Buckling down and backwards building ccop

[3KillerBs]

I do miss a nice after dark freight train.
We do live within a brief skip of flight path range of our small regional airport. VERY large and scary sky things are jet planes!

This is only the second time in my life I've been beyond the sound of the trains.

But we do get light aircraft and the occasional military helicopter or Osprey.

 

[TimonHens]

I did not realize they would be too daft to go into the coop to get out of the rain.
Why did I even bother?

Definitely came down hard enough to come in through the monitors but I was too busy running after birds getting drenched to do anything about it.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I did not realize they would be too daft to go into the coop to get out of the rain.
Why did I even bother?

Mine won't go into the coop for rain either. So having outside rain shelters is a necessary thing for me.

 

[TimonHens]

The fact that they also would not go UNDER blows my mind. Especially since it was hot enough they actually spent most of the morning under anyhow...
Maybe it was hot enough that wet feathers were still cooling?

I do feel like I need to do something more for interior perching and all.

Also definitely need to run some silicone along the monitor beam strategically and figure out my weather covers. Significant blow in from above.
That said the front and back had no extra moisture to speak of except where the pop was open, so looks like my front overhang is sufficient.

 

[Ted Brown]

I saw this early on and posted a thread Like, then missed the whole thing until now.

Brilliant! I assume it stayed at 8' by 12'?

I note you do not like photos; the rest of us love them. A few more of the coop and something showing your run setup would receive round applause from us followers.

You will be mightily impressed with how well the Woods KD works as you go through the seasons. Make sure you are able to close the monitor and side windows by late fall!

What is your door status? I saw that you were unhappy. I just built a door from vertical boards with a Z behind; cheap, easy, works still after 3+ years.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I did not realize they would be too daft to go into the coop to get out of the rain.
Why did I even bother?

Definitely came down hard enough to come in through the monitors but I was too busy running after birds getting drenched to do anything about it.

Mine love to be out in the rain, at least to a point. They might go under shelter in a real heavy storm. Rain can bring worms to the surface, they like worms. Yours are fully feathered by now and should be able to handle rain very well.

Just because you may not like rain doesn't mean it bothers them.

 

[3KillerBs]

In re: rain,

You might find this thread reassuring.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/23932868

 

[TimonHens]

I note you do not like photos; the rest of us love them. A few more of the coop and something showing your run setup would receive round applause from

I like photos, I am just weird about sharing them, and also find this site difficult to navigate on my phone.
So we landed on 8x12 is and things are very toasty inside

Door is holding on. Vintage door remains saggy but I think it has settled down. I want to slap a coat of paint on it and maybe do a little spring holder for cleanings. Perhaps I can make a scrap of awning if I figure other odds and ends out.

Today's problem is the perching area. And I have Nugget to model because the cockerels went absolutely bonkers for 5 mins when someone stuck their head in the pop and saw things piled in the scratch section for scrub out.
View from pop

And view from sitting in the middle looking up

So Nuggers is right at the bottom of the pecking order with the other 2 bantam pullets, which means they are all very victimized by the cockerels.
My problem is that a solid 3rd of the birds are happy to sit on the back edge of the board, which is okay from a poop perspective, just annoying. My concern is that their heads will be too close to the roof in colder times for those opting for the bar.
Currently it is a piece of countertop bracketed onto 4xx4s (cut to 5ft) with about 6 inches of clearance before a 1x3 spans the distance. It is long enough that I ended up bracketing to the rear wall and they will also sit on the metal bracket.
I was wanting to put in a second lower level but since the real life utilization is not what I expected, now's the time to make revisions if it is going to cause them damage later.
I really need to get cracking on nesting boxes also since the standards are almost 16 weeks.
The perch should be enough for everyone if I actually go through with dispatching some of the boys assuming the growth has slowed.

 

[Ted Brown]

@TimonHens You get a gold star, thanks for the pics.

A couple of things: your birds will sort themselves out once the winter hits, they are very good at keeping themselves warm as long as they are out of any drafts; you will need to dispatch some of your roosters or they will fight, perhaps kill, themselves and/or some of your hens (ask me how I know).

I did have success with two roosters but one was a late arrival and clearly well down the pecking order.

Chickens like to be at the highest level possible, give them a bit of time to adjust and I guess that they will all end up using the roost bar unless rooster conflict chases some away.

Best of luck!

PS I love your roof.

 

[TimonHens]

Must try to get better picture of full roof effect with the different shades and opacities!
They find it too transparent sometimes but I think it is okay for them since they otherwise hang out in the crabapple.
The weather is looking decent this weekend so it will be interesting to see if any coop projects get done.
We are having a round of is it pullet moult or mites, for I surely do not know if I am seeing breed variability or a possible problem. The standards are hitting 14 weeks and I don't have nesting boxes assembled.

My youngest -"I'm not a murderer, mom" is the only one who can catch the bantams on the short list.
We've been doing mostly hen parties at sunset, kicking the boys out (repeatedly) and making sure the wee ladies get individual feeding. They spend more time up avoiding amour than down.