I wanted to build a chicken coop and run but not spend a lot of money. As a matter of fact, the less money spent, the happier that I'd be on this project. I was able to gather a considerable amount of pallets, at my favorite price, FREE. No real plan just an idea from coops that I saw on the web.



I started by taking the decking off the pallets. I used a pry bar and hammer. After a few, I learned how to take them apart without splitting the boards. Pry up on the center of the board first. Just enough to expose the nails. Then remove the nails with a hammer. Save the nails, you can use them later.



Taking the pallet boards from two pallets, I rebuilt the pallet with no gaps between the boards.




The legs I made from scraps of 4 X 4 treated posts I got for free from Home Depot. Choose your site carefully, having to move this thing means taking some of it apart. I selected a poor location first. Bottom of a hill. Can you say "wet"?



I built two more solid pallets like the floor pallet. Then used 2 X 4's from the pallets to frame in the front. I also enlisted my DD11 to handle part of the labor. Hey! They are her chickens.





Inside the chicken coop has two roosts. While we were working two chickens were checking out our work


I made a trip to Home Depot to purchase the hardware cloth for the run. When I was looking in the cull lumber, I found numerous treated 2 X 4's that I got all for $5 (not $5 each but all for $5). Most of the boards were warped. I wet them and drove over them with the Prius several times.



More child labor... Don't report me! We used peel and stick floor tiles, 33¢ each.



The chicken ramp was cull wood. Red stripe at my Home Depot... FREE. Purple spray is 70% off.



The paint, also from Home Depot. I built the roof of the coop, the ramp and the nesting boxes from cull lumber that was free. The paint was $9, mis-tinted or something. I used extra pallets to build a small yard for the chickens. While that short fence won't keep the chickens in, it gives them a place to hide from any dogs. I think one of the chickens likes to taunt a neighbor dog... Teasing a bit then flying over the fence.

Costs:
Lumber = less than $10
Hardware Cloth = $60
Paint = $9