Pallets are a tool that anyone can use for so many projects. They are so versatile. They can be taken apart completely and each board used separately. Or they also can be left intact and used as a whole. Whichever way you decide to use your pallets if you haven’t found a way to take them apart without a lot of difficulties, check out my video on how I take my pallets apart.

But before you jump in with pallets be sure to consider this: What You Need to Know Before Working with Pallets

No matter where you live, your goats will need shelter. I live in Montana, where the winters are long, hard, cold, and windy. Your goats will need to be able to get out of the wet, rain, and cold winds. And even in a hot desert, it would do your goats best to be able to get out of the hot sun. 

Extreme temperatures and fluctuations in temperature have caused numerous goats to come down with pneumonia. You don’t want to be dealing with that in your goat herd. 

Previously, I used pallets to build shelters for my goats that worked great! They kept the goats all warm and snuggly all through the cold winter months. You can see that single sized pallet goat shelter here (← You can read the 7 reasons I find these goat shelters to be the best option.)

That shelter fits 2 goats comfortably and actually, my two wethers and buck, spent the winter all snuggled up nicely.  Two of my does are snooty to my other goats, especially Zoe, my pygmy fainting goat. They don’t “allow” her to sleep with them but probably, if they all wanted to, could easily curl up together in the smaller shelter. 

And a few summers back, when I had five kids, 2 does and outcast Zoe, all crammed into a smaller shelter, dodging the summer hail storms, I realized that I needed to build a larger shelter for my family of goats.

And this double-sized goat pallet shelter is like a miniature barn that you can move and build for next to nothing!

You can find a lot of articles here on A Life of Heritage that will teach you about goat care and be sure to check out The Goat Health, and Information Bundle--it’s full of to-do lists, checklists, record keeping sheets, and resource pages that will get your new (or old) goat herd off to a terrific start!

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What you need to build a pallet goat shelter:

So, first I had to find the right-sized pallets. When I did, I laid them out like I thought I would like them to be and made sure that the roofline would work properly. With the potential for heavy snow loads on the roofs, I want my roofs to be slanted enough that the snow will slide off quite easily.

In a warmer climate, the spaces in the pallets might be ideal. The roof would keep the wind off but the cracks would allow the airflow. 

The slant of the roof is just perfect when the top pallet is on end and the other two are on their sides. 

After I knew how I wanted it all put together I actually took the pallets partially apart. In our area I need all the boards close together so that the wind and snow don’t blow through and pile up inside.

I pulled all the boards on one side. I then needed to make sure that all the nails on the boards were removed.

After removing all the nails, I screwed all the boards back on, but without any cracks. Then I added boards from other pallets I had taken apart to make a solid wall.

I attached the two pallets together like this:

I added 3 boards to hold the roof and smaller boards to screw the roof onto.

I had to add boards along the bottom of the end pallet to be able to screw down the roof.

I think it’s also very important to have a few helpers to add some beautiful homecoming decorations. 🙂

I put the board across the front to tie it all together and give it strength.

Although I made the frame of the pallet without any cost, the roof had the most cost. But it was worth it. It is strong and will stand up to the weather and moisture.

The pallets I used on the sides were about 4 feet. I found a 5-foot pallet to enclose the front. The goats seem to like the security of it being enclosed more. The wind whips around in the winter, and this pallet on the front keeps the snow from blowing in as much. In fact, I need to make this opening smaller. In the biggest snowstorms, the goats have been found with snow on their backs and a bit of a snowdrift inside. Keep that in mind as you build yours.

Here is the completed double-sized pallet goat shelter! Also, you may consider lining the inside of the shelter with some tarp. As you can see above, there are still cracks and as the boards have shrunk in the 4 years I have used this shelter, the cracks are even larger. So that wind chill can still creep inside, which isn’t ideal. 

If you are serious about raising goats, don’t forget to get My Goat Binder mailed right to your door. It will be your saving grace as you raise and grow your goat herd. 

If you are ready for more goat information and resources:

Goat Bloat: The Airtight Truth

What Do Goats Eat?

Prepare for Goats FREE Mini-Course

You can also read more about building goat shelters: How to Build a Goat House, How to Build a Quick Shelter of Pallets, DIY Wood Goat Shelter