My 4x6 Pallet Coop Build (Completed, PIC HEAVY)

[auto5man]

Plans and things u would do differently

CL, the plans I used were 15 dollars and downloaded from My Pet Chicken, I think that was covered earlier in the thread. That being said, I changed the plans up quite a bit as far as dimensions, but I used the construction method from the plans (which I really liked). Once I'm finally done, and I'm almost there

, I will spend a little time putting down thoughts on what I would do differently. So far I'm really liking the coop, but there are a few things. As many have said before me...I would brought have built a little bigger, maybe 4x8, or even 8x8? I love my nest box and roosts. I would probably make even more ventilation that I have. My girls are used to an open air coop style, and even with the two large windows and roof venting in the new coop, it is hotter than the open air coop. It was SO HOT their first week in the new coop and they were all panting and holding their wings out. I will probably still add some closeable vent windows on the eaves of both ends to make it more "drafty" inside,,,drafts are GOOD during a hot summer. I also plan to add and automatic pop door eventually, I long for that luxury! I will also say that you have to be pretty committed to your project to break down pallets. If I were building the same style again, I would look for cheap 1x4 siding boards (i've seen them at discount building supply stores) or even use fence pickets. These are just a few thoughts that pop into mind...

 

[auto5man]

And now for some more progress. July 3rd I made window boxes from scrap wood:




Holes filled:




Sanded:




Primed (had to break down and buy some primer because I ran out of the free stuff):




Sanded again, added a little trim piece, then two coats exterior latex:




And today installed the window boxes and got some flowers. The girls almost rioted when they saw the flowers! Hopefully they won't fly up and start eating them:







Getting close to finishing!!

 

[chickenlover45]

Looks good i like the flower boxes

 

[mountaintopchicken]

You know, I've seen a lot of pictures of pallet coops, and a lot of them look like they won't be sturdy, or won't be easy to work with for cleaning and maintenance, or frankly look a mess. From what I've seen, attractive pallet coop are really rare. What you've done, though... wow! It's adorable, sturdy, well made, looks really workable... and made with pallets! I love it.

 

[chickenlover45]

Do you think it would work having the roof hinged to open on nice days.And maybe hardware cloth across it so the girls cant get out.Would that work?

 

[chickenlover45]

Easily attached, but I didn't take a good picture of that. Simply screw in a 1x4 horizontally along bottom wall, then the bottom of the nestbox rests on that in position against the coop wall. It completely supports the weight of of the nest box, then attach nest box  to wall of coop with several screws...I can take a better picture of that detail if you need a visual.

Could you post some pics?
Thank you

 

[auto5man]

Could you post some pics?
Thank you

I'll be happy to post pics of that. I'll also post pics of the new improvements as well.

Do you think it would work having the roof hinged to open on nice days.And maybe hardware cloth across it so the girls cant get out.Would that work?

I don't think so, it would be pretty heavy for that I think. I did that on a smaller coop I have, its a much smaller structure and the roof is quite heavy to lift. I keep my coop open all the time anyway (except at night), they can go in and out as they please during the day. Yesterday it was so hot in the evening some of the girls didn't want to go in the coop because it was even HOTTER than the outside temp and i had to rig a fan up for them. So today I set about working out a solution. I cut large windows or vents in the eaves on each end and put a fan in one end...much better. Tomorrow I have to hardware cloth over the opening. The cut outs will be fashioned into covers that hinge up and down, sort of like a gunport on an old wooden warship. In the summer they will be hinged up/open, and closed in the winter. Must have made a difference because they all roosted tonight without any encouragement and generally looked much more comfortable.

You know, I've seen a lot of pictures of pallet coops, and a lot of them look like they won't be sturdy, or won't be easy to work with for cleaning and maintenance, or frankly look a mess. From what I've seen, attractive pallet coop are really rare. What you've done, though... wow! It's adorable, sturdy, well made, looks really workable... and made with pallets! I love it.

Thanks MountainTop!

Looks good i like the flower boxes

thanks CL!

 

[auto5man]

Okay CL, here are the nest box detail pictures. In the first picture you can see the two horizontal blocks on each end. Those were screwed onto the outside wall...the box rests on these blocks holding the weight without any trouble, leaving your hands free to secure it with a few screws....



The next photo looking inside the box shows the screws that attach the box to the coop. Click on the picture to expand it...you should be able to see the screws. It really doesn't take many because the blocks underneath are holding up all the weight.




Now, back to that ventilation issue....decided to cut some vents into the eaves. Still not done yet but have a few pictures. This one shows the holes you can see all the way through the coop end to end...



And another look from inside the coop:




While making these cuts and working on the inside of the coop, I'm really happy I decided to go with removable roost bars...that came in very handy. Here is a pic of the brackets that hold the roosts:



With the roosts removed, it was easy access to the eaves. I've seen several discussions on BYC on attaching hardware cloth. It's a good time to show pictures of my method because the next step was to get the vents covered so the coop would be secure again. First the hardware cloth is cut with 4 inch angle grinder...cuts through them easily. I also use snips here and there. Next I use a staple gun to attach the wire to the wood like so:



Next I cut and fit "trim" pieces (7/8 x 3/4) that were ripped on the table saw, but you could just as easily use 1x2's dimensional lumber. The trim pieces are screwed down on top of the hardware cloth, making it very secure. I think that a determined predator could get through the wire if attached only with staples, but secured this way, it's not gonna happen here in the city. You can also see the fan on its dedicated shelf. The opening underneath the window is the people access door opened:



Running out of room for this post, I'll post a couple short vids in the next post, stay tuned.

 

[auto5man]

I know it doesn't look very dark, but as I was inside the coop finishing this part up and I lost track of time,,,dusk was fast approaching and the chickens started coming up the walk. The girls knew what time it was....BED TIME!






I worked as fast as I could but the girls kept coming in....got a little video of the coop filling up fast:




The girls were not very patient, so I wrapped things up for the night and put the roost bars back in. They didn't waste any time and roosted up quicker than ever. They seemed much more comfortable with the fan and extra windows....Success! Here is a short video showing them all on the roost, taken a few minutes after the first video:


That's all for now. Tomorrow I hope to finish up making the vent doors to cover the new windows out of the boards that were cut out, I call them "gun port" doors. Maybe I'll even finish up the last of the painting!

 

[chickenlover45]

Looks good so far auto5man what size fan did you use?
Sorry that im adking so many questions im a newbie