Last Updated: 6/20/16
The coop is still under construction. It still needs the sides completed, windows finished, and paint. However it is to a point that we can put chickens in it! I will update as we progress.
When I told my Dad that I wanted a 16' x 16' chicken coop, I really didn't think that he'd agree to it as easily as he did! We were fortunate enough to know someone who gets 8ft (approx.) pallets on a weekly basis. They were very happy to give them to us as they have to burn them and that's more work for them, than giving them away! We also had someone give us about half of the metal roofing we needed. We are going to be able to finish this coop for about $300. Also, a bit of a side note. Pneumatic tools were a huge lifesaver for us on this project!
If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them!
Our supplies for the first day of work.
The coop is still under construction. It still needs the sides completed, windows finished, and paint. However it is to a point that we can put chickens in it! I will update as we progress.
When I told my Dad that I wanted a 16' x 16' chicken coop, I really didn't think that he'd agree to it as easily as he did! We were fortunate enough to know someone who gets 8ft (approx.) pallets on a weekly basis. They were very happy to give them to us as they have to burn them and that's more work for them, than giving them away! We also had someone give us about half of the metal roofing we needed. We are going to be able to finish this coop for about $300. Also, a bit of a side note. Pneumatic tools were a huge lifesaver for us on this project!
If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them!
Our supplies for the first day of work.
First we started with a cleared area. We then put plastic where the coop would go, to keep the weeds down during construction and to give the 4" x 4" posts something to sit on.
Next we connected our 4" x 4" posts, that the pallets for the floor would sit on and be connected to. (I didn't get a picture of the entire base, only the one half...oops.)
Then I began attaching the pallets to the 4" x 4" posts for the floor. We were able to find 8 pallets that were very similar to one another in size and were good solid pallets, so we chose to use them for the floor.
To create the floor, I screwed the faceboards on the bottom of the pallets into the 4" x 4" posts.
Also, where the pallets met edge to edge, I screwed them together as well.
Once the floor was completed, we bought some weathered plywood to cover the floor with. We were able to pick up a stack of it for $50. We ended up with 11 full sheets that were good and others that we could use parts of.
Initially we were going to lay the pallets on their sides, like pictured below, and stack two on top of each other, to get a decent height. We decided that was going to be more difficult than our other option.
Our other option was to put the pallets on end and get approx. 8' of height that way. This is what we chose to do.
To do this, we bolted two pallets together like below. We then stood them up on end and bolted them into the floor, after attaching a 2" x 4" on the bottom, so they could be secured to the floor. On each wall, once we had both sets of pallets bolted to the floor we bolted the middle where the sets of two pallets met.
Once we had all of the walls completed, (except for where the door will go) we used what was left of the plywood to cover the back wall, which isn't visible. (So frankly it didn't really need to look good.) On the other walls, that are visible, we plan to use faceboards off of pallets and do a dutch lap.
View from the inside of the coop. (This wall ended up with larger width pallets, so four full sized weren't used like the other walls.)
After all of our walls were up, we framed our doorway, tied the walls together, and added more faceboards to the walls to strengthen them before we ran the beam.
The beam.
Then I began attaching the pallets to the 4" x 4" posts for the floor. We were able to find 8 pallets that were very similar to one another in size and were good solid pallets, so we chose to use them for the floor.
To create the floor, I screwed the faceboards on the bottom of the pallets into the 4" x 4" posts.
Also, where the pallets met edge to edge, I screwed them together as well.
Once the floor was completed, we bought some weathered plywood to cover the floor with. We were able to pick up a stack of it for $50. We ended up with 11 full sheets that were good and others that we could use parts of.
Initially we were going to lay the pallets on their sides, like pictured below, and stack two on top of each other, to get a decent height. We decided that was going to be more difficult than our other option.
Our other option was to put the pallets on end and get approx. 8' of height that way. This is what we chose to do.
To do this, we bolted two pallets together like below. We then stood them up on end and bolted them into the floor, after attaching a 2" x 4" on the bottom, so they could be secured to the floor. On each wall, once we had both sets of pallets bolted to the floor we bolted the middle where the sets of two pallets met.
Once we had all of the walls completed, (except for where the door will go) we used what was left of the plywood to cover the back wall, which isn't visible. (So frankly it didn't really need to look good.) On the other walls, that are visible, we plan to use faceboards off of pallets and do a dutch lap.
View from the inside of the coop. (This wall ended up with larger width pallets, so four full sized weren't used like the other walls.)
After all of our walls were up, we framed our doorway, tied the walls together, and added more faceboards to the walls to strengthen them before we ran the beam.
The beam.
Once our beam was up, it was time to finally get a roof on the coop! We were able to buy cheap roofing for the other half of the roof. It was previously used and had some screw holes in it, but it was good quality and in excellent condition overall.
We also installed a door that we had bought but couldn't use for another project.
As of right now we have cut out windows and have filled all of the gaps in the wall pallets with faceboards. We are going to buy rough lumber to finish off the outside of the walls, so that it looks nice. The rough lumber will also paint nicely. Currently we have some chickens inside. The next big task to tackle after siding and painting the coop is to build a fence for the chickens outside the coop. We are going to use pallets to do that as well.
I don't have any good current photos of the coop, (I'll have to take some) but I have one with it in the background, and you can see one of our windows. So enjoy my rabbit's picture with the coop in the background for now!
As of right now we have cut out windows and have filled all of the gaps in the wall pallets with faceboards. We are going to buy rough lumber to finish off the outside of the walls, so that it looks nice. The rough lumber will also paint nicely. Currently we have some chickens inside. The next big task to tackle after siding and painting the coop is to build a fence for the chickens outside the coop. We are going to use pallets to do that as well.
I don't have any good current photos of the coop, (I'll have to take some) but I have one with it in the background, and you can see one of our windows. So enjoy my rabbit's picture with the coop in the background for now!
