Starting my pallet chicken coop!

[ccarver80]

My wife and I are finally building a house way out of town (35 miles from the nearest grocery store to be exact and I got her convinced to let me get chickens!!!

I'm currently running around town looking for free pallets I have a lot of designs and how I want to build it in mind.

I will post pictures once I start!

 

[ccarver80]

Got a few palettes today... getting an idea how big to make it.... think I'm going to add at least one more row on the base.

 

[RJSorensen]

Pallet coops can be very fun. And by the way, welcome to BYC. Yes bigger is always better for sure. That pallet lumber is hard as nails in my neck of the woods, so should hold up for a long time. Lots of coops on BYC made from that material. Check out the COOPS tab in brown above and do a quick search for pallet coops if you have not do so already.

Best to you and your new adventure,

RJ

 

[Yellowcoop1]

Good luck on your search for pallets. Good luck with the new home as well. Can't wait to see your coop progress.

 

[ccarver80]

Im struggling on trying to find out how to insulate it being as it gets to -40 below zero in the winter were I'm from..... roll in insulation is 15" wide or 24" wide.... the distance between my stingers on my pallets are 19-20" ... meaning I either have gaps or shoving insulation in and wasting money. ... sheets of foam R-10 board is expensive about $10/4x8 sheet... by my math ill need at least 15.... that's $150!!!!.... any other ideas would be awesome!!!

 

[AkChris]

You could fill the inside of the pallets with cob or other natural mortar. Basically a mix of straw or sawdust with clay and sand. Some recipes also add cement. Do a goggle search and you'll find lots of info. The straw creates a good deal of insulation. Plus it would add strength and stability to the coop. It would make it quite a bit heavier though and would be lots more work.

If the standard roll sizes for insulation don't work what about some type of blown in insulation? For a small project like this you could just instal it by hand (wouldn't need to rent the blower) and a few bags would probably be enough so not too expensive.

 

[ccarver80]

Great idea! I i thOught about the blown in insulation. .. the way I have my walls though the stingers are horizontal instead of vertical so I have to figure out how to pack it in. I will look up some straw recipes on the internet today though. Thanks!