Is part of a 160-year old barn in PA acceptable for a coop?

[drdvmd]

If I am understaning this right, you want to use that entire screened area as the coop, and then will attach a run to the side of the barn the entire length of that exterior wall?

If your run is covered and preditor proof, so that there is no was a preditor can sneek through between the run and the building or climb up and over top, I don't think you would need to add additional material to the screens. If you don't cover the run, and concentrate more on preditor proofing the barn than you would have to add welded wire like Bear Foot said and of course add a door (from the picture it doesn't look like there is one there.

Also in concern with preditor proofing, make sure that critters cant get to your girls from the inside of the barn either. Old barns are natorious for having lots of holes. I would build a welded wire wall ontop of that white wall on the inside of the barn if I were you. Not to metion, for some flighter chooks, it would be a good place to roost and they would probably end up on the wrong side more than once in the morning!

I prefer to use the deep litter method as opposed to sand as I have a large coop and a very large run. A lot cheeper for use to forage for leaves and pine straw that it is to set up and replace sand. Not to mention the awesome amount of compost we get from it once a year. - Thats a big area you've got to cover with sand...

To repeat what littlemispurdy said, moisture is impostant to control and should be a main focus of your attention. Wet feet equal frostbitten toes!

As for covering the screens in the winter there are a few posts of folks using clean heavy duty shower curtains on runs to prevent drafts that look really sharp and funtion well. I would be concered however with a geenhouse effect on the coop, so ventilation would be important.

Yogifink- Thanks so much for your insight. I didn't even think about the top walls of the barn, near the rafters. We've had an occasional squirrel in there so I do think we need a wire wall there. There is a screen door on the porch right now (it's just open in the photo so it looks like there isn't one!)

I'm not familiar with the deep litter method so I have to read up on that. We have tons of leaves since we have tons of huge old trees...can they be used for litter?

 

[Hokum Coco]

"Most hawks prefer mammals over birds as explained to me by a falconer apparently as a rule of thumb." I retorted in my area my hawks apparently have no thumbs.

 

[yogifink]

Quote:
Leaves, grass clippings, spent straw/hay. Whatever you've got. Deff go with DLM in your run if you don’t want a muddy, pooey mess. If you’re going to be using DLM on the barn floor, (it looks like its wood or cement), you might want to consider mixing a good amount of soil or good compost into the mix to introduce all the good bacteria. Check this thread out; I think you will find it quite informative: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/70/deep-litter-method I would also recommend a book called 'The Small-Scale Poultry Flock' which you can find on amazon.