Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

Very nice work!

Thank you. It's about the best I can do without detaching the chicken run fencing and moving the chicken coop. At any rate, the pallet wood I used to replace the OSB is of better quality, so it's a stronger repair than the original.

 

[Knobby]

I'm planning on building another coop that will be 3 pallets wide by 4 pallets long. Would like to have just dirt flooring and do a deep litter method on top. My question is, should I atleast place the bottom row of pallets on cinderblocks, to protect from the elements, or placing them directly on the ground suffice? What are everyone else's experience, is what I am asking for. TIA

 

[gtaus]

I'm planning on building another coop that will be 3 pallets wide by 4 pallets long. Would like to have just dirt flooring and do a deep litter method on top. My question is, should I atleast place the bottom row of pallets on cinderblocks, to protect from the elements, or placing them directly on the ground suffice? What are everyone else's experience, is what I am asking for. TIA

My thoughts...

Wood making direct contact with the ground will rot over time. Putting a cinderblock on the ground first, will make the wood last much longer. Since you are going to use a deep litter method, I would use maybe even two levels of cinderblocks so that the deep litter composting action is not rotting out the wood walls of the coop. An alternative would be to line the coop wall to the depth of the deep litter with something like plastic or linoleum. In any event, you would want to protect the wood walls from direct contact with the composting deep litter.

Or plan on replacing the wood after a number of years because it will rot if in direct contact with the ground or composting deep litter.

You could use a sacrificial layer, like maybe some plywood, over the inside coop wall and just plan on replacing that plywood in a number of years. If you plan on cleaning out the deep litter maybe once a year, you could inspect the progress on any rot on the sacrificial plywood board to determine if/when it needs to be replaced.

I salvaged a bunch of plywood tops from some pallets, so that is what I would probably use. But you could also use pallet wood planks as a sacrificial layer. It would just take a little more time piecing it together compared to slapping on a big piece of plywood. On the other hand, if you had to replace a rotting board, it might be easier to replace a pallet wood plank piece only where needed.

I have often thought if I had to rebuild a new chicken coop, I might just do a garden shed conversion and leave the dirt floor inside, using the deep litter method. There are many nice examples of building a shed using pallets, so I hope you can find something that works for you. Be sure to post your project here to inspire others!

 

[Knobby]

My thoughts...

Wood making direct contact with the ground will rot over time. Putting a cinderblock on the ground first, will make the wood last much longer. Since you are going to use a deep litter method, I would use maybe even two levels of cinderblocks so that the deep litter composting action is not rotting out the wood walls of the coop. An alternative would be to line the coop wall to the depth of the deep litter with something like plastic or linoleum. In any event, you would want to protect the wood walls from direct contact with the composting deep litter.

Or plan on replacing the wood after a number of years because it will rot if in direct contact with the ground or composting deep litter.

You could use a sacrificial layer, like maybe some plywood, over the inside coop wall and just plan on replacing that plywood in a number of years. If you plan on cleaning out the deep litter maybe once a year, you could inspect the progress on any rot on the sacrificial plywood board to determine if/when it needs to be replaced.

I salvaged a bunch of plywood tops from some pallets, so that is what I would probably use. But you could also use pallet wood planks as a sacrificial layer. It would just take a little more time piecing it together compared to slapping on a big piece of plywood. On the other hand, if you had to replace a rotting board, it might be easier to replace a pallet wood plank piece only where needed.

I have often thought if I had to rebuild a new chicken coop, I might just do a garden shed conversion and leave the dirt floor inside, using the deep litter method. There are many nice examples of building a shed using pallets, so I hope you can find something that works for you. Be sure to post your project here to inspire others!

Thanks gtaus!

I am hoping that this will be the last of my coop building, so I'd like for it to last for quite some time. I can always expand upon it, if/when the time comes, but want the basis to be as solid as possible. OK, time to check out Facebook Marketplace to see who is offering free cinderblocks.

 

[gtaus]

I am hoping that this will be the last of my coop building, so I'd like for it to last for quite some time. I can always expand upon it, if/when the time comes, but want the basis to be as solid as possible. OK, time to check out Facebook Marketplace to see who is offering free cinderblocks.

