Pallet shed ideas?

[Lamaremybabies]

I currently have two small coops one of which I bought super cheap (which I realize now is because it is super cheap) and is starting to fall apart, housing 16 chickens, 4 ducks, and a goose... Plus I have a broody with 13 eggs under her. I'm hoping to keep all females that hatch and sell the males, but I still have to house them. Anyways I'm looking for ideas and pictures that you all have on using pallets to make a nice looking shed. I'd also like to keep building costs to a minimum. I need to build something that is no smaller than 8'x8'

My other idea was to buy a metal shed since you can usually find them cheaper than the cost of building a nice wooden shed.

Thank you all so much!

 

[SandeeC]

I made mine out of pallets and some old timber lengths that were laying around. You can see the pic on my avatar. I even used an old trampoline that my boys weren't using anymore for the roof on one side (tin on the other side) and even used the legs to make the gate for the pen The nesting box was made from an old dog kennel with a cat flap on the side of it so I could gather the eggs

 

[SandeeC]

This might be my next coop as I am restricted on space now It's cheap and easy to make

 

[Lamaremybabies]

This might be my next coop as I am restricted on space now It's cheap and easy to make View attachment 1120524

That looks like it could be super cute. I don't think it's practice for my area though... thanks for sharing it anyways!

 

[paintedChix]

I, too, like the hoop coop (from cattle panels for better support against weather/predators).

You could do a "pallet shed" also with a hooped cattle panel roof. Means no rafters to deal with, no lumber to actually purchase.

Here are some pics of some of ours. The hooped coops on 2x4 bases are all 8'x8' x just under 6' tall. The sheds are 8' deep. The pallets are 4'x4' and there are 2 on a side but the one w/ the blue tarp and the one labeled "boys" is wider than 8' less than 12'.







This shed is 8' deep (2 pallets) and 12' wide (3 pallets). I now have the right type of pallets to expand this one to 12x16... Will need a 3rd cattle panel for the roof and it will be attached a little higher on the inside of the pallets to make the extra width and still be high enough. Shouldn't be a problem though - we'll find out.



You can make your shed/coop permanent and "pretty" in a myriad of ways!

Also google pallet sheds - LOTS of pics and here's a great shed w/ all the instructions for build and lots of pics thru out the build. He also did a chicken coop & run later and showed that build partially or fully from pallets. Linked somewhere on the build pages...

Wood Pallet Shed Project

 

[paintedChix]

The "sheds" pictured above in my post were all originally supposed to be temporary. The blue tarped one truly was - being up and in use on that rented property from 5 November 2014 thru 19 January 2015 - when we brought the last load of ponies from the rented property to our new 21 acre site.

The ones for the boys and for the girls pastures were tied with haystring and tarped and we plan on going back and leveling those walls and bolting them together (as demo'd in the Wood Pallet Shed Project), putting the panels up permanently with staples or u-bolts or ?. Then plan on putting a solid roof on - have been looking at several different materials and haven't decided on which one(s) we may be using at this time. It's now been two 1/2 years! They've withstood up to 3" of heavy, wet snow several times, several freezing rains w/ over 1/2" of solid ice layered on the tarped roofs and the rain deluge (11" w/i 8 hours) and sustained winds from Hurricane Matthew in October 2016...

One of the 3 chicken coops needed a tarp replaced (it was previously used) and the boys shed has been thru 2 tarps - that first green one a well used, but free one from Craig's list and lasted most of 2015. Then 2 went up on it after that (both too small to cover it by themselves) - that doesn't work so well but it did survive Hurricane Matthew only to "die" sometime over the winter. Since we were going to put a roof over the panels, I never re-covered it! I just moved stuff around so that the weather doesn't matter to what's stored (no actual pony equipment or baled hay) ...

The girls' feed room is still using that oversized silver tarp - but the cats have done their work well (they think it 's their personal jungle gym or napping spots) and if you look up you can see a "starry" sky. I'm hoping it holds a bit longer - think we will be putting up this product - Solexx XP 3.5mm

 

[Lamaremybabies]

I, too, like the hoop coop (from cattle panels for better support against weather/predators).

You could do a "pallet shed" also with a hooped cattle panel roof. Means no rafters to deal with, no lumber to actually purchase.

