My New Barn

[AK Michelle]

Quote:

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:

Aww....

 

[Happy Chooks]

It's looking fabulous Michelle! And the puppy is adorable!

 

[ryan820]

Love it! I have some serious barn-envy going on. I just finished a HUGE run/garden complex, though, and our Colorado winters aren't nearly as harsh as AK ones, so I'll count myself lucky! Beautiful work you guys are doing.

 

[blackbelt]

First you have a great piece of property. How far from the house to your barn? The barn looks very well laid out. Are you just keeping poultry in the barn? Your barn you said was insulated that is good, you'll be fine be fine. A couple things I'd like to run by you, first I'd put some clear panels on the roof for light, second how many birds are you going to keep in the barn? You will find your birds will do better when they can go outside (weather permitting) them being able to get bugs and stuff is to their advantage yours to really. Please upload pic's when your all settled in. One more thing you'll save feed if you keep feeders off the floor some. Not in the brooding area just the laying area. Thanks for sharing you'll do great. Chicken eggs their are expensive right? Last I knew like $6.00 a doz. Is the building setting on a slab?

 

[Kudzu]

Know it all,

 

[AK Michelle]

Quote:
All good advice and things I've discovered in the previous years of raising chickens

I do appreciate my property very much. the views here are just short of heaven. The barn is roughly 270' to the barn, as the crow flies. My chickens have survived for years in an uninsulated coop (it was much much smaller) and they free range the whole 3.5 acres of the pasture which is why we added the livestock guardian dog to help protect against raptors and neighbor dogs. There isn't a point to clear panels in the roof here, as the snow will cover them and not let in any light. that is why I opted for 4 large windows to allow maximum daylight. My birds go out everyday (except they are in lockdown for 2 weeks to relearn where "coop" is) and I have found my birds like to go outside until it's about -20F, that's where they draw the line. We have a very dry climate so our frostbite index is different than many areas of the country. The layers will be in a covered run to keep them seperate from the Icelandics during breeding season. I don't collect hatching eggs this time of year so everyone is in general population but I will split them at the end of the year for pure eggs in the spring. And yes, the building is on a slab, with a floor drain, insulation under it and a 2.5' eave of insulation around the perimeter to help the frost slide out from the foundation edges.

I'll be posting more pictures of the parts I was too busy building to post and the ones yeat to come. Check back often, I love company

 

[Mrs MIA]

Clear panels here create a greenhouse effect, and have to be covered in the summer. My coop got up to 120°F so I just removed it and used solid tin roofing. The snow gets very deep in the winter, and would block the light like Michelle said, so windows are really the way to go. Besides, we only get about 5 hours of daylight in the winter anyway, so we have to supplement with lights. I don't use heat in my layer coop, but it's wired for lights just so I don't step on anyone!

Her feeder is an ingenious use of a sawhorse, upside down, with plywood screwed on to create a long funnel-feeder that hangs on the wall. With the modifications she told me of, it will work quite well, and with the wire over the feed, they don't scoop any onto the floor.

She has taken so much of the experience of all of us and created the perfect coop. I was ready to pull up a cot and move in.

 

[Newwell]

Just incredible. I've been watching your project & awesome work!!!

 

[BirdWalkFarm]

Your whole setup is amazing and inspiring . I have been taking notes .