Hi everyone! I did a lot of fun, thrifty things this week.
1. Discount chicks: I sent my husband to the feed store to buy some more chick starter for our three incubated chicks. While he was at the store, he called me to tell me that they had chicks on sale for $0.50 each! I wanted to buy a TON, but I restrained myself (knowing that we already collect more eggs than we can eat) and had him get 10; seven Barred Rocks and three Black Sex Links. They are so cute and I love them. Here is the general math I figured out last night about raising laying hens: Chick: $0.50 (normally $2.50 or more) Chick starter for 8 weeks: $2.00 Electricity for warming plate (divided by 10 chicks): $0.50 Layer mash for 4 months: $5.00 Total cost to raise to laying age: $8.00 The going rate for mature laying hens in our area is about $15.00. Thus, by raising my own laying hen, I can save $7.00. Since I bought 10 chicks, all pullets, I'll be able to save $70.00 with this project. Had I bought the chicks at full price, I would have still saved at $45.00, which is good to know for next year. 2. Free stuff: I went "junking" at our annual "throw your junk on the curb" event. I found two wooden chairs, a small desk, sidewalk chalk, muffin cup liners, one children's book, seven non-fiction adult books, a child's dry erase easel, a pile of cotton fabric scraps, a Jiffy greenhouse with pellets, a wooden organizer, a basketball, a rug, a large picture frame, four outdated grapevine wreaths that I plan to redecorate in a modern style, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. All in all, I found over $100.00 worth of stuff, comparing with prices at the thrift store. 3. Upcycled jars: I washed out and scrubbed the labels off of some random jars and wine bottles we had lying around. Then I painted the lids with a chalk paint, so they all matched. What a transformation! I put dry goods (beans, chia seeds, etc.) in the jars, and put oil and wine vinegar into the bottles. I put a $0.50 dripper lid (from the Dollar Tree) on the oil bottle to make for easy pouring. I love the way the two bottles look on my counter, and it makes the oil and vinegar more accessible and easy to use. 4. Pasta: I tried a pasta recipe this week from one of my Italian cooking books. It actually worked great! I made ravioli with the dough. Fresh pasta is so much more expensive than dried pasta at the store, but the fresh ravioli was so good. I was happy that this recipe worked out better than the Venetian Cornmeal Cookies. 5. I continued listening to When Harry Became Sally on Scribd. 6. Chicken rescue: we caught and killed another raccoon, which had also been slaughtering chickens. This one I actually caught in the act, attacking my silkie rooster. Thankfully I got there just in time. We were able to rescue the silkie, who thankfully had no bite marks or other damage. There was one other missing chicken that I thought had been eaten, but the next morning it was walking around outside the coop, wondering where all of the others were. Praise the Lord! My broody hen unfortunately decided not to be broody anymore. But I guess my discount chicks this week made up for it. That's it for this week. I hope you've all had a thrifty May so far! Blessings, ~Prudence~
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About PrudenceI am a Christian homemaker who lives in the Midwest. I enjoy sewing, gardening, reading and thrifting. Archives
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