Using a barn as a coop, questions

[affacat]

I'm starting to wonder if I'm crazy for using the 11.5x15.5 room as indoor run area... my original plan was back when the place was so gross I couldn't think of using it for much. Now that its getting cleaner it feels like i have options.

Another alternative would be to still use the large backroom (7.5x15) as the coop, but just that room. Smaller side room would still be for brooding. But main room could either be for storage or if we get something larger like alpaca.

I'd probably need to build a small run outside with this, for when we are away, as well as add a door to finish blocking off that room. So it would cost more.

I don't absolutely need the space, I can store stuff elsewhere.

Any thoughts? Should i go big and just let the chickens have the whole building or does that seem excessive? (They free range outside every day).

 

[aart]

I'm starting to wonder if I'm crazy for using the 11.5x15.5 room as indoor run area

Maybe, might depend on where you live(add location to your profile) and if you can provide a run outside the barn.

Another alternative would be to still use the large backroom (7.5x15) as the coop, but just that room. Smaller side room would still be for brooding. But main room could either be for storage or if we get something larger like alpaca.

That sounds good!

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm starting to wonder if I'm crazy for using the 11.5x15.5 room as indoor run area... my original plan was back when the place was so gross I couldn't think of using it for much. Now that its getting cleaner it feels like i have options.

Another alternative would be to still use the large backroom (7.5x15) as the coop, but just that room. Smaller side room would still be for brooding. But main room could either be for storage or if we get something larger like alpaca.

I'd probably need to build a small run outside with this, for when we are away, as well as add a door to finish blocking off that room. So it would cost more.

I don't absolutely need the space, I can store stuff elsewhere.

Any thoughts? Should i go big and just let the chickens have the whole building or does that seem excessive? (They free range outside every day).

Where did you say you were located (if you put your general location in your profile we can always reference it when climate is relevant to the question)?

If you get significant snow a huge indoor space in addition to the outdoor run can be very useful.

I wouldn't put alpaca in with chickens. As a handspinner, I would not want a fleece full of feather dander and chicken poop dust.

 

[saysfaa]

... i'm wondering if we could use it for other livestock (maybe a couple alpaca?).

I think the chickens would like sharing with alpacas and I don't see a downside to that. Alpacas sharing with chickens, not so much. At least inside because all the dust chickens generate would be hard on their respiratory system. And chicken dust in the wool? Shudder. Even if you don't keep the wool, it would make it hard to shear.

edit to add: I type so slow sometimes

 

[saysfaa]

Hmmm... my wife wants to plant some sunflowees next to the barn to gussy it up.... anyone know if they can root through hardware

They would root but not do well unless you cut out a few squares for each stem.

if the seed sprouts above the hardware cloth (and the hardware cloth isn't deep enough), the hc would keep the root/stem junction to high for stability and would have trouble drying out.

If you put the seeds under the hardware cloth without cutting some squares out, the stem will probably come through half inch hc but the stems will get a lot wider than a half inch. The stalks would tip over at that point. With a lot of effort, you could stake them enough to stop that but I don't think they would do well anyway with such a constriction around their stem - stop to many nutrients and too much water. A tree branch or trunk or root would grow around it so the mesh would be inside the tree but I don't a sunflower stem could.

I doubt the bit of holes cut for the flowers would matter if there weren't too many of them. Or there are pots or raised beds.

 

[affacat]

Maybe, might depend on where you live(add location to your profile) and if you can provide a run outside the barn.


That sounds good!

I am in NW Oregon, I think I just added this to my profile (added a tag). So we generally have good weather.

If i could convince my wife to use the big room for something else, I would definitely add a run alongside the barn, with an easy exit to the yard for most days.

 

[affacat]

Where did you say you were located (if you put your general location in your profile we can always reference it when climate is relevant to the question)?

If you get significant snow a huge indoor space in addition to the outdoor run can be very useful.

I wouldn't put alpaca in with chickens. As a handspinner, I would not want a fleece full of feather dander and chicken poop dust.

In theory the coop would be the back room. I would close off the space with a door, so the only time dust would/should be an issue is when we go in the coop to clean it out.

Then again, i remember from the last time we got chicks that dust got everywhere...

I will keep that in mind tho... if we use the entire space for chickens it can't be used for alpaca. I'd like to get 3 or 4... they are so pricey though, and the only way I could justify it is if we sell fleece to people like you!

I just figured out how to get Oregon to show up... only took a couple tries.

 

[affacat]

They would root but not do well unless you cut out a few squares for each stem.

if the seed sprouts above the hardware cloth (and the hardware cloth isn't deep enough), the hc would keep the root/stem junction to high for stability and would have trouble drying out.

If you put the seeds under the hardware cloth without cutting some squares out, the stem will probably come through half inch hc but the stems will get a lot wider than a half inch. The stalks would tip over at that point. With a lot of effort, you could stake them enough to stop that but I don't think they would do well anyway with such a constriction around their stem - stop to many nutrients and too much water. A tree branch or trunk or root would grow around it so the mesh would be inside the tree but I don't a sunflower stem could.

I doubt the bit of holes cut for the flowers would matter if there weren't too many of them. Or there are pots or raised beds.

Ok, good to know. We generally grow giant sunflowers, so I do think it might be an issue. I like the idea of pots.

 

[3KillerBs]

I will keep that in mind tho... if we use the entire space for chickens it can't be used for alpaca. I'd like to get 3 or 4... they are so pricey though, and the only way I could justify it is if we sell fleece to people like you!

Handspinners are often very fussy about using clean fleece.

"VM" -- vegetable matter -- is a 4-letter word to many people in that community.

I'm less fussy myself because I do most of my handspinning in a historical reenacting context and people in Colonial America didn't put coats on their sheep to keep the wool clean.

 

[Sally PB]

Handspinners are often very fussy about using clean fleece.

Amen to that! Back when I was spinning a lot, word got around as to who had the nicest fleeces to work with in the local area.

Fleece from a jacketed sheep was the best.

The mohair I got that was full of nits... ewww.