, light-easy to shovel.
Sand: Expensive, dries out waste, Low dust.
Hard wood pellets (the kind used for burning in a wood stove): medium cost, dries out waste, low dust, lasts long in a run. - Manure Plan.
Build a compost area out of used, clean pallets.
Alternatively:build a compost area with straw bales as the walls. - Add chickens
Decide What kind and How many.
Rhode Island red, or Isa Brown pullets are good.
Craig’s list, Facebook may list cheap or free layers. Buyer beware! - Brooding babies requires separate supplies-
red heat lamp, baby chick feeder, baby chick waterer, and some kind of barrier with round edges to keep them near these supplies.
Or you can fabricate a brooder inside your hoop house. I use
an aluminum animal trough.
**Make absolutely sure that red brooder heat lamp is wired to the ceiling
And cannot make contact with anything flammable. Fires happen!** - Your last decision-Free ranging your chickens, or not.
Free ranged chickens make better eggs.
Free ranged chickens are more likely to be attacked and eaten by predators
Free ranging reduces feed cost, increases nutrition. - Alternative: Partial free-ranging.
Free range the birds only when you are guarding them.
Provide a fenced-in area using temporary electric fence, or poultry fence. - This should cover it for getting started in chickens.
- NOTE: Winter in colder areas requires that you add a heated bucket to water your birds. I simply run an extension cord out to the hoop house. The alternative is to fill the water bucket and hope the birds learn to drink before the water freezes. Then, you can swap this bucket out daily for new, fresh, un-frozen water.
links to hoop house plans:
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2009/03/08/chicken-hoop-house/
http://www.valhalla-project.com/2013/09/valhallas-quick-and-easy-arched-cattle.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/
