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Old 10-18-12, 02:43 PM   #1
Acuario
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Default Chicken house from old pallets

What to do with a pile of old pallets?

I needed a new hen/turkey house for the chicks I bought 3 weeks ago - they grow pretty quickly!

The houses I currently have will soon get overcrowded and then the chicks end up getting squashed overnight.

Solution, in classic EcoRenovator style - build one out of pallets I obtained free from a local plumbing wholesaler - they were being thrown out and were destined to become chipboard.

I never was very good at woodwork when at school, I ended up in the pottery class as if you take too much off you can just stick it back on and I always seemed to plane/cut/file off too much.

I have built hen houses before from pallets, all it takes is a bit of forethought (a couple of minutes) and a pile of bits, no plans involved!

The tools I used:
A jigsaw
A tape measure
A hammer
An electric screwdriver (drill with a bit)
A set square
A staple gun

The pictures show the progression of the house.

This isn't meant to be a post about how to build a chicken house, it's just meant to inspire. I'm sure any carpenter would dispair of the construction but it works, cost me all of 5 euros and my hens and turkeys will certainly appreciate it!

Acuario

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Old 10-18-12, 02:44 PM   #2
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..more photos
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Old 10-18-12, 03:46 PM   #3
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Here pallets tend to be worth $5 each if they are not busted up and some of them have a $15 deposit on them, altho there are places that will give away one or two or will give away broken ones.
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Old 10-19-12, 10:11 AM   #4
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Nice use of what you had on hand. I doubt many predators will get into that thing!

I would change one thing, though. I would put something waterproof on top of the roof, to prevent saturating the wood.
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Old 10-19-12, 12:00 PM   #5
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Looks good to me. I don't think chickens are very great carpenters so they won't mind your less than stellar work.

How long did it take you to put together?
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Old 10-19-12, 01:55 PM   #6
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nice job! I agree with waterproofing the roof.
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Old 10-20-12, 12:47 AM   #7
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It took me an afternoon to build - about 4-5 hours in total.

The chickens are happy as I timed it well, we have just had our first rain in nearly 7 months.

I did think about waterproofing the roof but it rains so rarely here (see above) that it's more likely any waterproofing would break down in the sun. Also the chickens do like roosting on top as well. A fresh layer of chicken poo doesn't do anything much good!

You'll see from the photos I did put plastic waterproofing under the roof. On my previous builds I've overlapped the roof timbers so waterproofing under the roof wasn't necessary.

Acuario
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Old 10-22-12, 08:05 AM   #8
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Oh, right. Spain.

What breed(s) of chickens do you have? They might be something we don't see over here.
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Old 10-24-12, 01:18 PM   #9
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I have no idea what breeds I'm afraid. I'm sure someone could identify them from photos.

We did have some that were a breed called 'Gallina de Prat', which is a typical Catalan breed - they are noted for having blue legs. Unfortunately our cockrel took a particular dislike to them and pecked them really badly so we ended up giving them away (we had them for eggs, not meat).

We have one black type that has a bald neck, I know someone who knows what the breed is so I'll ask them and let you know.

I buy them as day old chicks. Some are black, others yellow. Some of the yellow ones fatten up pretty quickly, others not - two different breeds. We (or at least I do) kill them when they are between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 months for meat (I don't think I'll ever buy an anaemic supermarket chicken again!).

The turkeys are also for fattening up and for christmas/new year. Again I've no idea of the breed.
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Old 10-25-12, 07:59 AM   #10
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Bald neck - we call those Turken.

The fat yellow ones might be Orpingtons. They also make good mothers. Right now mine has her second batch of chicks this year. (1 week old - cute!)
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