GOAL: Chicken Coop for under $50 with Pallets! (**Progress Pics!**)

This is officially my first thread!
We got out chickens in Feb, 1 day old. Since it has been warm enough for them to be outside we have had them in a temporary coop (once they are done with it, it will be our shed, which I found for free!) So we have been working on the coop.

First of all, I can't believe how much those things cost when you but them!!! Insane! So I started checking the free ads on our local selling website similar to craigslist, hoping that people would list free coops here and there. Well they did, but they went sooooo fast, and without a truck at hand, it was hard to get on those. So I decided we needed to build our own,

I wanted to do it as close to free as possible so I started trying to get ideas for pallet coops. Pallets are all over the place for free, and I have made stuff out of them before, including our headboard! Which I love, so I decided why not a chicken coop too!

Here is a pic of their temporary coop. Once we are done with their coop, we are going to strip this baby down and repaint it to match the house and put new shingles on it to be a shed! Can't beat that when its free!!



There is a car dealership near our house that is continually trying to get rid of large sized pallets. They were perfect for the framing of our coop:




It doesn't look like much yet, but you better believe I have a vision!!

Here are a few pics of the progress so far!




I found perfect windows at the second hand store for $5bucks each, you can see them above.
We framed the whole thing out using 5 pallets. They were about twice the size of normal pallets so they are pretty tall turned on their side which makes the coop over 6 ft tall.



This is the front wall wee cut out a little door for them. We plan on putting a drop door on a pulley here. Outside their little door is where their run will be. The other larger open area is the frame of the people door so we can get in to clean the coop.



This is the outside of the front wall where their run will be.



This is the back of the coop. The part sticking out is where the nesting boxes will be. This is actually an old rabbit hutch that my husbands uncle gave to us. Underneath that will be closed off at the end of the wall. Here we have the windows installed and the flat part of the roof. The rest of the roof will be slanted down towards the nesting boxes.




This is the floor framed out with pallets. We used 2 for the floor and will cover that with plywood then vinyl flooring for easy cleaning.



We hinged the back of the rabbit hutch where the nesting boxes will be, for easy egg access!!



Here is a couple of our little ladies checking out their new diggs



This is the flat part of the roof. My husb was smart, he build in cross beams to make the whole thing more sturdy. That made for a couple inches of ventilation up there between the walls and the roof.
Hopefully I can find some free shingles somewhere.

And that is where we left off!

The whole thing is about 7 ft x 6 ft and probably 6.5 feet tall.... maybe 7 ft?

We have 7 ladies, so that should be plenty of room for them!!

Any suggestions or input is very much welcomed!!


TOTAL COST SO FAR.......$15 !!!!
windows $10
yard sale plywood $5
the rest of the plywood was free from our bro in law leftover from previous projects!! Thank heavens for freeeee!!!!

I will also have some updates on my blog HERE

I'm very impressed with your progress and reuse of materials. We're in the middle of building our coop/run and I wish I could say we saved as much money as you. Your hens will be very lucky to have that much space in their coop. Can't wait to see the finished product. How large will the run be?

Thanks!
Yep we will attach a covered run to the front. After some research today, I think we will plant some grapevines along the run for them to eat, and for some shade!
It is definitely a work in progress!!

That coop is AWESOME. I just paid $750 for ours, and it's SO tiny, I wish I was crafty enough [or had the tools required] to build a pallet coop! I have a ton of pallets in my garage from various deliveries, they would be perfect!

Great job!

I hope you post more Pics on here!! I am dying to see it finished!! We are going to be refurbishing a storage shed we have as out coop and love that you are doing it outta so much reused materials!! Its a great inspiration to me to look for reusable stuff for ours... Thanks so much for sharing!!

Coop looks awesome. I too can hardly wait to see finished pics. It's hard to believe the whole things cost so little - good for you!!!

Wow you can't beat the price that's for sure!

That's pretty clever to use pallets to make your frame.

My only worry for you is what the elements will do to it. I don't know if the pallets are made out of treated wood or not, but if they aren't you may want to set the coop up on some concrete blocks to keep it from rotting as quickly on the ground.. Also, that plywood is called OSB plywood and in our experience it isn't great for outdoor projects where it will be exposed. It tends to come apart and rot fairly quickly. I hope you can use water sealer and paint on it to make it last as long as possible.

I am looking forward to seeing how your coop turns out and what your total cost is!

if anybody wants to go by home depot. they have culled wood for cheap. last week i went to home depot and got myself 6 sheets of plywood for flooring. they were 4 feet long but all i paid was 51 cents each. is that a deal or not?

Thanks for the info TexasLea. My dad is a commercial painter, so he will be able to seal it up and get some nice coating on it. Hopefully that will make it last a bit longer.
We thought about putting it up on concrete blocks, or even rail road ties. I still think we should, just to preserve the floor longer. I'll have to keep searching for some for free.

Thanks for the tips!


I will definitely post pics as we go! I'm excited to see the final project too!
I am planning on painting it barn yard red, with white trim of course! =)

Wow! Looks great. You have done a wonderful job, and SO creative with all the bits and pieces going together. You're girls are going to have a wonderful home there. Keep up the good work and post picts as you go.