I'm a newbie! Love our babies, looking for pallet coop ideas.

[joetta]

Hi all! Just joined BYC recently. Picked up 6 chicks at our local feed store last Saturday...2 Long Island Reds, 2 Dominiques and 2 Buff Orpingtons. All are thriving and growing and happy. Names are Ruby, Lucy(Lucille Ball), Miss Queenie and Alice and Betty(after the nice lady that helped me at the feed store, and they are her favorite) and Sally. They are a week old today. Lucy the RIL, knows my voice already and comes running when she hears me. Alice was the first to scratch for food on the ground, had pastey butt, but that's taken care of and the rest are just as sweet as can be. I let them peck around in the grass twice daily, we've built a small hen house but are looking for ideas for making a coop out of pallets and attaching a run to it. They will eventually have free run of the yard, going back to their coop at night. Any ideas on coops made from pallets? Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help. PS, we live in sunny, hot South Florida, so protection from the cold is not too much of a factor.

 

[sumi]

Have a look at this thread: chicken coop made from pallet

 

[DianaMallory]

Have a look at this thread: chicken coop made from pallet

that is what I was going to suggest. I read that one and was so impressed with all the details she went into! A lot of work but nice coop was the end result with my kind of price tag!

 

[joetta]

Thanks for the information guys. We ended up using pallets and discarded wood and some type of shipping box found at BF place of employment. Just finished it the other day, baby chicks have been out to enjoy a few hours during the day. They seem to love it, running around and flapping their wings, jumping, playing and exploring. They haven't discovered the roosting bar or the hen house section, but have ventured up the ladder to have a peek. Already thinking of expanding the run area and making it taller so that I can walk in, instead of crawl.

. Any suggestions on the first night I leave them out there? Anything special I should do to prepare them?
Thanks, Worried Mother Hen