8x30 American Coop (Carolina Coops) build - pix heavy

[John Canfield]

Thank you for riding along with our coop build. I wish I could have taken more pix but I was pretty busy a good bit of the time. As far as the build, there was a gigantic number of parts to sort out and put in some kind of construction order which didn't work out too well sometimes. Some of the parts were easily identified so we could cluster those together but others were a mystery almost to the bitter end. We did wind up with one small board when we thought we were finished and one of my buddies figured out it was for the walk door at the top of the door opening to close up a gap.

The design is quite good as is the engineering and the build of some assembled parts like the wall sections as one example. I'm still amazed at the size of the coop that was packaged in two oversized pallets (1200 pounds total.) There was zero freight damage - I always hold my breath when I get something by truck freight.

There goes the lunch whistle....

 

[Show Sebright]

I was thinking Pheonix, too, but Creamy has yellow legs. Cackle has White Yokohamas with yellow legs and a similar body type. Think this Cackle photo of a Yokohama matches?
View attachment 3138412

Been following along on your coop build. Looks great. It is interesting to see a Carolina Coop being built, to get a better idea of the design. Usually we just see the finished product.

I agree. I just never see the Yokohamas anymore.

 

[John Canfield]

At lunch we decided to shoo the chickens out - which looked like a Marx Brothers movie. We each had a political yard sign (minus the metal legs) to force them out the door. 6 or 8 went out the door fairly quickly then it was one here and two there.

There are two hold outs - the Polish and the Black Cochin. Maybe they will decide to join the party in the run (or not.)

Those in the run found the food but not the water bar. I caught one and put its beak in the red cup under the silver push button but I'm not sure it caught on.

All the comforts of home including a dirt bath

 

[NanaK]

All the comforts of home including a dirt bath

These babies have a wonderful mansion. I have no doubt they will be living the good life.

 

[NatJ]

We bought 6 Blue Americanas, 6 Lavender Americanas and a 5 chick assortment of "rare" at Cackle. It's been a bunch of fun trying to figure out what the five chicks are.

Yes, mystery "rare" chicks can be quite a puzzle to sort out! I'm glad you're having fun and making progress on identifying them

 

[John Canfield]

They found the water! I happened to be looking at the run cam a while ago and the chicks were lined up at the bar - the water bar .

The next event is waiting for them to return to the penthouse (roost) at dusk - we'll open the door in a couple of hours. I think we should remove the food from that area so they will have an incentive to return to the run in the morning.

 

[John Canfield]

Morning update....

Unfortunately not all of the chicks retired to the 'penthouse' by 9 PM, probably half of the flock was still in the run, I have no idea if they ultimately retired to the roost. The Polish finally left the roost for the run so the only holdout is the Black Cochin.

As of right now, just the Cochin isn't in the run.

Just chickin' around...

 

[3KillerBs]

Morning update....

Unfortunately not all of the chicks retired to the 'penthouse' by 9 PM, probably half of the flock was still in the run, I have no idea if they ultimately retired to the roost. The Polish finally left the roost for the run so the only holdout is the Black Cochin.

As of right now, just the Cochin isn't in the run.

View attachment 3139485
Just chickin' around...

A thought -- the run is very open with nowhere for the chickens to hide and feel secure. They're naturally creatures of the forest floor rather than creatures of the open plains so they can get nervous in a wide-open space.

A few pallets leaned against the walls can help with that.

 

[John Canfield]

Great idea. Staying in the run is just temporary though.

I'm waiting on a fence guy to come out and look over our idea of a large fenced in area so the plan is for them to have a large area under a grove of trees to spend daylight.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Thank you for taking us along with you on this amazing build! No detail too small. No corners cut. Absolutely wonderful to see your birds living their best life.

As for your rooster you said you have your reasons. However, they can add so much to a flock. Protection, personality, and fertile eggs. My shortlist for selecting roosters: play nicely with all the others birds (hens and other roosters), minimal crowing, no attacking people (zero tolerance policy here). We grow out to 5-6 months before processing to cull. About 50% of the roosters make the shortlist requirements.