so how do you like your pallet coop??

[myminicooper]

I built my 4x4 coop from pallets, but I took them apart and just used the wood. I used the thinner wood as the walls/doors (made for a neat paneled look), and the thicker pieces for framing. was a lot of work to take them apart making sure to save all the pieces but I think it was worth it since I spent only $10 on the extra materials needed (hinges/paint/latches)

 

[Ema]

I love my pallet coop and run...the only money we spent on it was for chicken wire we found everything else either laying around the property or at the local recycling depot (dump). my coop and run came to about 100 bucks. I have a 10 X 12 foot coop, the pallets are 4 ft tall and then we added 4 feet of chicken wire and then just added mosquito netting on the top to keep them in. We built the coop inside the barn so it has excellent ventilation, and more protection during our cold northern winters, and against the large predators we have. the run is about 16 ft by 20 ft and using recycled materials it turned out pretty good. the run is also covered. If I can ever find the camera disk to upload my pics I will be able to show everyone what we did. to some it may not be anything special but I think it looks great. we plan on painting the outside of the coop in the spring, and adding a few more things in the future but for now we are just enjoying our chickens

 

[Amyable]

I built a pallet coop this spring, there are pros and cons.

Pros:
very cheap (I spent less than $100 on a 10'x4' coop)
easy to find pallets

Cons:
time-consuming
hard work to take pallets apart

It took me about 6 weeks start to finish; although I was 5 months pregnant at the time, maybe it would take a more able-bodied person less time

A pallet coop requires a ton of work, but I was so stoked about keeping it cheap with salvaged materials that I didn't mind. Would I do it again? Probably not the same way; I think I'd just use the pallets as is, without taking them apart. The reason I broke the pallets down was because I already had a frame for the coop, I just needed to enclose it.

So, pallet coops - PITA, yes. Frugal, you betcha.

a thread on my project - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=338323

 

[Ema]

I should add, we never too the pallets apart at all, my husband just put them together with a 2x4 in between each for structure and screwed them all together. making a big square and leaving a 4 ft section for the door which we also used a pallet for the door by adding some hinges and a lock. the 2x4's used in between each pallet was 8ft tall so we then added 2x4's on the top and stapled the chicken wire right across the entire thing.

 

[yomama]

Quote:
Love it! It looks like it would be somewhat easy to put the pallets up as a frame. I'm just thinking the less I need my husband to help me with, the less I worry about him being bothered by getting more chickens

 

[ChookHappy]

After having our for a few months now I really like ours. It was only a 4x4 but it also only took a couple hours to throw it together on a rainy day and was totally free. Of course the intended chickens grew out of it within weeks and moved on to roost on another part of the run but I digress. It serves to hold a few egg crates and it has privacy so it has stayed in the run to serve that purpose. We liked using the pallets so much we are making a 16x18 run "expansion" using pallets along the bottom with welded wire above. So far it has costed us $1.03. Working with pallets is a blessing and quick so long as you are making a chicken coop and not trying to make something beautiful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=296168 This is an old thread that has a pic of the aforementioned coop and a few others to study as well.

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

I'm working on a pallett coop too. So far taking apart the pallets is more work than I had expected. But it's gonna be cheap!

 

[gmendoza]

I have a pallet coop made from pine pallets that are 1-1/2" thick.It wasnt a chore taking them apart because you can hit the boards with a hammer and they fall off in one piece.

The oak pallets take more time to take apart.

Our coop is 8'x8'x7'high inside a run of 12'x24'x7'high.The roof is used 20mil vinyl billboard.Thr run walls are pallets that are screwed together then wraped all around with plastic chicken netting.

Looks cool to me.

 

[Bobby Joe]

I made mine from pallets too disassembled them first 1 day to breakem down 1 to build less than $7 bucks for screws its 4x4 and 6 feet tall at highest point .it was alotta work but worth every bit of 7 bucks

 

[Mark & Nique]

Howdy,

I am currently building our own pallet coop.

I have to agree with the statements made above: pallets are A LOT of work to take apart; they are often not square; they are CHEAP, CHEAP! I have found that when the wood is sanded, it looks a lot better. (Ours is yet to be painted.)