am a bit worried about cost,..

karlooben · « **on:** July 19, 2008, 19:17 »

hello , i have just started to build my run and i have the 6 main posts in the ground an painted with one lot of wire placed one side thats ready for tacking onto the main posts.

but i am getting a bit worried on how much this could all cost { as i am trying to do it the cheapest way i.e can i get things for free } , on one side i have placed the wire as an L shape an then placed slabs on top. and i could use railway sleepers that i have on my other plot they are very heavy and i cant see the fox digging them away as its going to cost me around £160 just for the slabs ,, is it to rude to ask how much any of you guys ending up spending when you were building your runs an hen houses. i think in total this could end up costing about £400 is that to much :?:

poultrygeist · « **Reply #1 on:** July 19, 2008, 19:45 »

Hi karlooben.

I reckon mine cost about £150 or so all told with some recycled material but we bought all the mesh off ebay and I got a lot of the timber from a local timber yard or B&Q/Wickes.
Our coop is about 3ft or so square and the run about 5mx2m with a 2x2m bit sticking out.

How big is your project to cost that much ?

Rob

karlooben · « **Reply #2 on:** July 19, 2008, 20:06 »

hi poultrygeist, well as the run is going to 10 m by 6 m thats a lot of fencing and i know we have numerous foxes on and around the allotment site so for more strength i am looking at using chainlink fencing an the cheapest i have found is £104 for 25 m ,i will need 2 rolls 1 for the sides an the roof so i can double the cost there , the posts so far have been about £70 , the slabs are about £1,50 each an i need at least 90 of them roughly and then theres the chciken wire to go round the base .

if it dont work out keeping chicks then this will be one expensive fruit cage,,lol

poultrygeist · « **Reply #3 on:** July 19, 2008, 20:18 »

Wow!

If you have slabs at the base, I would skip the skirt. The theory goes that 19g welded mesh is fox proff. Obviously I haven't tested this theory, but it's quoted everywhere so I trust it.

You can get a 30m roll of 900mm wide 25mmx13mm mesh for about £50.
Not sure how many metres you'd need.

My posts are 2x2 in metpost sockets, spaced about 6-8ft apart. Doors are made up from scraps of 2x1 and pallet wood and offcuts of mesh.
2x1 timber between posts at about 2'6" above the ground to staple the mesh to.

I wouldn't like to advise you on what is fox-proof and what isn't but I would trust it to stand up to attack as long as all the edges are firmly fixed and none can be 'peeled' back.

Hopefully somebody else can offer some tips too. But I think you may be over-engineering it.

Rob

karlooben · « **Reply #4 on:** July 19, 2008, 20:43 »

lmao

But I think you may be over-engineering it.' i think your rite there but theres one prob i have MY DAD he used to be a builder etc and now although hes very ill and pretty much disabled an going blind he still reckons he knows best an its ' u have to do it this way or that way ' and never the way i want so i suppose i am kinder stuck in one way and i keep screaming at him i dont have loads of money i just cant win,

suppose all i can do is try the galvanised wire an if that proof to weak for the foxes then i would have to fork out for the chainlink.

i dont think there is anything totally fox proof if they want to get in then they will

p.s thanks for the help

poultrygeist · « **Reply #5 on:** July 19, 2008, 20:48 »

No probs. Don't want to tread on toes

If you've already forked out for stuff you may as well use it, but if you still have stuff to buy, I just searched for pre-made runs and copied what they used.

All of the commercial runs use no more than they need to. They are cheap as they can make them, so I did the same using even cheaper material where I could. Some of the mesh on ebay starts at 99p and if you're lucky, you can get a real bargain on a quiet day. That's what we went for.

Well done for taking the plunge and DIYing.

Rob

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