He also agreed that it would be a low to no budget project. I gladly accepted that and began to search out ideas, materials, and inspiration for building a chicken coop. One might say that I take after my dad, a man that has "potential" piles all around his house for his projects. I don't have piles, but I have a project so I knew just who to go see.
We went to a local business that gives away their used pallets and got a trailer load. After hours of disassembling them by hand, there was much useable lumber ready to construct the coop. About a week later we had walls, a floor and eventually a roof. A generous uncle gave me some buckets for nesting boxes and a trip or two to my dad's piles provided handles, latches, and tin. A visit to (my newly discovered no budget crafter's store) the hazardous waste facility provided stain, crack filler, and metal paint.
So now that I have bored you with our version of building a chicken coop, let me make my point. When telling people about our undertaking we got mostly negative comments, "they sell them for a couple hundred dollars", "that's going to take forever", "really!?!?!", and so on. To those comments I pose a question, when was the last time you made something with your hands? Yes, we saved money, but there is a certain pride and passion that comes with creating something from nothing that is important too. Another life lesson we hope to pass on to our kids.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy. Easy would have been whipping out the credit card at the hardware store and loading one in the truck. So many people go this route, good for them. The memories of Dillon and the kids and I putting the time into this project together are worth more. When your husband goes golfing and all he can talk about is "that silly old coop", you know it has been worth the time and effort.
Be it making Homemade bread, a quilt, or a rickety ol' chicken coop, it still means more when made by hand.
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