Thoughts on using plastic pallets for flooring

[Carson213]

great idea...but i would elevate the pallets 2-3’ off the ground and use no rock...then some stuff will fall through and you’ll get ventilation and your waterer will just drip onto the ground when the chickens drink. i quit using any bedding and if i did it all over, i would do what you’re doing.

if you get too much breeze you can just put a wood wall on the side below the coop to keep air from blowing straight up into the coop

 

[Brooks_]

Even if it could be stabilized for use as a foundation, it would still need to be topped off with plywood. JMO

 

[RLockhart68]

I have my chickens on concrete with very little bedding overnight and free range daily. They roost on a 2x4 landing, 4 boards with approximately 2 inches between each (I would never expect them to roost on a single stick). The only time I had problems with predators was when they were less than a month old. Now that they are full grown it is a non-issue. Maybe I'm just lucky we have coyotes, fox, hawks, snakes and all other sorts of varmints. I was actually afraid to get any fowl because of the number of them.
The op is trying to solve the problem of their chickens being in a muddy enclosure. DLM would just absorb the moisture and not dry out. More smell, more muck, more work (bonus would be more bugs for the birds). Will the divots fill in? Sure will. Will it stink? Imo no. As long as there is no plans to use the pallets in a future house project some cemented on poop is better than chickens standing in mud and muck. Since I seem to be in the minority here, this will be my last post on this thread. Good luck to the op and I hope whatever you choose works for you in your situation.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

So if I understand correctly, and you plan to put the pallets under one or both of the raised coops, I would go a different route. Perhaps raising them higher for easier cleaning and better air flow?

I still wouldn't consider it optimum, but with modification, I could see them working as a base for a floor inside a building. Under a raised coop, not so much.

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

 

[Germanpekiducks]

I've put down plastic pallets with holes in and covered them with a coated chicken wire to stop it from being slippery to walk on but I've also started to put down used coi door mats that are great because I can hose them down easily and it's not slippery and its soft under foot for my ducks and hens, a sea grass mat works great to.