After many empty threats and lots of idle chatter…

[puddleglumWI]

…I finally started the coop inside the barn. It will be about 16’x8’ and I plan to have a second wall with a door inside to create a vestibule hat can be used to introduce new birds, raise chicks, etc.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Love your barn. Looks like it made a nice dairy barn in it's past life.

 

[puddleglumWI]

Love your barn. Looks like it made a nice dairy barn in it's past life.

Indeed. My grandpa started milking cows in that barn in the forties, when he was 16, and he stopped in his sixties. The barn itself predates his work there, it was on the farm when he got it. From what I understand, when it was built they used a lot of materials from another barn that was taken down. So to say it has history is an understatement.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Indeed. My grandpa started milking cows in that barn in the forties, when he was 16, and he stopped in his sixties. The barn itself predates his work there, it was on the farm when he got it. From what I understand, when it was built they used a lot of materials from another barn that was taken down. So to say it has history is an understatement.

It's also amazing it's still standing. Many barns in Wisconsin are no longer with us anymore. Without animals in them the wood dries out and it all falls apart. I do miss seeing a barn full of cows, buts it's a hard way to make a living.

 

[puddleglumWI]

It is a big one too. 75’x36’ footprint and a very tall haymow upstairs.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That is a big barn. So amazing. It even has the mound ramp to the haymow. I'm so jealous. We had to take the top off our barn here as it was already on the way down. We rebuilt a smaller roof on it. We used to own a dairy farm and milked cows for quite a long time until we decided it wasn't what we wanted to continue with. We are much happier on our smaller hobby farm.

 

[HoneyBeeHomestead]

Wow! That's a beautiful barn! Please keep us updated on how the new coop build goes, I'd love to see more pictures. I'm planning on doing something very similar in our old cow barn and have been brainstorming how to do it. The old stalls are all still there, and I'm trying to decide how to incorporate them, as I really don't want to cut them out.
Also, the inside of your barn is sooo clean! I need to know all your secrets, mine is covered in cobwebs.

 

[puddleglumWI]

For the record, my mom owns the farm, I am just renting. But it will come to me one day. Not too soon, hopefully, I like having her around.

We used to own a dairy farm and milked cows for quite a long time until we decided it wasn't what we wanted to continue with. We are much happier on our smaller hobby farm.

My cousin down the road is milking cows on the farm that my grandpa grew up on. But they are getting ready to call it quits with the cows and stick to crops. It is real work, no denying that.

Also, the inside of your barn is sooo clean! I need to know all your secrets, mine is covered in cobwebs.

There have been barn swallows in here every year for decades now. Maybe they keep the spiders down? The barnies have been rather ticked at me. They had a nest right in the middle of the coop area I kept knocking down, and another directly above where I am building the frames that I kept knocking down. They sit on a wire on the end of the barn and warble chortle and squeak at me. I am assuming they are demanding to talk to a manager.