North Carolina

[HeatherKellyB]

I should also add that the fun of watching a bantam cochin walk/trot/run away (seeing their fluffy butts), is worth adding them to your flock! They have the absolute cutest fluffiest butts that just waddle side to side. I often call Carlos over just so I can walk him go back to where he was. They're that cute!!!

 

[paintedChix]

An acquaintance in Louisburg NC raises them .

I currently have 1 black mottled hen. She seems to do less panting in my open air coop(s), than the larger breed "meant" for hot weather.

Hoping to get a few more & maybe raise a few myself...

Guess i need to take pics. Only 1 i have of her from over a year ago.

Bantam cochin

 

[ErnieBerley]

well i live near Asheville, and d'Uccle do great here...I know it's different than where you are, but maybe you should move? haha kidding..i love the mountains !!!

 

[Aapomp831]

well i live near Asheville, and d'Uccle do great here...I know it's different than where you are, but maybe you should move? haha kidding..i love the mountains !!!

Greetings from Lincolnton. My goal is to move to the NC mountains one day.

 

[3KillerBs]

I am in the same area and County as you are, I believe (Moore County/West End-Carthage area). I have 2 bantam cochins, one barred rooster and one cockerel like @tn_artist (her girl is the cutest thing EVER!) , a white frizzled that's 8 months old. Throughout this past sweltering summer, Carlos my Barred bantam cochin, free ranged during the days and did really well. He runs around and greets my clients as they drive up and then quickly back to check on the chickens. The one thing that I've found with both of my guys is that they don't do well in tight spaces. I nicknamed Carlos "the spawn of satan" as a cockerel and considered culling him, but I'm so glad that I didn't! Roody, the white frizzled bantam cochin was very similar, although not as bad. He is such a sweetheart now. I guess it could be the combination of those cockerel hormones and tight quarters, but they weren't nice at all. Now they're favorites! I wish you the best on your bantam cochin adventures!

Thank you.

I want my family to feel involved with the chickens beyond eating the eggs so I wanted them to be able to choose a couple hens of their preferred sort as long as the breed is appropriate to the conditions.

I was concerned that those adorable animated feather pillows wouldn't be able to take our brutal summers.

well i live near Asheville, and d'Uccle do great here...I know it's different than where you are, but maybe you should move? haha kidding..i love the mountains !!!

We used to live near Boone. The NC mountains are glorious; God was showing off when He made them. But there are more jobs down here.

 

[paintedChix]

This one is LONG w/ quite a number of pictures.

On a related matter, the more I learn about open coops the more I like the idea for my too-be-built new coop. Does anyone else here in the Sandhills (or similar Carolina climate?), have one?

I am on a constant "shoe string" budget. If i want more birds, I need to re-use or purchase items that aren't going to rot out. I also am not a good builder (lumber framing?? NO) and the family is more interested in gaming (D&D/PS4) than in doing any real building/helping out. SO.

I love my various hooped coops with CP and 2x4" welded wire or 1/4" HC. They are affordable, they are easy for me to build (mostly by myself)and they've worked well thru both hurricanes and winter snow and ice in our areas (Harnett/Moore counties). We did our original ones in 2014 - 2 with a base of 2x4" lumber and door framing and 1 on a 2x6" base. They have been through 3 moves - at the original property they were all actually used as tractors. At 2nd place, where they were put on a friends' property for 2-1/2 months while we were waiting to close on our new property, they were stationary. When first moved to new property they were again used as tractors. However, on the new property,the pastures/lawn was not the same. The wear and tear made me find permanent spots to "park" them.

In 2019, even though all wood was PT (wonder if Thompson's wood seal would work?), the coop bases and door frame assemblies are literally falling apart. W/ Covid 19, I went to working Xtra + lots of OT hours. Tired, didn't get any projects done, but DID buy some things to rebuild my original 3 coops.

So... The new coops will be a bit different. Still using the old CP already wired with chicken wire. Where the chicken wire needs to be replaced, it will be replaced with 1/4" HC (may remove all of it, don't know yet. Only have 1-100' roll of 48" high HC right now and a 2nd partial since I shared w/ a friend). They will be raised up 2' - enabling 2 things - the bottom 2' will allow for raised garden beds on both sides of the coop and we will be able to spread it out 2' wider (10' instead of 8'). The raised garden beds will provide protection around the bottom of the coop, while allowing us to do a deeper DLM inside of it. The front will have 1 row of cinder blocks and the back end will have 2 rows. W' the front of the coop now wider, caught the sale of Retriever dog pens at TSC. I bought 3 front/gate and the extenders 2- 2 packs (would allow me to do another coop ) allowing me to put the gate in the center of the arch (remember - I don't do well with lumber?). It will either be wired, strapped w/ metal strapping or we will use haystring to strap it to the front of the CP arch and to the T-posts set for attaching the CP arches to... Hardware cloth will go on at least the bottom of the fully built, painted, steel front. Then we'd have option of attaching wire higher as wanted/needed.

