How to Build A Chicken Coop Under Five Clucks Or I Mean Bucks

Drive to the back of any Walmart and ask an associate if you can have a few pallets. They will usually have a pile of them and will tell you to help yourself. Sometimes Walmart gets money back from their suppliers when they return pallets so be sure you ask first. If you can't find any at Walmart try other stores. If this fails drive around in an industrial part of the town you live in and keep your eyes peeled. If you know where there is a row of dumpsters you can usually find a pallet or two sticking out. Visit construction sites and you might just get lucky. Make sure you find pallets of the same dimensions. Most pallets are four by four feet square. It doesn't matter if they're perfect. Once you've got them half the job is already done.

After hauling your pallets home get out your hammer and some nails. Nails, staples, and a heavy duty stapler are the only things I had to buy when I built my coop so thus the $5 buck chicken coop. You'll need a saw too. Take your best pallet and put it on the ground. Then take the other four and place each on end around the pallet you have on the ground. This will form your coop walls. It's easier to have someone help hold them in place as you nail them to the base pallet. I put each of my wall pallets up on top of the floor pallet instead of on the ground around the floor pallet. Just makes for better structure and attachment.

Once you've nailed them all together you should have what looks like a box without a top or lid. You'll notice that most pallets have slats with gaps in between each slat. So this is what you do to close in the gaps. Visit your Walmart again and ask for the empty card board boxes. Most any retail store will have a plentiful supply of card board boxes. Just ask nicely and get a few. Take them and staple them to the inside of your pallet box. Just line them up to cover the entire inside of your coop. Use them on the floor as well. The nice thing about using cardboard is that you can throw it away if it gets wet or soiled.

Once you have lined the coop with cardboard it's time to make a couple perches or roosts that span the width of your coop. Put your first one about 8" off the floor and your second about 8" above the first and back a foot. This will allow your chickens sufficient space and avoid them defecating on each other. To place the roosts just use your saw and cut holes through the cardboard where the open gaps in the side pallets are. It's really easy to do this. When finished now it's time to add some sawdust to the bottom of the coop to absorb all defecation. This keeps the coop nice and dry. If you can find some free sawdust at the local mill or carpenters shop or construction site it's free, if not you can buy it or just shred some old newspapers.

Now for the roof. Drive around again out in the country and start looking for a few tin scraps or a couple pieces of wood. You just need enough to cover your 5x5 foot coop. The inside of your coop is 4x4 foot, but the outer shell will be about 5x5 so you will need roof enough to cover this. I found an old farmer with some junk tin and took them home and used them. If you use boards you can use nails, but you should use some exterior paint or asphalt shingles to protect the wood and avoid leakage. To attach my tin to my coop I just nailed four nails into the upright on the end pallets and then stretched two bungee cords from nail to nail across the tin. This holds it down without having to poke any holes. This makes for a water tight coop.

Now that you have your little pallet coop, you will need to cut a hole in one end for an exit into your run or free range area. I also put an old blanket beneath the tin roof to insulate the coop. I can always remove my roof and wash the blanket. I stretched a few small boards across the span pallet to pallet to keep the blanket up out of the chickens way. From these boards I also hang their heat lamp or light. I even put a plexiglass window in the coop for easy viewing pleasure. Again you can find this somewhere too for free if you look creatively. Take some scrap boards and build a little ladder for your birds to easily enter and exit the coop. If your chickens don't have full plumage and it's cold you might want to close up the exit at night and keep their food and water inside until they are old enough to venture out. You can paint your coop to make it look better too. Above all have fun!