Need (chicken use) ideas for repurposing free pallets

[gtaus]

I am on my way into town to pick up a bunch of free pallets, which I hope to repurpose for use for my chickens. I plan on making a compost pile out of some of the wood, but not just tacking the pallets together, but rather I will be breaking down some of the pallets and making interlocking boards with notches to build up a compost bin - lego logs style. That's one idea I have.

I am wondering if anyone here has other ideas for using either the pallets, or the pallet wood, to make things or use as something for your chickens. I would really like to add some more interesting things to put into the chicken run, which is pretty bare. Maybe things for chickens to hop up on or hide underneath. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[slordaz]

well you can put together some laying boxes with it, a brooder box, if your going to hatch chicks out, you could add perches, shelving ramps, lots of things you could use the pallets for

 

[WallyBirdie]

Anything to perch on or climb/sit under makes for happy chickens!

 

[gtaus]

The free pallets I got had narrower strips of wood than I expected, so my interlocking lego style compost bin is on hold. I got 8 free pallets in good shape, so I'll just have to think of other ways to use them, or the wood itself if I break down the pallets. Will be reading any responses to this thread as well as doing some more Google and YouTube searches. The problem with free is that sometimes you don't get want you planned, so it's back to the drawing board.

 

[Quackter]

I think the majority of them are heat treated for pest anymore, so they can be imported exported. It makes the wood hard but brittle too. Had the same issue, I was looking at a carbide spot weld cutter kinda seriously to nip the heads off?

 

[Ebony Rose]

Could make a brooding area easily with the lumber from them, complete with an unbroken pallet on the bottom (floor) to allow the chicks to dart back into their safe zone when you begin to integrate them into the flock. Escape can be thwarted with a removable 'wall' on that bottom pallet where the opening are, until you're ready to open it up to their exploration.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I just noticed that you're having problems disassembling them. You can still make a brooder with them though, just hang hardware cloth on the pallets that you've joined together to form the walls. If you put hinges on those corner edges it would enable you to expand or give flexibility on where you want to place it.

 

[aart]

I'd use the pallets as is for 3 sided compost bins, drive Tposts to hold them in place.

Pallet set flat on top of concrete blocks at corners(a couple blocks high or set 'tallwise') for under and on top of lounging in run....or leaned against a wall....or two of them 'teppee'd for an 'Aframe'.
Tho if the surfaces/edges are rough splinters might be an issue.

 

[gtaus]

I was looking at a carbide spot weld cutter kinda seriously to nip the heads off?

I don't know exactly what you mean, but if you can't pull out a nail head, you could use a 4 1/2 inch grinder with cutting wheel and make short work of it. Of course, depending on what you use the wood for, you could also just hammer the nail head studs over back into the wood.

 

[gtaus]

I just noticed that you're having problems disassembling them.

No problems yet as I just got the free pallets loaded into the trailer and back home. Have not started doing anything with them yet as it is raining here today. The issue I was talking about was that I was expecting to get some pallet boards about 1x5 or 1x6 but the pallets I got for free are using 1x3 slats. So my idea of using them to build a compost bin in a lego log style with notches will not work as the boards are not wide enough. So I have to think of a redesign or another use.