The back may be partially wood backed. We have wood 4x8' sheets from another project that I can use OR if have the time will put up just open 2x4" wire for now and use up a bunch of pallet wood (time taking apart more pallets and then joining, but not the same as doing framing). I can use a circular saw fine - to cut the arched sides.

Found billboard tarp material. So much heavier than the tarps been using. Haven't ordered yet... Seriously thinking of roofing one with galvanized ridged tin. It's been sitting for 2 years, might be something I can use. Don't have enough for all 3 coops though. Ideas, ideas... LOL.

What about the base you ask? Will be using just the T-posts. May even extend the length of the chicken coop from the 100" (just over 8') it is now to 150" (12-1/2'. Panels are 50" tall so when hooped are 50" deep). Again, haven't decided...

We were supposed to start yesterday. I actually had my youngest daughter and her fiance scheduled to come up from Lumberton - woke to pouring rain. No one willing to work right now in pouring rain, so cancelled for now... Of course, then it stopped and the sun popped out, but they work nights and didn't want to get started later in the afternoon. But in our plans. I have almost 6 weeks off over Christmas while our Vet clinic is being re-furbished and going through re-organization...

Here's the 3 coops that will be redone. I will do a coop building page when I have them rebuilt... As you can see, they are not fancy. They can be prettied up as many have done here on BYC. I love re-using our haystring - you can see it for strapping down tarps, repairing a hole or two that the PONIES tore into the chicken wire (note - chicken coops are going to be fenced in as well - no pony access). To see how we will do the attachments to the T-posts - check out "Blooie's" page (she's in WYO).




The last two pictures shows a 4' deep x 8' wide coop made w/ T-posts here... Contemplating re-doing them, too... The Retreiver dog pen panels w/ centered gates would be so nice to use on the fronts!!



If I do the garden beds and raise them up, can move them out to 10' wide as well... The 2 grand daughters zip tied wire in place on the CP, then I popped them into place myself. I used a couple of CPs that had been bent up by the ponies to make gates. Still have them attached by haystring, plan on hanging them by bending the wire I have "spoked out" on one end and inserting into screw eye rings to make "farm gates".

Again, nothing fancy. Has a lot of room for making pretty. LOTS of ideas in the coop sections of BYC.

I also turned 3 of 4 permanent wood framed, 4' high pens (I think they may have been chicken pens???) into hooped coops behind our house. I haven't done the fourth yet - need to - it has a flat tin roof. Still have to duck under the 4' high wood "sill", but at least you can stand up in the pens once inside. This shows the first two done (with feed bags along the bottom to keep some babies inside the 2x4" wire on that pen before doing something else...



Edited it to add - The feed bags along the sides are put up by stringing them on hay string end to end. The bags do actually sandwich a bit inside of each other. The bottoms are also all strung on hay string and the ends of the haystring are wrapped and tied off around the two end posts. It worked for two years. Then I put tires, stacked two high along those edges. Still working on putting compost from each of the pens into them and plan on planting them next year... I did like the feed bags, myself. Wish I'd painted the tires before putting them in place and partially filling them. May still be able to paint them, not sure...

Edited to add - 2 - These have not gotten air time like I've heard some others have. I think it's because they aren't fully coverd by the tarps (all the way to the ground on the sides and back). I could be wrong. But I know several other BYCers, have had issues with that. We have definitely had winds over 70 mhp here (thank goodness, not everyday) - sustained on occasion during hurricane and micro storms.

Also, I've never had issues with anyone of the taller combed birds having frost bite - even when we had ice storms that coated everything with 1/4" of ice. Honestly feel it's because these are so "open air". Other coops I've had that were fully enclosed (seemed to have plenty of vent, no sign of condensation) w/ wood or metal, I had frost bitten combs, wattles and on one rooster his toes...

 

[3KillerBs]

This one is LONG w/ quite a number of pictures.



