Yahoo! Our Old Coop is finally done on the inside!! Pic Heavy...

[snevets]

One suggestion is to make a roost that is enclosed with chicken wire. Mine is about 16" wide 8' long and about 18" tall. I made mine out of 2x2 pieces of lumber that I had left over. You cover the whole thing with chicken wire all the way to the ground and then mount your roosts the width of the roost and about 12" apart all the way the length of the roost. You will have about 6-8 16" long roosts for the chickens to hang out on. Round the corners of the boards so that is easy for them to roost on. Here is why this is a great idea. The chickens poop when they are on the roost the poop falls through the chicken wire and they can't get to it or in it or better yet your coop stays pretty clean so your kids don't track the poop in the house. The poop will pile up under the chickens that is why you make it tall. You can let this sit for a long time with no smell as long as it doesn't get wet. Then use it to fertilize your garden after it has been sitting for about a year. This has made a world of difference. No cleaning, No mess and I don't have to watch the chickens eating their own poop.

 

[Jades Chickens]

I just wanted to write and say that your chicken house looks great. What is the size of the building? Thank you for showing us, I look forward to seeing the fresh coat of paint when you get it done.

 

[mom2chicksandpups]

That's nice. I love the windows so the kids can watch. You could also put chicken wire over the windows to get more fresh air to the chickens if you haven't already thought of that.

 

[Lil chick chick]

Wonderful coop!! So roomy. Great job fixin it up!

 

[Puma]

That looks great. It is very important that kids be brought up enjoying the simple life. In these times of busy schedules, fast food, fast talks it is nice to see a family that still enjoys the basic things in life. You should send the picture of your children looking thru the window to birds and bloom's. I bet they would publish that.

 

[chickens3]

I could not see that pics but seem like you have a nice coop for them to stay in.

 

[rufus]

I love your coop. It is amazing that something that was probably built sixty years ago or more is still functional. Somewhere, someone is smiling thinking that their work is still valid.

Never tear down old buildings; you will have to go through hell trying to get permits to build new ones. And the expense is horrendous.

Rufus

 

[joebryant]

You've done a GREAT job reclaiming that building. I do agree with those who suggested your changing the roosts. You might want to covert the top row of nests to storage for your own use. Love it all.

 

[juliemom25]

Great suggestions guys with the roosts! I think I will try that with the chicken wire!

Our other two barns have some issues. One is an old school house that was moved and converted to a barn and the other is an actual barn. It is a cool old barn with hand hewn barn beams and wood pegs. We lost about 1/4 of the roof with all the wind this past winter. After we fence in the coop run, that is the next big project.

At this point it is possible that we might be buying 60 acres about a mile down the road, so we pretty hard pressed to put tons of money into a barn fix up if we are not staying. Although the more effort I put into this property, the more I want to stay.

We have those barn symbols all over the place here in Ohio. If we do get our barn fixed up we would love to do one of those, although I am not quite sure I know a lot about them. Is there a deeper meaning to them than looking cool?

Oh, and the person who asked about our coop size, I will have to get back with you on that one!

Julie

 

[DarkWolf]

It's basically just a blessing for certain things and is said to keep away evil spirits.

This has a pile of info on them.. Still playing around with digging up info on what each thing means.
http://www.folkart.com/education/hex/#meaning