Chickens instinctively enter a coop at night to roost.
Chickens are not picky when it comes to their coop. The coop functions as a place for them to roost at night, to get out of unpleasant weather and to lay their eggs. A coop should also protect the chickens from predators and look somewhat decent on the outside. Building a chicken coop for free takes some scavenging for materials and borrowed tools if you don't own them. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Pull all the nails from the junk pallets and set aside for later use. When removing these nails, try to keep them as straight as possible.
2. Lay a pallet on the ground to act as the floor of the coop. Using four other pallets, form an open-topped box. Each of the four should stand on end, with slats running horizontally so that they are parallel to the ground. Using the nails salvaged from spare pallets, nail each upright pallet to the floor pallet. Nail at an angle every 6 inches through the outer horizontal slats adjoining the floor pallet. Each upright pallet will have two to three vertical 2-by-4" studs. Nail at a downward angle wherever one of these studs meets the floor pallet.
3. Decide which two pallets are the sides and which two are the front and back of the coop.
4. Remove three cross slats from a spare pallet with a crowbar or claw hammer. These slats will be the roosts.
5. Climb inside the coop with a tape measure and pencil. Locate and mark the center of each side pallet.
6. Place a slat just above the center mark to span the width of the coop. Fit the ends of this roost slat between two cross slats of the side pallets. Nail the roost slat in place at each end to connect it to the cross slats. This slat will be the lower roost.
7. Measure 12 inches up from the lower roost and mark this point on each side pallet. From each of these marks, measure and mark points 12 inches toward the back pallet and 12 inches toward the front pallet. Use the marked points as guides for placement of two upper roost slats. Insert the slats and nail in place as you did for the lower roost slat.
8. Line the floor and inner walls of the coop with cardboard and nail in place. Put a piece of cardboard on one side of the remaining structurally sound pallet and then lay it on top of the coop, cardboard side face down. Connect the pallet to the upright pallets with pieces of wire or twine to act as the roof of the coop. Using a hand saw, cut a hole 12 inches square in the front wall of the coop to serve as the entrance.
9. Cut another hole 12 inches square in the back wall of the coop to act as the egg collecting door. Fill the coop with a few inches of dried grasses. Cut off the bottom 8 inches of a 5-gallon bucket. Fill this bucket nest with 4 inches of dried grasses and put it inside the coop. Cover the egg collecting door with a piece of carpet and nail it in place.
10. Lay a piece of plastic over the roof of the coop and set some rocks or bricks on it to hold it down. Lay two railroad ties on the ground and place the coop on top of the ties to get it off the ground.
Tags: coop with, cross slats, floor pallet, lower roost, nail place, roost slat, cardboard side