I am on a constant "shoe string" budget. If i want more birds, I need to re-use or purchase items that aren't going to rot out. I also am not a good builder (lumber framing?? NO) and the family is more interested in gaming (D&D/PS4) than in doing any real building/helping out. SO.

I love my various hooped coops with CP and 2x4" welded wire or 1/4" HC. They are affordable, they are easy for me to build (mostly by myself)and they've worked well thru both hurricanes and winter snow and ice in our areas (Harnett/Moore counties). We did our original ones in 2014 - 2 with a base of 2x4" lumber and door framing and 1 on a 2x6" base. They have been through 3 moves - at the original property they were all actually used as tractors. At 2nd place, where they were put on a friends' property for 2-1/2 months while we were waiting to close on our new property, they were stationary. When first moved to new property they were again used as tractors. However, on the new property,the pastures/lawn was not the same. The wear and tear made me find permanent spots to "park" them.

In 2019, even though all wood was PT (wonder if Thompson's wood seal would work?), the coop bases and door frame assemblies are literally falling apart. W/ Covid 19, I went to working Xtra + lots of OT hours. Tired, didn't get any projects done, but DID buy some things to rebuild my original 3 coops.

So... The new coops will be a bit different. Still using the old CP already wired with chicken wire. Where the chicken wire needs to be replaced, it will be replaced with 1/4" HC (may remove all of it, don't know yet. Only have 1-100' roll of 48" high HC right now and a 2nd partial since I shared w/ a friend). They will be raised up 2' - enabling 2 things - the bottom 2' will allow for raised garden beds on both sides of the coop and we will be able to spread it out 2' wider (10' instead of 8'). The raised garden beds will provide protection around the bottom of the coop, while allowing us to do a deeper DLM inside of it. The front will have 1 row of cinder blocks and the back end will have 2 rows. W' the front of the coop now wider, caught the sale of Retriever dog pens at TSC. I bought the front/gate and the extenders allowing me to put the gate in the center of the arch (remember - I don't do well with lumber?). It will either be wired, strapped w/ metal strapping or we will use haystring to strap it to the front of the CP arch and to the T-posts set for attaching the CP arches to... Hardware cloth will go on at least the bottom of the fully built, painted, steel front. Then we'd have option of attaching wire higher as wanted/needed.

The back may be partially wood backed. We have wood 4x8' sheets from another project that I can use OR if have the time will put up just open 2x4" wire for now and use up a bunch of pallet wood (time taking apart more pallets and then joining, but not the same as doing framing). I can use a circular saw fine - to cut the arched sides.

Found billboard tarp material. So much heavier than the tarps been using. Haven't ordered yet... Seriously thinking of roofing one with galvanized ridged tin. It's been sitting for 2 years, might be something I can use. Don't have enough for all 3 coops though. Ideas, ideas... LOL.

What about the base you ask? Will be using just the T-posts. May even extend the length of the chicken coop from the 100" (just over 8') it is now to 150" (12-1/2'. Panels are 50" tall so when hooped are 50" deep). Again, haven't decided...

We were supposed to start yesterday. I actually had my youngest daughter and her fiance scheduled to come up from Lumberton - woke to pouring rain. No one willing to work right now in pouring rain, so cancelled for now... Of course, then it stopped and the sun popped out, but they work nights and didn't want to get started later in the afternoon. But in our plans. I have almost 6 weeks off over Christmas while our Vet clinic is being re-furbished and going through re-organization...

Here's the 3 coops that will be redone. I will do a coop building page when I have them rebuilt... As you can see, they are not fancy. They can be prettied up as many have done here on BYC. I love re-using our haystring - you can see it for strapping down tarps, repairing a hole or two that the PONIES tore into the chicken wire (note - chicken coops are going to be fenced in as well - no pony access). To see how we will do the attachments to the T-posts - check out "Blooie's" page (she's in WYO).

View attachment 2429952 View attachment 2429956
View attachment 2429959 View attachment 2429962 View attachment 2429963

The last two pictures shows a 4' deep x 8' wide coop made w/ T-posts here... Contemplating re-doing them, too...

View attachment 2430000
View attachment 2430005

If I do the garden beds and raise them up, can move them out to 10' wide as well... The 2 grand daughters zip tied wire in place on the CP, then I popped them into place myself. I used a couple of CPs that had been bent up by the ponies to make gates. Still have them attached by haystring, plan on hanging them by bending the wire I have "spoked" out on one end and inserting into srew eye rings to make "farm gates".

