Yes, those 1st few days with new chickens are always hairy. I buy POL from a reputable breeder but it's a financial enterprise so while they are very well looked after they aren't used to a lot of handling.That’s almost what Andrew said as well... He’s working Monday through Thursday full time, half here and half at the other Abbatoir. I’ve enlisted the guy who I was incubating with to help with the work. With him at the young age of 63, and me with my shoulder and back issues, this bodes for an “interesting” phase in the construction process.
Speaking of which... My 10 newest chicks have been relocated to the hospital tractor here. I’ve pulled it alongside the king pin of the 5th wheel, right next to the batteries. They seem to be settling in well, but are completely unused to handling or my voice, which is somewhat vexing. I’m sure I’ll get them tamed down eventually. Meal worms usually help
As for the building ~ I wish you all the luck in the world! We began extending our chicken run but the downhill side is sitting right on the edge of a drop off & there's nowhere really stable for a ladder so we are forced to wait on our lads. Neither John nor I fancy trying to break our necks just there.
I need a solid kick in the butt to get on this! But I’m thinking any decent sized and reasonably salvageable 2x4’s will be repurposed for chicken tractors, and these 2x4’s actually are about 2x4! Not somewhere between 1.5-3” x 3-5” apparently I need 5 12’ 2x4’s translates in FIL to she needs 1 or 2 something randomsized no where near straight boards 
