Friday, March 23, 2012

DIY Chicken Tractor Pricing




Looking back through my chicken binder this week (where I keep my old feed records, chick purchase receipts, etc.) I found a note where I priced out the three different kinds of chicken tractors I've made. I thought this might be useful for anyone thinking about building their own this year.

The smallest, of course, is the cheapest. My 4x8 tractors cost me $44.50 each - $1.50 each for ten 2x2s ($10.50), 50 cents each for 8 corner braces ($4), 25 feet of 1" wire ($30), and $5 for a tarp.

The 8x8s were $72.50 each - $1.50 each for 11 2x2s, 50 cents each for 8 corner braces, $42 for 32 feet of 1" wire fencing, and $10 for a tarp.
The 10x10 PVC pens cost me $124.50 - 10 pieces of 10-foot PVC at $3.47 each ($34.70), 10 elbows at $1.55 each ($15.50), 2 cross connections at $2.15 each ($4.30), 40 feet of 1"wire fencing ($60), and $10 for a tarp.  

Obviously, prices change, and you can certainly build these with used materials, but hopefully this will give you an idea of how much it might cost to build each of these pens.

4 comments:

  1. Looks like you did a great job with your tractor! Being frugal is something I try to promote on my blog. We have so many things that we can use to save money with. Keep up the good work!

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  2. If you would do a system that would compute your earnings on your chickens, life would be easier. Set up a plan, do a data flow diagram, produce a system.

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  3. Do you have the plans for these, or a link to where they are?

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  4. Simple yet effective, a ledged and braced gate is cheap, easy to install yet provides great privacy and security. garden fence

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