Again, nothing fancy. Has a lot of room for making pretty. LOTS of ideas in the coop sections of BYC.

I also turned 3 of 4 permanent wood framed, 4' high pens (for what???) into hooped coops behind our house. I haven't done the fourth yet - need to. Still have to duck under the 4' high wood "sill", but at least you can stand up in the pens once inside. This shows the first two done (with feed bags along the bottom to keep some babies inside the 2x4" wire on that pen before doing something else...

View attachment 2430020

Thanks for sharing those details.

My DH is an accomplished builder but I very much like the cattle panel concept for ease of construction, especially if I want extra coops to separate birds for sale, broodies, etc.

 

[paintedChix]

I will have to find the post I made in a thread sometime in the last 3 years. It had links to individual CPs built here on BYC for a newbie that couldn't get BYC to work for her... I think I listed 20 different members' CP coops & most had been individualized in some way, too. At least 2 were extremely heavy duty (1 being Aart's). 1's DH was a welder - they made their frames from hollow square tubing and did the welding and then I think they used shaded green house panels. It was SWEET! but heavy. I don't weld and don't have a tractor, so that was out.

A lot of people are a little "turned off" by my "cheaper ones"... But the functionality is there, so I'm ok with that.

 

[3KillerBs]

I will have to find the post I made in a thread sometime in the last 3 years. It had links to individual CPs built here on BYC for a newbie that couldn't get BYC to work for her... I think I listed 20 different members' CP coops & most had been individualized in some way, too. At least 2 were extremely heavy duty (1 being Aart's). 1's DH was a welder - they made their frames from hollow square tubing and did the welding and then I think they used shaded green house panels. It was SWEET! but heavy. I don't weld and don't have a tractor, so that was out.

A lot of people are a little "turned off" by my "cheaper ones"... But the functionality is there, so I'm ok with that.

I showed DH your post. He's added the information to the plans churning around in his brain. Being accustomed to building in lumber he finds thinking in arches a little odd, but likes the idea of not *having to* spend a couple weeks on the building.

He's been making plans to put all future coops up on concrete because of how the Little Monitor Coop's legs rotted out so quickly in our climate despite being treated wood. He's been showing me videos of people casting concrete "logs" out of lightweight concrete mixes for making planting beds, etc.

I particularly like your t-post variation because it could be put up and taken down as needed.

 

[paintedChix]

He's been making plans to put all future coops up on concrete because of how the Little Monitor Coop's legs rotted out so quickly in our climate despite being treated wood. He's been showing me videos of people casting concrete "logs" out of lightweight concrete mixes for making planting beds, etc.

I particularly like your t-post variation because it could be put up and taken down as needed.

Ive seen those post ideas! Kind of a neat idea.

I didn't/don't want a wood floor. I've fallen through a few in the years we've been here in NC (coops/barns & stick built homes, too). I like the birds being on the ground.

And since you've not seen them - here are pics of some "temporary" sheds that were done until we could build what we needed. Turns out only the first 3 pics were temporary (when we had the ponies & 2 horses on leased land, we lived in a hotel for 6 weeks because closing kept being moved back on our "new" house)... This one was literally just strapped together with haystring and the back was a CP that was part of our temporary fencing on this property.





Then I did similar when we moved into new property. Was truly expecting it to be only temporary until we built "real" sheds. However, that was 6 years ago (March 2015)... They do need to have the haystring retied to the pallets in the Mare's paddock. The strings have worn out and the roof has dropped down, but it has been great!! I used t-posts at the corners - the pallets were literally dropped down over them. When I redo - will just level the area (though it's truly not bad), use cinderblocks with rock inside to reduce critter homes & raise the pallets off the ground, attach the pallets together with screws & blocks and maybe connect the panels with metal attachments - either fence staples or some type of screw in connectors...





and the Boys' need theirs taken down and rebuilt now... it also is in a more open area and currently not being used for feed/hay supply storage. It has gone through 2 tarps and right now not tarped at all. The pallets were literally 48"x48" - so the mare's shed size is 12' w x 8' d) and the boy's shed is also about 12' x 8'. I do want to make the mares' larger - 12x16, but not really sure right now.




I hung battery operated lights over the trashcan feed bins, so I could feed in the dark and wear a headlamp to be able feed ponies and chickens both in the morning before I go to work and in the evening when I get home.

Again - this has worked great for us![/QUOTE]