My DIY Chicken Coop

[Dduell2]

So I'm new to chickens, other than when my dad had them when I was a kid, but I've always wanted to homestead.

My family and I decided it's time to get and raise some chickens.

I decided to build my chicken coop myself using mostly recycled materials. I've decided to share my journey mostly so I can look back at what I did later.

Here I took 2 just of 12ft pallets and cut them down. Now I have 2 pallets just over 6ft for a base and a roof.

Here I took the 6ft pallet I will use as my base and cut the slats on the 4 corners. This is to make room for the 4x4 posts to be used as legs. I will use the cut outs in between the 4x4 post and the pallet board for more thickness.

Here I took 2 6ft pressure treated ground coverage 4x4 posts and cut them in half. Now I have 4 ft posts (my wife already moved one before my picture) to use as legs.

I don't currently have big enough screws to fasten the 4x4 posts, so I'll have to acquire some ASAP! I will also be cutting some 2x4 pallet frames into leg braces...

Til next time!!!

 

[cavemanrich]

Let me make a suggestion if I can. I would skip the pallet floor, and use earth, or cement pad. Make your coop a walk-in .
Use the salvaged boards to make walls, and everything else.
Ask anything else you may have.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Dduell2]

Let me make a suggestion if I can. I would skip the pallet floor, and use earth, or cement pad. Make your coop a walk-in .
Use the salvaged boards to make walls, and everything else.
Ask anything else you may have.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

I guess I should have used the term "hen house". This wood floor will be elevated 3ft with a natural run underneath. Then I will make a big run on the side that I can walk in. There will be enough space for me to go into the hen house and the underneath run for cleaning, emergencies, and maintenance. Thank you

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I guess I should have used the term "hen house". This wood floor will be elevated 3ft with a natural run underneath. Then I will make a big run on the side that I can walk in. There will be enough space for me to go into the hen house and the underneath run for cleaning, emergencies, and maintenance. Thank you

I’m a huge fan of raised coops. Not everyone has room for an 8x12 walk-in coop! My coop (henhouse) sits on a 4x4 platform, 2 1/2-3’ up. That space underneath can be a PITA to crawl into on a regular basis.

Fortunately, the girls have decided that it’s a fine dust bath area. I do have the small containers for grit and shell mounted on one edge, but they’re easily accessible from the run. I’d hate to have to crawl into there on a semi-regular basis. Good choice for height! 3’ is WAY better than 2’ for dragging out a sick or irritable hen.

 

[Dduell2]

I’m a huge fan of raised coops. Not everyone has room for an 8x12 walk-in coop! My coop (henhouse) sits on a 4x4 platform, 2 1/2-3’ up. That space underneath can be a PITA to crawl into on a regular basis.

Fortunately, the girls have decided that it’s a fine dust bath area. I do have the small containers for grit and shell mounted on one edge, but they’re easily accessible from the run. I’d hate to have to crawl into there on a semi-regular basis. Good choice for height! 3’ is WAY better than 2’ for dragging out a sick or irritable hen.

Awesome!! Thank you so much! I see so many raised coops for sale from farm stores and what not but they seem so expensive, low, and flimsy...

I intend to have alot of room and stability!

 

[Knobby]

Since you're doing a pallet project, I'm sure folks on this thread would appreciate your efforts..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/show-me-your-pallet-projects.1541562/page-349

 

[Smokerbill]

Nice project you got going. I'll be building another chicken house and run of some kind this summer using cull lumber I got for 70% off at Home Depot.

 

[Dduell2]

Nice project you got going. I'll be building another chicken house and run of some kind this summer using cull lumber I got for 70% off at Home Depot.

Thank you very much! That's a great deal!

 

[Dduell2]

Next I secured the slats to the pallet with some screws. Then cleaned off the left overs from where the slats where cut.

We then cleaned up leftovers and pulled nails to get these 2x4s to use as leg braces.

Pics of my leg braces. Then, it's all put in place and we secure each brace and leg with screws. I tried my best to make sure each leg is level each way.

Flip it over and drive structural screws into the top of each leg.

I think we decided on a new location tho. So now I have some more yard work to do to clear that area for better access!

Thanks for looking some more!!

Til next time...

 

[gtaus]

Signing on to your thread to watch your progress. I love seeing projects made with pallet wood. Looking forward to seeing more pictures as you continue your build.

I have broken down many, many pallets. I noticed in one picture that you use the circular saw method to cut off the pallet wood planks. I do that a lot, too. But it leaves those tail ends of wood with nails in them...

Of course, there are many ways to clean that up, but my favorite method is to use a flat blade screwdriver or chisel and tap the wood to the left and right of the nail head along the direction of the wood grain. That splits the wood into pieces which you can easily remove leaving nothing but the nail heads. Then, I use a long crowbar with good leverage to remove the nails. Sometimes those spiral pallet nails are also glued into the wood. That makes it hard to remove them without a good crowbar. Well, I need to use a long crowbar to make the job manageable.

I don't currently have big enough screws to fasten the 4x4 posts, so I'll have to acquire some ASAP!

I am wondering what hardware you are going to use for your build. Since you probably got the pallets and salvaged lumber at free or discounted prices, you will probably spend most of your money on the hardware.

I am partial to using screws for most of my builds. To save money, I use a lot of inexpensive drywall screws. They work great for most of my projects, but it you get into longer screws, then I have to predrill the hole or the drywall head might ream out. Deck screws with Torx heads are better, but they also cost about 3X the price of drywall screws.

Sometimes, for structural long screws, I will just get some long lag screws and drive them home with an impact wrench...

I see you already attached your 4X4 legs, but lag screws are perfect for that purpose. They just cost more money. Fortunately for me, I salvaged some pallets that had those lag screws in. Of course, I saved every one of them and used them in new projects. Saved a lot of money. Depending on the thickness and length of the lag screw, you can pay $1.00 or more each for them.

Anyways, love to read about the small details of a build to find out what works and what does not. Looking forward to more posts.