Paying for pallets?

[ThinkingChickens]

Better idea.... pay someone on CL to do the delivery. There are guys on there that will quote you and many will charge just $10 or so if it's not too far. Or, offer a teenage neighbor $20 to go get them for you. It's amazing how the teens in our area clean up during summer. Ha ha. They mow grass, take out shrubs, run errands, etc. all for a nominal fee.

 

[ContessaKris]

I always thought pallet wood would be an inferior wood to use for a chicken coop. I didn't want to have to replace the wood all the time. It seems splintery to me anytime I see a pallet as well. Is there a way to take care of that? I guess a belt sander and some sealer? IS there sealer that won't hurt the chicks? Don't want them getting splinters and don't want them dying from sealant...

Now maybe I should look for pallets!

 

[ChickenSahib]

I say do it. The amount you're saving beats the amount in shipping. Plus, I think he's being generous with charging you $50.

No family members have a truck or anything?

 

[ThinkingChickens]

Quote:
I think most sealers are okay as long as you allow plenty of dry time. I'm sealing in Cedar Penofin because it works really well, is the same stuff used on our fence, deck and house and dries fast. Plus, it's not a surface sealer. You actually wipe it down after you stain.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Visualize 30 pallets, some as long as six feet. That's a flatbed trailer load, not a quick run with a pickup truck. I stick by my saying that $50 is a reasonable amount for delivery, and I still don't know how far it will be.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Look in the coop section for "pallet coop", there are some great ones.

Some folks don't break them down, they just skin them over with plywood, luan, whatever they have around.

DH is an industrial painter, he says any kind of latex sealer will be fine.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I don't want to hijack this thread but wanted to give an insight on the misconceptions of using pallets. Tell me what you think after reading this post.

Some pallet wood is great, some wood is good, some wood is ok and some wood is a piece of junk. It just depends on what type of pallet wood you get. I get my pallets from a local glass company, farm implement store and car dealership. I always advocate to recycle. Some people only like using new lumber and that's ok. I'm just not a fan of it when I can recycle and save literally THOUSANDS of $$$$$ and it looks just as good and it lasts a long time. Everyone is not able to go to a lumber store and dish out $500.00 to $3,000 for materials for a chicken coop, so I use the cheap person's way of building.

The pics below are my chicken coops, stalls, nesting boxes, and so much more that have been made using pallets and other recycled woods. As long as I have owned animals, I have NEVER EVER EVER bought brand new lumber. It's not in my budget. I'm VERY cheap, oops, I mean VERY frugal. You are right when you say use a sander and sealer. That's what I did.

This is an aviary for my peafowl that was built using pallets.

Other things made from pallets and recycled wood.

Guinea Pen made from pallets and recycled dog kennel.

Chicken stalls where chickens roost at night.

Raised brooders

Portable roosts that can me moved to wherever I need them:

Picnic benches that can be convereted to picnic tables:

Portable nesting boxes. Can be moved where I need them.

Portable Feeders:

 

[bryan99705]

Have you ever torn down a pallet? especially oak ones? You may want to do it once before having a pile dropped in the yard.

 

[ContessaKris]

Wow KuntryGirl. Everything is just wonderful! Now I want to search out pallets.

I did take a walk around my house to see what we had on hand and found an old entertainment cabinet, 3 sheets of pulled paneling, wooden children's kitchen set, several wood crates, several unused doors, a treehouse to pull down and apart. I'm thinking our coop will be a mismash of on hand pieces. Now the key is to make it look good so it doesn't look like a shanty.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
There you go.

My kind of thinking. If you have things around the house that you can use, that is perfect. As far as making it look good, a coat of paint of your favorite color is the trick. I have been VERY lazy about paiting all of my coops and aviary. I hope to get it done before 2012.

And keep your eye out for Craigslist, someone is always giving something free. You may be able to score some free paint.

I'm sending good vibes your way that you can find everything that you need for FREE or VERY VERY VERY cheap to construct your coop.

Thanks for the compliment.