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

[brocknash]

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

 

[brownboi2012]

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?

 

[brocknash]

Update:

I started thinking about how I could come across some free vinyl flooring to put over the plywood in the coop. I have hear a lot of people use that since it is so easy to clean.

I thought maybe I could call some of the flooring places in the valley to find out what they do with their scraps and realized duh my sister works at RC Willey in the flooring department doing customer service! So I called her to find out what they do with their scraps. They just throw them away, but they are not allowed to dumpster dive so she called one of the installers and they held a roll of scrap for me! Covers the floor of the coop perfectly.

We will probably get that installed this weekend. And get as much done on the rest of the coop as we can so I will post more pics this weekend.

I need to try to figure out how I am going to get shingles. Does anyone have any suggestions. Again, im looking for FREE =)

What do roofers do with scraps?

Also, I will have more pics and updates on my blog click HERE

 

[chitown chicks]

I had quite the eveneful morning today.

peacocks in out backyard!!

I was nervous at one point that one would jump into our chicken run!

Here is a vid of the big pretty one.

there are a couple other vids on my blog of some white ones that showed up too!! click HERE for more vids

Maybe it stopped by to give a coop critique.

 

[rambunctious]

Way to go! We're having to put off our chicken plans until next year...good news that gives me a whole year to plan the coop and they type of chickens we want...bad news...it gives me a whole year!

 

[bugsmoran21]

I didn't see anyone mention the "ooops" paint at Home Depot. The paint dept always has what they call "ooops" paint. Paint that was mixed wrong or that the customer returned. Check it out. You can find a great deal.


Bugs

 

[MadHens]

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?

 

[brocknash]

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!!

 

[WRVgirl]

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!

 

[shelbear81]

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!!