Is it crazy to start off using sod as a run material?

[Dimples17]

We have a large pad in our backyard from earlier owners who did the foundation of a large boat shed and then never built the shed. We are going to be putting our chicken coop and run on the closest corner to the house.

The pad doesn't turn into a lake during our PNW winters but it can gather water. My plan is to put the coop and run on some pavers to keep it above the ground.

We have a bunch of pebbles from another landscaping feature we are removing, and a huge pile of sod from digging out a veggie garden this year. My thought is to put a couple inch layer of pebbles at the base of the run to help with drainage, and then make the run out of a thick layer of sod and sort of DLM it. My hope is the chickens will help kill the grass seeds and turn it into useable compost faster.

I'm brand new to chickens and haven't been able to find references to people who have done this. Can any experienced chicken people help me figure out if this plan is actually practical?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is the sod free of chemicals such as pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer?

I occasionally throw clumps of grass, roots and all, into the run, from spots that I've cleared out. The chickens do a decent job at tearing it apart and eventually working it into my deep litter.

Your drainage solution could work, provided the water still has a place to drain to after filtering through the gravel (I assume the pad is concrete? Does it slope away at all at the location you're wanting to build on?)