A Frame Pallet Wood Project

[Mystikal]

First time coop builders here. Husband and I are just starting our homestead and we don't have a lot of extra cash or extensive collection of tools. What we do have is pallets and pallet wood.

We want to raise an A Frame, we were thinking maybe three feet off the ground. We have watched hours of different coop type videos on YouTube and we thought this style should be fairly straightforward for beginners. Please feel free to offer us any nuggets of wisdom from your experiences.

Here's what we have been able to accomplish today.

1 really nice floor
5 2x4s 4ft long
Lots of scraps

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Let me ask a question which you must feel free to disregard.

WHY an A-frame? They are the most resource intensive design you can build, for the space contained. An A-frame uses 3/4 the material of a box, but has only 1/2 the volume - and much of that volume can't be used because its either too short (near the sides) or too narrow (near the peak).

I know pallet A-frames are easy - a "neighbor" down the road, maybe two miles from me, has a dozen of them in the yard - but each a-frame appears to be good for only one dog or pig, or a couple/three chickens and uses two pallets.

You look to be doing an excellent job reclaiming the wood (and is that ever labor intensive) - but depending on the size of your intended flock - another design might be a better use of your available materials.

 

[My Bagurks]

I agree with stormcrow about the A frame not being the most efficient.

I have built two coops and I’ve found a single pitch roof on a rectangle/square to be easiest. And with scraps, you may find it’s a little more suited to you. One A frame means a lot of symmetrical pieces. Single pitch can utilize different sized pieces. And if you have a lot of scraps, you could possibly do a wood shingle type roof.

A rectangle or square frame is pretty straight forward. Your 2x4s can be the four corners attached to the floor piece and then find some stringers for roof trusses.

With chickens, you always end up with more than you planned. So I would go with making the most cubic footage you can with what you have.

And how sealed this coop will be depends on your climate as well. Make do with what you have and can afford, but don’t skimp when it comes to predator proofing.

 

[Mystikal]

Let me ask a question which you must feel free to disregard.

WHY an A-frame? They are the most resource intensive design you can build, for the space contained. An A-frame uses 3/4 the material of a box, but has only 1/2 the volume - and much of that volume can't be used because its either too short (near the sides) or too narrow (near the peak).

I know pallet A-frames are easy - a "neighbor" down the road, maybe two miles from me, has a dozen of them in the yard - but each a-frame appears to be good for only one dog or pig, or a couple/three chickens and uses two pallets.

You look to be doing an excellent job reclaiming the wood (and is that ever labor intensive) - but depending on the size of your intended flock - another design might be a better use of your available materials.

Why AFrame? We like the look and thought it might be easier than trying to do a rectangle with a triangle roof. We've never built anything before and I am slightly intimidated because we don't have a lot of the tools I see people using in videos. Thought the AFrame would be more sturdy but you are right, we do loose a lot of space that could be used for roosting. We will evaluate our materials in the morning and see if it is possible to give them some walls. We currently have 8 chicks.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[Mystikal]

I agree with stormcrow about the A frame not being the most efficient.

I have built two coops and I’ve found a single pitch roof on a rectangle/square to be easiest. And with scraps, you may find it’s a little more suited to you. One A frame means a lot of symmetrical pieces. Single pitch can utilize different sized pieces. And if you have a lot of scraps, you could possibly do a wood shingle type roof.

A rectangle or square frame is pretty straight forward. Your 2x4s can be the four corners attached to the floor piece and then find some stringers for roof trusses.

With chickens, you always end up with more than you planned. So I would go with making the most cubic footage you can with what you have.

And how sealed this coop will be depends on your climate as well. Make do with what you have and can afford, but don’t skimp when it comes to predator proofing.

We definitely see the possibility of the single slope roof but I am not sure we have the materials. We will see what we can come up with. As for climate, we are in South Carolina so it gets fairly hot in summer and mild winters. Snow is rare.

As for predator proofing we plan to use hardware cloth not chicken wire. We have snakes here so we're prepared to keep them out.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

 

[3KillerBs]

from the NC Sandhills.

As a fellow resident of the Steamy Southeast, I strongly recommend an Open Air coop -- which is a roofed wire box with a 3-sided shelter at the windward end. In addition to being best suited to our climate, it uses less material than a closed coop and is thus budget-friendly.

Alternately, since you have limited building experience, consider a cattle panel hoop coop. They're generally considered the easiest possible build for the inexperienced.

How many chickens were you planning on getting?

Here's some general information for you:

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

My article on keeping chickens in a hot climate: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

Some Open Air coops to look at:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-positive-local-action-coop.72804/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/california-living.68130/

Some Hoop Coops:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-coop-brooder-with-roll-up-sides.75720/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-biddie-bordello-a-hoop-coop-run-combo.72189/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/

 

[Mystikal]

from the NC Sandhills.

As a fellow resident of the Steamy Southeast, I strongly recommend an Open Air coop -- which is a roofed wire box with a 3-sided shelter at the windward end. In addition to being best suited to our climate, it uses less material than a closed coop and is thus budget-friendly.

Alternately, since you have limited building experience, consider a cattle panel hoop coop. They're generally considered the easiest possible build for the inexperienced.

How many chickens were you planning on getting?

Here's some general information for you:

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

My article on keeping chickens in a hot climate: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

Some Open Air coops to look at:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-positive-local-action-coop.72804/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/california-living.68130/

Some Hoop Coops:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-coop-brooder-with-roll-up-sides.75720/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-biddie-bordello-a-hoop-coop-run-combo.72189/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/

I really like hoop coops but we just can't physically get the cattle panel home. We have a Durango and a car. I looked to see if there was a delivery option but I couldn't find that. Renting a truck would ad a lot of cost to the project.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I really like hoop coops but we just can't physically get the cattle panel home. We have a Durango and a car. I looked to see if there was a delivery option but I couldn't find that. Renting a truck would ad a lot of cost to the project.

if its an old enough vehicle, you can tie the panels to the front and rear bumper - well, legally, the top and the rear bumper. But if its an integral bumper design, yeah, its a real problem. Sorry can't offer more assist. As a fellow semi-homesteader i have a lot of appreciation for the challenges of the lifestyle.

 

[Mystikal]

from the NC Sandhills.

As a fellow resident of the Steamy Southeast, I strongly recommend an Open Air coop -- which is a roofed wire box with a 3-sided shelter at the windward end. In addition to being best suited to our climate, it uses less material than a closed coop and is thus budget-friendly.

Alternately, since you have limited building experience, consider a cattle panel hoop coop. They're generally considered the easiest possible build for the inexperienced.

How many chickens were you planning on getting?

Here's some general information for you:

The Usual Guidelines

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

My article on keeping chickens in a hot climate: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

Some Open Air coops to look at:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-positive-local-action-coop.72804/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/california-living.68130/

Some Hoop Coops:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hoop-coop-brooder-with-roll-up-sides.75720/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-biddie-bordello-a-hoop-coop-run-combo.72189/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/permanent-hoop-coop-guide.47818/

Thank you so much for pointing me in the direction of the hot climate article. Half of our property is woods and we haven't even considered putting the coop there until reading your article. Great points that we are going to incorporate as we build.

 

[Iluveggers]

I am amazed at how well your floor came out for someone with limited building skills! What dimensions did it end up?

I saw somewhere before someone who used whole pallets as sides, and just filled in the empty spaces with extra slats. Not sure how many you have, but there’s a bunch of pallet coop & runs in the coop section of BYC! Good luck!