Why We Love the American Coop by Carolina Coops [Full Review]
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- Опубликовано: 2 авг 2024
- In this video, we’ll take you on a tour of our brand-new chicken coop and explain why we decided on the American Coop from Carolina Coops (despite its higher price tag compared to many of the other coops we looked at).
After we decided to add chickens to our homestead, we thought about building a coop ourselves. But considering that neither my wife nor I are gifted woodworkers, we decided to buy a coop instead.
We wanted one that would meet the following requirements:
- Offer enough (roosting) space for 12 to 14 chickens.
- Have an enclosed run so the chickens have a safe area (protected from aerial predators) to eat and drink.
- Support an automatic chicken door that would open at dawn and close at dusk.
- Be compatible with a watering system that doesn’t have to be refilled every few days.
- Allow for easy access to the hen house for cleaning.
After conducting significant research, we decided to go with the American Coop from Carolina Coops, which offers the following standard features:
- Premium Douglas fir lumber with pressure-treated ground contact base.
- Deep litter bed in the henhouse (which means no cleaning for at least a year or longer).
- HDPE-lined deep litter bed with flip-down clean-out door for easy cleaning.
- One egg hutch with three HDPE-lined nest boxes suitable for 16 hens (with removable dividers).
- Two six-foot roost bars (removable for easy cleaning).
- Henhouse screen doors with tilt-up (cantilevered) doors to keep out cold and rain.
- Half-inch black PVC coated hardware cloth wire
- Metal roofing in Black or Galvalume and exterior black hardware (latches,
hinges).
- Covered walk-in runs have six-foot walls (7.5 feet at the peak) to keep the flock shaded and dry.
- Human access door can be placed on the front or side of the run.
- Chicken stairs with hooks (removable for easy cleaning).
- Predator-proof design.
Additionally, we got the following upgrades:
- Dutch door to run (because we like the look and it might come in handy if we ever decide to get a dog).
- Automatic run door (ChickenGuard Premium).
- Heated circulating poultry watering system (we ended up rebuilding the system using non-plastic materials).
We also asked our electrician to add two double-power outlets (one in the henhouse and one in the run) to power the heating plate, water pump and bucket heater.
Overall, we’re super happy with the coop. But if we decide to increase the size of our flock (or add meat birds), we’ll probably get only a hen house next time since all of our chickens are free range (which means we don’t necessarily need a run).
Here are links to the coop and add-ons we have:
- American Coop (Carolina Coops): carolinacoops.com/shop/americ...
- Industrial Hemp Bedding: carolinacoops.com/product/hem...
- Heated Circulating Poultry Watering System: carolinacoops.com/product/hea...
- Chicken Guard Automatic Coop Door Opener: carolinacoops.com/product/chi...
- RentACoop heating plate: shoprentacoop.com/products/hp...
[Chapter Markers]
0:35 How we prepared the foundation for our coop
1:39 Exterior features of the American Coop
3:14 Black mesh wire siding provides protection and it looks good
3:53 An egg hutch that doesn’t startle our chickens
5:21 Windows and ventilation
6:24 The henhouse and deep litter system
10:19 Our zero-maintenance poultry watering system
12:57 The inside of the coop
14:21 Our 15lb feeder and automatic chicken door
16:05 Copper water pipe with nipples and recirculation pump
17:11 How much is the American Coop?
[Additional Links]
How We Built the Best Chicken Waterer on the Market: • How We Built a Plastic...
How Xenoestrogens Make You Infertile and Sick: michaelkummer.com/health/xeno...
To follow along with us as we learn the ropes of beekeeping and suburban homestead living, check out our Instagram account (@kummerhomestead), where we share the useful tips and tricks we discover.
#Chickens #RaisingChickens #BackyardChickens
Thank you for your purchase and your amazing review of our American Coop. We are so glad you love it and see the value in our coops. This will last forever, make your life keeping chickens easier and the keep the chickens healthy. We appreciate your support and please contact us with any questions or concerns about your coop or chickens any time!
Thanks guys, we appreciate the comment!
Thank you for talking about the plastic barrel. Genius. I will watch that video. Love the barrel and copper pipes.
You're most welcome!
I mention egg hutch a few times when I meant to say nesting boxes 😜
Thanks for posting this - you are quite the spokesman for the company! I ordered my American Coop yesterday. It suits my needs and long-term goals as well as provides a bit of freedom to my schedule. I had neighbors with a tiny chicken coop and it broke my heart to see the birds “cared for” in such a minimal manner. I need to check on that water system and whether food-safe.
Thanks Joan, I appreciate the feedback.
The water system the coop comes with is food safe but much like the plastic food storage containers many people use, the plastic of the barrel leaks endocrine-disrupting chemicals into the water. You can learn more about that in this blog post michaelkummer.com/health/xenoestrogens/ and, of course, our water system video: ruclips.net/video/Dpf_iJ7DqKc/видео.html
Cheers,
Michael
Love the watering system, thank you for the great video
Thanks for watching!
To learn how we built the automated and plastic-free chicken waterer we mentioned in this video, check out ruclips.net/video/Dpf_iJ7DqKc/видео.html
Excellent walk around. Thanks for sharing and hope to build from this design. Thank you
You are welcome!
Good review! Thanks
Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!
Thank you , very good Info.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for showing the base. My American Duck Coop is on order and I must prepare the ground, which has a slight slope. Can you point me to a good guide for doing that? Appreciate the information regarding the wood that you used.
We used a simple string level and fill dirt.
Hello Michael,
Any relation to Ernst Kummer the mathematician? I was wondering about the name...great job on your coop and video.
Thanks,
Matt
Hey Matt!
Nope, not that I'm aware of :)
Thanks for watching our video! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Cheers,
Michael
Hey I am facinated with your overhead wires, is that to protect the chickens from aerial predators attack?
Yep, that's exactly what the netting is for. We'll release a video about that shortly, so stay tuned!
How did your coop handle the 16 chickens? Did you add the 3rd roosting bar and did the hemp bedding handle come the additional load alright?
We had only two roosting bars for our 16 hens. Since we had a lot of smaller breeds, there was no space issue. But we did have to add hemp bedding more frequently to mitigate the higher manure load.
We’re wanting to purchase the American coop. My question is did they charge shipping cost on top of the price if the coop?
Yeah, we paid just over $500 for shipping (we're in Georgia).
How did you connect your 6x6 for the base? I’m doing the same thing with half lap joints and don’t know what to use to connect the 6x6. Screws, Braces???
We used lag screws to attach the coop to the base but considering its weight, I don't know if that was even necessary.
@@kummerhomestead thank you!
What size coop did you get? I know you mentioned the American style but just wanted to know the dimensions. We also want a small flock
We have the 12x6 ft coop.
Odd question I suppose but would you be interested in selling the water system that came with the coop originally? I live within a hour and a half from you.
Sorry for the late reply, I thought I had replied already. I can definitely sell you the barrel and the pipe with nipples. You might just have to get some of the hoses and connections from Home Depot. Shoot me an email to mike@michaelkummer.com if you're still interested!
One word: DADDY.
That deep bedding dosen't look very deep