Building a coop out of pallets!

So I know I've seen some coops on here that you guys have made out of wooden pallets.

I got to talk to one of my friends, and his uncle collects pallets for various projects of all sorts, and has a few thousand pounds worth of pallets and pallet scraps.

So, assuming his uncle says yes, I may be able to get some from him!

Do any of you have any tips or resources for building chicken coops out of pallets?

I am 100% newbie and have never built anything in my life so I'll definitely have to have help from my family/friends.

using pallets is fine so long as you keep it protected from the elements. Pallet wood is not treated and will rot within a year or two if allowed to get wet very often. Even so that goes for pretty much any kind of untreated wood. So if it is exposed I would at least paint it to give it some protection.

I will tell you that pallet wood is HEAVY. So if you're going totally (or 95%) pallet, build where you want it so you don't have to move it. You might consider pallets to frame your coop, but use some other kind of skin/covering.

My dad had the same idea(building coop out of pallets)but I think it's a little to much work. I'm going to try doing a combination, 4 by 8's, pallets and what not.

Yes they are heavy, and as teach1rusl siad put it together where it will be, do not try to move after it is built.

I built my Silkie Coop out of pallets. I used the pallet that has the full boards going across (42x52), and then put a OSB board down as sub flooring.
Mine is sitting on cinder blocks, when putting up the walls, I used the inner ribs of the pallets (cut to fit)as fillers in between each rib, tied it in with 4 in deck screws to the floor, 3 screws between each rib. Then along the outer wall, 1 screw from outer wall into filler piece. This is not going to move.
Once all the windows were cit, doors cut, I wrapped it in 4 mil plastic as a vapor barrier. I cut hardware cloth to fit into the window frame & then put wood slats in the window opening to cover the edges of the hardware cloth.
I also got a wooden shipping crate for free, and used that to cover the pallets (still need to paint it.) Used roofing shingles, and at the back door I left a strip just below the roof line as a vent, and covered it with hardware cloth.

Tonight was the first night my Silkies went into their coop on their own, I did not have to play catch the Silkies.



The only tools I had were a jig saw, drill, sander, cordless screw driver & a hack saw. Took a month, mostly on weekends. But they have been in there for almost 3 weeks, just need to hinge the rear door, have it screwed shut right now.

Look on page 8 here! This one doesn't look too difficult... maybe https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=601695&p=8

edited to add: its the circular looking one...the base is constructed with pallets. Good luck!

Here's a link to some photos of my coop. It is made almost entirely out of pallet wood. I would caution that it is hard to work with. I had to make a pilot hole for almost every nail I used. I did also caulk it to keep out moisture between the boards, where most of the rot would start.

La Maison

LN2008 I like your coop. Was going to do an exterior nest box too, but it is a Silkie coop, so they only need a dish pan for a nest box.

Ours is out of 4'x14' oak pallets, but we covered it inside and out with osb that we painted with barn paint to protect it. This gave us an air barrer for insulation (my hubby does hvac so he was a little nuts about.) Pretty much we used the pallets for the framing.