I’ve found a reliable source for used wooden pallets (as well as heavy-duty plastic ones from time-to-time). There’s always a use for them – whether it’s stacking firewood, scavenging the wood for another project, or using them intact (or mostly so) for one thing or another.
Here are my latest two pallet-projects:
Muscovy Nesting Boxes
The muscovy nesting boxes started life as a 4×4 pallet. I cut it into four sections – one with three flat boards across (for the base), the other three with two. One of the smaller sections, I cut in half to make the sides. The other two made the front and roof. Some scrap 2×4 and pressboard (for the floor) and ecco! I took another length of 2×4 from the long section I’d been using to prop the peach tree limbs and put a perch across the barn stall.
Next up – Boer Goats need dry hay for roughage, but they’re notoriously bad about wasting it. They’ll pull a bunch out of a standard hay rack, eat a bit, drop the rest on the floor and poop/pee on it. Once that happens, they won’t touch it – it’s just waste. Another crate, scrap 2×4, and some salvaged 2″ woven wire fencing, and here’s the fix:
Wooden Crate Hay Feeder
Wooden Crate Hay Feeder
Note from the side view that I tilted the top out a bit so the hay falls down and forward as it gets eaten.
It seems to work pretty well. They can pull hay out with their lips and tongue through the mesh, then munch on it without dropping much at all (note all the waste hay below from the previous method). Now to make an identical one for the shack in their mini pasture (behind the chicken coop).