Here are some pics of some of ours. The hooped coops on 2x4 bases are all 8'x8' x just under 6' tall. The sheds are 8' deep. The pallets are 4'x4' and there are 2 on a side but the one w/ the blue tarp and the one labeled "boys" is wider than 8' less than 12'.

View attachment 1120747 View attachment 1120748

View attachment 1120749 View attachment 1120751

View attachment 1120752 View attachment 1120753

This shed is 8' deep (2 pallets) and 12' wide (3 pallets). I now have the right type of pallets to expand this one to 12x16... Will need a 3rd cattle panel for the roof and it will be attached a little higher on the inside of the pallets to make the extra width and still be high enough. Shouldn't be a problem though - we'll find out.

View attachment 1120756 View attachment 1120757 View attachment 1120758

You can make your shed/coop permanent and "pretty" in a myriad of ways!

Also google pallet sheds - LOTS of pics and here's a great shed w/ all the instructions for build and lots of pics thru out the build. He also did a chicken coop & run later and showed that build partially or fully from pallets. Linked somewhere on the build pages...

Wood Pallet Shed Project

The "sheds" pictured above in my post were all originally supposed to be temporary. The blue tarped one truly was - being up and in use on that rented property from 5 November 2014 thru 19 January 2015 - when we brought the last load of ponies from the rented property to our new 21 acre site.

The ones for the boys and for the girls pastures were tied with haystring and tarped and we plan on going back and leveling those walls and bolting them together (as demo'd in the Wood Pallet Shed Project), putting the panels up permanently with staples or u-bolts or ?. Then plan on putting a solid roof on - have been looking at several different materials and haven't decided on which one(s) we may be using at this time. It's now been two 1/2 years! They've withstood up to 3" of heavy, wet snow several times, several freezing rains w/ over 1/2" of solid ice layered on the tarped roofs and the rain deluge (11" w/i 8 hours) and sustained winds from Hurricane Matthew in October 2016...

One of the 3 chicken coops needed a tarp replaced (it was previously used) and the boys shed has been thru 2 tarps - that first green one a well used, but free one from Craig's list and lasted most of 2015. Then 2 went up on it after that (both too small to cover it by themselves) - that doesn't work so well but it did survive Hurricane Matthew only to "die" sometime over the winter. Since we were going to put a roof over the panels, I never re-covered it! I just moved stuff around so that the weather doesn't matter to what's stored (no actual pony equipment or baled hay) ...

The girls' feed room is still using that oversized silver tarp - but the cats have done their work well (they think it 's their personal jungle gym or napping spots) and if you look up you can see a "starry" sky. I'm hoping it holds a bit longer - think we will be putting up this product - Solexx XP 3.5mm

Thank you so much! This is really useful!

 

[SandeeC]

Can't see much of it, but I made a pallet pen for our duck that we had, dug a pond and all for her. I just used an old dog kennel with a ramp for her to sleep in. And yes, the cat used to sleep in there too lol

 

[yogifink]

paintedchix - I like your hoop coop with the pallets, that's a pretty neat idea. How'd you keep the pallets from springing apart, did you stake them?

As far as a pallet shed, there are loads of plans I have seen on the web for building like this. I think you'll need to decide if your main goal is cheep or ascetics, however.

If you build a true 'shed' with pallets, all your really saving money on is the framing of the walls. You still need to construct a proper foundation or deck, sheet (plywood) the sides and roof, buy wood for rafters, frame doors/roots/nest boxes etc, and purchase hardware. For 3 bucks a stud compared to the effort and gas involved in collecting pallets, the decision is tough.

If you break the pallets down, I think you can get a lot more done with buying less. But of course, this means more work. (the route I like) Check out the link in my sig for aberdeen elementary.

For easy and effective, a hoop coop is the way to go. Some 1" pvc, wire and zip ties can get you a decent size coop for under $100.

If you're set on the pallets, the idea is relatively straight forward. Build a deck, then use pallets like sip's (looks it up). Sheet it, to keep everything from racking (shifting around) then put on a roof.

At your age, go for the creative route. Get some help from your folks building something and you'll learn some incredibly valuable life skills that folks will envy when your in your 30's and 40's. IMHO

 

[yogifink]

This is a hoop coop I tossed together for something temporary. By temporary, I mean a bit over a year. Then we pulled it down and reassembled somewhere else, where it has been for a year. Still nice and strong, and less than $100.