Most of my projects like that were built on cement slabs. But I did see some methods to pour only a footer ring around the edges which you later put the 2X4,s on top of. That would keep the wood off the ground, but still leave your dirt floor inside the coop.

You might get some good ideas from a local lumber yard or building supply store. Usually they have some old guy in there with experience in building stuff like that at their "Pro Desk" and you might get some good free advice just for asking.

Free cinderblocks would be great. I remember when construction blocks were less than a dollar a piece. I looked them up at Menards, and they have gone up in price...

At any rate, if you have to put money into a project, make sure you start off with a good base and build up from there like you said.

 

[gtaus]

I'm planning on building another coop that will be 3 pallets wide by 4 pallets long. Would like to have just dirt flooring and do a deep litter method on top. My question is, should I atleast place the bottom row of pallets on cinderblocks, to protect from the elements, or placing them directly on the ground suffice?

Came across this picture that looked interesting. Notice how they only used pavers mainly on the corners of the coop. That keeps your lower base boards up off the wet ground but does not require blocks all the way around 100% of the structure....

 

[Knobby]

Came across this picture that looked interesting. Notice how they only used pavers mainly on the corners of the coop. That keeps your lower base boards up off the wet ground but does not require blocks all the way around 100% of the structure....

View attachment 3653551

Awesome..that's basically what I had in mind, design-wise. Thanks for sharing the pic!

 

[gtaus]

Awesome..that's basically what I had in mind, design-wise. Thanks for sharing the pic!

I like looking at Google pictures for potential projects. I try to find something close to what I want and just modify it to my needs. Good to hear that picture was helpful.

 

[Sally PB]

Before, about 4 years ago...

Afterwards, early this summer, chicken run compost full up to and over that lower trim board...

You don't notice the level as it inches up, do you?

I was wondering why I don't have a bunch of compost in my run. Well, um, yeah, I actually do. Not 18" but at least 6" in a big area, and 3-4" the rest of it.

I don't know if I'll have time to dig it out before winter. That would be nice, but it's ok if it sits until spring.

 

[gtaus]

You don't notice the level as it inches up, do you?

I was wondering why I don't have a bunch of compost in my run. Well, um, yeah, I actually do. Not 18" but at least 6" in a big area, and 3-4" the rest of it.

I don't know if I'll have time to dig it out before winter. That would be nice, but it's ok if it sits until spring.

Oh, I am well aware of the compost piling up in the chicken run. That is my goal. The deeper the compost, the more composting action going on underneath the top layer.

I often tell people that I have composting chickens and get fresh eggs as a bonus. Over our long winter, that compost will be about half the depth next spring. It's black gold compost for me and I will harvest more money in finished compost for the raised bed gardens than I ever get in selling our excess eggs.

I harvest 100's of dollars' worth of finished compost every year from my chicken run composting system. So much compost, that I invested about $200 in a cement mixer compost sifter setup....

If you are really into big quantities of compost and sifting, then I can tell you that my investment in this setup paid for itself in just 4 hours of run time. I can sift the equivalent of $60 worth of bagged compost every hour using this setup.

Additionally, I have screen inserts for sifting the compost to various sizes. I use a 1/4" X 1/4" screen for potting soil mixes, a 1/2" X 1/2" screen for sifting compost to add to the raised beds mix, and the barrel itself has a 1/2" X 1" screen for a coarser compost mix that I might use as a top mulch. For the most part, I usually use the 1/2" X 1/2" screen.

My chicken run is about 40 feet long. The compost is about 18 inches deep in the front by the chicken coop, but tapers down to about 4-6 inches deep at the far end. I realize that not everyone would like the looks of a chicken run composting system, but to me it's a thing of beauty. It's like money in the bank for my gardening efforts.

And the chickens absolutely love it. They dig holes in the compost and find all kinds of tasty bugs and juicy worms to eat. My commercial feed bill goes down by half in the non-snow months. It good for the chickens and good for me as well. Everybody wins with chickens!