Opinions please

[DylansMom]

So.....I have a really big barn, and it has a second floor that is completely empty except for some hay and cat poop that is slowly turning to powder. I am wondering if I could turn this big almost wide open second floor into a grow-out pen for juveniles. It has windows on the east and west walls that can be opened or closed and they cold easily be covered with wire. We would have to clean everything out and remove all the old watering equip. that is hanging from the ceiling. Bird proof it in other words. But they would be able to get plenty of sun as well as have room to run and even fly, this space in the pictures is about 50' x 80' (best guess). Just trying to utilize this space and give my younger ones more room to stretch their wings. Only thing lacking would be dirt and grass, we have kiddie

pools for sand baths and we could put a couple of those up there. Pros.....Cons....Why I'm nuts?...any input is appreciated!



Please excuse the messed up order my pics uploaded weird.

 

[PeepsCA]

OMG, all the possibilities you have there!

Looks like you have your work cut out for you, but I say go for it

And can all my PeaBabies come move in once you get it all Peamodeled???

 

[casportpony]

What a great barn! The only con I can think of would be ventilation and heat, but there are probably ways to fix that. Cleaning would be easy... you could make a hole and just dump everything down a slide. Wooden floors might also be problematic, so maybe rubber stall mats on top of the wood?

-Kathy

 

[zazouse]

Dang you could go whole sale for hatcheries with a barn that size.

 

[Arbor]

Looks like an old poultry barn. Potential is there, and open to many possibilities! Use it, use it use it!! Ventilation would be manageable, vents on one side, wire mesh over the windows on the other. No dirt or grass is fine, bedding over the wood floors is best. Since your only using it as a grow out space, the wood floor shouldn't be a prob. If it is an old poultry barn, there could already be clean out holes in the floor, look for loose sheets of plywood, likely 3 in the centre. We just tore down our old 2 storey chicken barn to expand our single storey. It was 100x42, and had 3 clean outs so the manure could be pushed down into a spreader located under the holes. I'm in the process of converting an old pig barn with slats into my pea barn, making clean out quite easy (just pressure wash and disinfect once per year). When it's done, I'll post some pics, just working on outdoor flight pens now. Inside was plumbed for water, so I have low pressure bell style drinkers in each room, one less step in doing chores. I used to use pail feeders, but the birds tended to waste a lot of feed knocking it out. Good luck, and I can't wait to see what ideas you come up with!

 

[DylansMom]

What a great barn! The only con I can think of would be ventilation and heat, but there are probably ways to fix that. Cleaning would be easy... you could make a hole and just dump everything down a slide. Wooden floors might also be problematic, so maybe rubber stall mats on top of the wood?

-Kathy

This barn was originally built to raise Muscovy ducks for meat(not by me). There are built-in vents under the eaves that run the entire length of the structure. If I remember correctly it actually had a heating system up there at one time, but that's gone. I am thinking we would not need heat as there is none in the downstairs where my current peacock pens are located. The juveniles I am talking about would be May & June hatched birds so youngest age when it gets really cold would be 6 months. Cleaning is a breeze, I didn't take pics of the ends, but there are double doors on each that open and debris and bedding can just be pushed out into wagon below. We would probably use straw on the wood floor. The nice thing is it is sound and sturdy, no water leaks and built like a brick ****house. I have plenty of wire and extra wood laying around, so my thought is "more pen space, at low or no cost. Just some manual labor".

 

[enola]

If I owned this building I would be in chicken heaven!

 

[casportpony]

Quote: I'm sooooooo jealous, we'd love to have something like that here!

-Kathy

 

[DylansMom]

Dang you could go whole sale for hatcheries with a barn that size.

I could if I wanted that much work, but I'm lazy!

I just want to be able to keep back and raise some of the more interesting birds until I can get a better idea of their adult plumage. Mainly the spalding pieds I want to produce.

 

[DylansMom]

Looks like an old poultry barn. Potential is there, and open to many possibilities! Use it, use it use it!! Ventilation would be manageable, vents on one side, wire mesh over the windows on the other. No dirt or grass is fine, bedding over the wood floors is best. Since your only using it as a grow out space, the wood floor shouldn't be a prob. If it is an old poultry barn, there could already be clean out holes in the floor, look for loose sheets of plywood, likely 3 in the centre. We just tore down our old 2 storey chicken barn to expand our single storey. It was 100x42, and had 3 clean outs so the manure could be pushed down into a spreader located under the holes. I'm in the process of converting an old pig barn with slats into my pea barn, making clean out quite easy (just pressure wash and disinfect once per year). When it's done, I'll post some pics, just working on outdoor flight pens now. Inside was plumbed for water, so I have low pressure bell style drinkers in each room, one less step in doing chores. I used to use pail feeders, but the birds tended to waste a lot of feed knocking it out. Good luck, and I can't wait to see what ideas you come up with!

Don't get too excited, as I just told Zaz, I'm too lazy to get into anything too elaborate.

I just want a large space where I can let some of them grow out their adult plumage, so I can see what I've got before I decide to keep or sell. I figured Straw for the floor, just too much cost to do it all in wood chips, unless I can find a wholesale deal. Straw could be loaded on the neighbors elevator and in thru the loft doors at the 2 ends. This thing is a behemoth 45' or 50' x 160' I think. We had a small pig barn as well and converted that into a dog kennel on one side and a pool house on the other side. We are also working on our outside pens, they were tore down last fall ( before they could fall down and they would have during this past winter) and are being redone. Found 200' of 6ft 12.5 gauge 1" x 1.5" welded galvanized pvc coated wire cloth. By the time we are done they should be Grizzly proof. What do you put your feed in now, I am dealing with a lot of wasted feed as well, and I've been watching them at feeding time, trying to figure out a feeder design that will keep more in and less all over the floor. Our barn is plumbed as well and has it's own electrical service.