Thoughts on using plastic pallets for flooring

[littlebigchicks]

We are in the process of moving our coop over to a new location and I was wanting to use plastic pallets for the flooring. Picture attached to show the layout (would be leveled before the coop moved into it).
Can I get some pros and cons of doing this versus just putting the coop back on the ground. We would fill in the holes of the pallets with drainage rock. Thanks!

 

[aart]

Can I get some pros and cons of doing this versus just putting the coop back on the ground. We would fill in the holes of the pallets with drainage rock.

I see no pros to this set up.
Unstable foundation for long term.
What does your coop look like?
What is your geographical location?

Are there drainage holes in the divots of the plastic pallets? I'd hate to think of any spilled water collecting in those divots where poop dust and bedding dust would certainly filter down into the drainage rocks.

Even if the divots had drainage, they would still become filled with poops between the gravel added to them.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

What is DLM?

Deep litter method

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I actually think your plan is feasible. Would the chickens be in it 24/7 or do they have access to free range occasionally? I see all the concern about smell and literally don't understand it. I would make sure you incorporate some type of dust bath area for them to let them be able to scratch, other than that I think your plan is a good solution to a muddy problem

Placing the coop on dirt, or elevated above a dirt floor, allows use of the deep litter method of management, which is almost completely odor free, produces good compost, and requires only limited and infrequent effort by the owner to maintain.

The plastic pallets are non porous, don't drain, and will do nothing but trap feces into a stinking hard to clean mess which will eventually harden like concrete (if they are lucky), mostly in the divots. Almost every solution to that problem involves installing a floor over the floor of pallets, which begs the question of what purpose the pallets actually serve in such a case?

Moving the pallets to the "ouside", whatever that means, theoretically to lift the coop off the ground for concerns of rot, and perhaps drainage, is just like setting 4x4s on the composite plastic bases (which I use for some projects) instead of the old concrete deck blocks (which I use for other projects). Its wasteful of pallets - I'd cut one up to use as a rot-proof base if that were my plan and save the others - but it has some understandable purpose.

Of course, you then have to deal with predator proofing the now lifted coop back to ground level, and with any breezes the now lifted coop allow under the roosts...

Trying to help the OP solve problems, not create new ones.

 

[3KillerBs]

Are there drainage holes in the divots of the plastic pallets? I'd hate to think of any spilled water collecting in those divots where poop dust and bedding dust would certainly filter down into the drainage rocks.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I see no pros to this set up.
Unstable foundation for long term.
What does your coop look like?
What is your geographical location?


Even if the divots had drainage, they would still become filled with poops between the gravel added to them.

What @aart said.

This appears inferior to placing the coop on the ground in every meaningful measure. Save the plastic pallets, make a second coop out of them for injury, quarantine, brooding, or chicken math.

 

[3KillerBs]

It gets fairly wet there when it rains so that's why I put the rocks there, plus I need to level it out since it's rather uneven and this was less expensive than cinderblocks to raise the coop up

I was actually going to have the coop sit on top of the pallets instead of having the pallets go inside the walls. Going inside the walls will make the clearance under the coop too short for the girls to walk around. (picture below for better visual of coop)

I hadn't actually thought of putting anything over the pallets, just let them walk on the plastic. Will this be bad for them? I could easily fill the holes with cement, that's true.

@aart could you give me more details on why it would be unstable long term? And any way to make it more stable - if we went this route.

Coop picture:
View attachment 2673817
Located in Charleston, SC

What is DLM? We currently have dirt and it's just so difficult to clean out. Was thinking the plastic pallets for the ease of just hosing off. Still rather new to it all, so any tips on cleaning the dirt floor?

Deep Litter and Deep Bedding are means of managing manure without having to clean so frequently. They are odor-free, but you have to provide the correct conditions.

This is my article on Deep Bedding, which includes definitions of both systems. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

Plan now is to move the current setup and connect to the new 10x20 run. My thought with the pallets is to place the current setup on top of the pallets to keep it off the ground and make it easier to clean, but want feedback from people who have more experience than us on doing this

In addition to what others have mentioned in using the plastic pallets to lift the current coops, you would be creating rodent habitat between the ground and the pallets.

Being in the Carolinas you also have to deal with our vicious, wood-eating climate and wood-eating insects. Putting the coop up on blocks is superior in all respects, both because it keeps the coop clear of termites and reduces rot and because you can lift the coop high enough to allow light, air, and the presence of chickens to deter vermin.

P.S. Be sure to stack the blocks with the holes vertical because that's the orientation where the strength is. This is what happens to a block that's set the wrong direction:

 

[perkolator]

Nothing can dig under it into your coop.

Perhaps, but I have plastic some pallets a rodent definitely chewed a hole through. Rodents teeth are ridiculously capable of cutting through stuff

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I vote for dirt floor and DLM

 

[littlebigchicks]

Seeing the pictures of your set up, I'm not sure where you want to put the pallets. I understood the gravel in the photo to be a base you would build on. The rock I advised against was for filling the pockets in the pallets, which I thought would be inside the coop. In the new photo I see two coops connected by a run. In the original photo I saw just a run. Can you clarify your plan?

The run in the original photo is new and will be an addition to our current setup. We were letting the girls free range, but after losing two to hawks, we aren't letting them do that anymore, so we are trying to create as much roaming space as possible while still keeping them protected.
In the new photo, we had the two coops next to each other while we were introducing the new hens (the littles) to the older hens (the bigs) once they were civil, we removed some of the hardware cloth and connected them giving them more room.
Plan now is to move the current setup and connect to the new 10x20 run. My thought with the pallets is to place the current setup on top of the pallets to keep it off the ground and make it easier to clean, but want feedback from people who have more experience than us on doing this