Living on a homestead and raising your own livestock can become expensive quickly! One easy way to save money is to think outside of the box on backyard chicken dollar store items.
Our family often shops at our local dollar store for cheap and easy products that will get the job done on the homestead. It often takes creativity and a bit of problem-solving, but it saves you money!
The first step is to visit your local dollar store a few times a month and become familiar with the products they are currently offering. Walk down the aisles and take mental notes of some of the things you see.
Then, when you realize you need a solution to a problem, especially with your backyard chickens, remember the products on the shelves and see if you can create your own solution.
My husband does a wonderful job of this and is naturally a problem-solver. I, on the other hand, am not. He has taught me to open my mind and see items beyond their labeled function. For example, the product on the shelf may say “shoe box container.” However, that doesn’t just mean it has to be used for shoes.
Instead, you could see it as a “DIY chicken feeder” or “clear egg basket.” The possibilities are truly endless, and the dollar store makes it easy to save money while you try some of them out.
Here are some of our own extremely functional backyard chicken dollar store items…
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These small, round battery-powered lights became a perfect solution for our nesting boxes! We have two chicken coops currently with about 25 hens in each.
That means we have a total of 12 nesting boxes and a whole lot of eggs to collect every day. I found that often when I went out to collect the eggs around sunrise and sunset it was very dark in the coops near the nesting boxes and it was hard to see the eggs.
These push LED lights have a removable adhesive and also a small handle if needed. We stuck these at the top of each of our chickens’ nesting boxes to make collecting eggs easier!
Simply hit them to click on and off. They last for quite a while and each takes three batteries, making them great chicken dollar store items.
You can also find similar ones on Amazon here!
Related Post: 7 Chicken Books You Need To Read To Start Your Own Backyard Flock
This is one of my favorite dollar store hacks for chicken coops!
Our family homesteads in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where we get very long and snowy winters. It doesn’t get above freezing temperatures for months here, so we need to keep our chicken’s water from freezing.
My husband came up with a solution to cut out a hole on the bottom of the bucket we use for water. Then he inserted the glass jar so that the opening to the jar was on the bottom of the bucket. Then he put a lightbulb into the opening and silicone it all tight.
The water fills around the glass jar and the lightbulb stays dry inside of it. It works so well to keep the water from freezing, as the light bulb keeps it above freezing temperatures.
It was hard to take a picture of the contraption, but here is a similar article online. The glass jars and lightbulbs from the dollar store are a much cheaper alternative and make them fantastic chicken dollar store items.
You can find similar jars on Amazon here!
We do actually use the kitty litter scoop for our kittens, but did you know it can also be a great product to use in your chicken coop?
The kitty litter scoop is used to clean out nesting boxes when they have chicken poop and other debris. It also helps clean out other items, like the feeders, waterers, and bedding materials.
I’ve even seen others DIY it and put corn or other treats on it for the chickens to pluck at it!
Here is a similar product on Amazon as well!
Related Post: How Much Does It Really Cost To Raise Your Own Backyard Chickens?
Chicken feeders can be expensive! We invested in two 40 lb galvanized feeders because we raise a lot of chickens to sell eggs at our farm stand and local farmer’s market.
However, you could quite easily create your own chicken feeder with dollar store items. In fact, if we had a smaller flock of backyard chickens, I would certainly go this route.
At the dollar store, especially in the spring, you can find a large variety of gardening pots and trays. Simply find one that is a good size for you and a tray that is slightly larger than the bottom of it.
Cut out sections of the bottom of it, large enough for the food to fall through but small enough where it won’t all come through at once.
Then glue some pieces of wood on the tray. Place the pot feeder on the wood and secure it. It should be raised slightly above the tray now so that the chicken feed can fall through onto the tray.
This can also work as a waterer as well if you want to make two of them! It is a chicken dollar store item that will save you money.
Here is a similar product on Amazon if you can’t find it locally!
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Like the kitty litter scoop, these are very handy to have on hand for cleaning out odds and ends when it comes to the chicken coop!
They don’t just have to be used to clean baby bottles. I like to use these for cleaning out our waterer and also to lightly scrub our eggs when I am washing them. I’m so glad I found these at our local dollar store!
Check them out on Amazon here!
Did you know that you can buy zip ties at your dollar store? I had no idea until recently and we’ve been using them for so many small projects.
They aren’t as big or as strong as standard size zip ties but they get the job done. We mostly use them to fix holes in our chicken coop fencing and the bird netting that goes over the top of our coop. In fact, we attach the bird netting to the fencing with them as well.
They also help fix small holes or problem areas in the coop like a loose board or ledge the chickens may have bumped.
These are great backyard chicken dollar store items to pick up today and have on hand!
Here are similar ones on Amazon!
Let me know in the comments below what dollar store items you use in your chicken coop! I love hearing new and creative ways to save money.
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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