Dawn 419 and the Chick-N-Barn

[andrealt]

Dawn,
You had those amazing photos of your chick-n-barn raising on Sony and (gasp) NOW THEY ARE GONE!! I was positively going to use those as a model (I just got my chick-n-barn in the mail) and now I'm in a panic. Any chance you are going to post the pics somewhere else? I'd be mighty grateful!
If you come across this post, many thanks!
Andrea

 

[Dawn419]

Hi Andrea! Welcome to BYC!!!

Sony Imagestation closed down this month, that's why the pix disappeared.

I did a personal page for the "raising of the barn", which can be seen here.

The entire set of Sony pix are now located at Shutterfly.

Hope this helps!

Dawn

 

[andrealt]

Dawn,
Thank you SO MUCH, both for sending me the links, and for doing such an amazing job of documenting everything you did (I'm not going to cut off my feet. I also just found your post about your motorcycle accident!!! I hope you and DH are doing well?! I used to live in San Francisco, and had a motorcycle up there. I had too many close calls, always because someone in a car wasn't paying attention.
Thanks again, my thoughts are with you!
Andrea

 

[Dawn419]

Hi Andrea!

So glad that I could help you out!

Thank you for your well wishes!

Skip and I are hangin' in there, like hairs in a bisquit...not much else we can do, right now. Skip's getting around really well with the walker and I'll be glad when my ribs quit hurting and I get my right hand back, although my left-handed writing is getting better...LOL

Dawn

 

[andrealt]

Dawn,
I forgot to ask, how many standard chickens do you think this can comfortably hold? I was going to order 6 or 7 chicks, planning on possibly losing one or two. If all 7 lived would they be way too squashed?
Thanks,
Andrea

 

[andrealt]

Dawn,
Last question...do you know how "tall" a space I would need? I'd like to raise it only as little as possible.
Thanks,
Andrea

 

[Dawn419]

Hi Andrea!

Our modified Chick-n-Barn/Yard is just the right size for our 5 Bantam Silkies, I think it would be cramped for 7 standard-sized birds...but I have seen one of the Barns set up for standards. The people have two Yards attached to either end of their Barn for more run space, plus the entire set-up is housed in a larger chain link enclosure.

The frame that our set-up is on is 2 feet tall, toal height of the raised yard area is 49 and a half inches. I'm 5' 2" and wish I was able to stand up in it. When I need to get in the Yard section, I have to climb thru the door, the top of the frame is right at crotch level and a pain in the patootie if we've had wet weather...

Hope this is some help!

Dawn

 

[dskinla]

Dawn, thanks for taking such detailed pictures of the Chick-n-Barn. I'm considering getting one and making modifications, too. I'd like to place the nest box up off the floor (I only need one for the three banties I'm planning on getting). Do you think it would be possible to turn the barn wall with the nest box openings upside down, so the small access doors are at the top? I was also hoping to install a droppings pit which could be accessed through one of the doors and this seems doable if I have only one raised nest box. But I am a bit concerned that the CNB could be hard to clean (e.g. for mites, etc.). I would put a piece of removable vinyl down on the floor, which should help, along with the pit.

 

[sedodge]

I have a chick n' coop and we followed Dawn's modifications to a T and it's turned out really well. We have 3 standard breeds (2 RIR and 1 plymouth rock) and that seems the ideal number - they have access to our backyard during the day, but the run is really too small for even the 3 of them without free-ranging. I also think the coop itself would be too small for 7 chickens - maybe 4 or 5 if they were primarily free ranged during the day, but that's pushing it in my estimation.

As for the nest box question, I have a raised nest box in my coop (just a milk crate on a concrete block) and I access it through the roof - the roof sections on both sides lift up, so there's no need to move or rotate the side wall to the top - you already have a top access. I open the roof section opposite the nest box to reach into it. As for a droppings pit, I chose to run my roost from side to side, that is, perpendicular to the front and back sliding doors, but if you put the roost going parallel to the front and back doors, and the droppings board was the same width or slightly smaller than the door width, it would be easy to pull it out the back door to rinse it off.

I agree with you, Dawn, about climbing in through the window - I'm 5'5'' and it isn't much more comfortable!

Best wishes on a speedy recovery and thanks so much for your well documented coop -it was a perfect fit for our chickens and ouir abilities!

Sara