It took some time but we completed our project using many recycled materials and yes a few we had to purchase brand new. Follow along and see what we were able to create.

For weeks I scoured through web pages, Pinterest, YouTube videos and of course my own ideas as well. I scribbled and sketched and did that more than just a few times. We collected materials and discussed possibilities of what might work and what might be a challenge. In the end we are happy with the result.

So here is how it went…..

For months, actually years I have been slowly collecting things that I had plans in my head for. I have collected numerous old and damaged trampoline frames from family, friends and community members. We have collected piles of pallets, scraps of construction materials that would have just been discarded and we saved them.

With my plan in place, mostly in my head we set out to begin. Using 4×4 post leftovers from various projects around the homestead Some fantastic boards we salvaged from a few heavy duty pallets we got our hands on our base was together. It’s 12 feet long, 4 feet wide and 2 feet high. (excuse the mess we hadn’t cleaned up yet.)

Next using 2×4 which also came from large pallets. Yes some pallets actually come with full size 2×4’s. Those i try and grab as fast and as many as I can. We cut and secured cross braces in the frame then using leftover and recycled plywood secured to the top I was beginning to see my idea come to fruition. That always makes me super happy. Kevin however was still in the scratching his head stage. Truth be told until it’s complete this is the stage he is usually in when it comes to my ideas.

It was time to start building up. We found six of our most uniform and like sized pallets to secure in place to build a front and rear wall. After which using more of those 2×4’s I built a short wall with frames to hold a few windows of which of course came from one of the many piles of materials that at one time were meant to be used for cold frames. I still have plenty for that but I am leaning towards another style which I think is better. I was worried the pitch of the roof would be too much so we decided we needed a short wall on the other side as well and added one approximately one foot tall. We had a few pieces of old philon (sp) that we cut to fit in there.

Now for the roof it was back to those heavy duty pallets. 2×3 hard wood beams perfect for roof rafters. We measures, marked and notched each before securing in place to support the recycled metal roof panels we were using for our roof.

With the roof materials in place it was time to sheet the outside with the plywood we still had left over. Thankfully we still had plenty of it. I installed the windows with hinges to allow for ventilation and secured them with chains to allow them to only open so far. Harware fabric secured on the inside was a plan to keep those things we don’t want inside out! VERY important.

So here it is, the back side of the building. If you haven’t already figured it out it’s a chicken coop. We needed a better version of the one we were using in the past and lost a number of our layers to predators. I wanted a sliding door so I could open and close the coop without having to go inside the run. This is what I came up with. A little barn door or a stick. It slides easily and with eye bolts and a caribeener clip it is secured. A little paint pulls it all together and the little barn door stands out. We used the trampoline frames I had been collecting to create the run in a hoop style. Using the left over roofing, hardware cloth and other this and that scraps a door our new chicken coop is secure and the home to some happy pullets. They aren’t quite hens yet but it’ll be no time before we hare collecting delicious and satisfying homestead fresh eggs!

We still have a few more things to do to the coop like weatherstripping, reglazing some windowpanes latches and roofing for the egg box lids that sort of thing. I’ll share those details at a later time but for now after a solid month of work, frustration because pallets are not perfect and rainy days we have a coop of happy birds and a happy homesteader!

Thanks for reading.

xo