I’ve been working since early spring on the barn. The barn, built in the late ’30s or early ’40s has not been used for livestock for at least 20 years, maybe longer. And before that, I don’t think it was mucked out, so the stalls and floors are covering a dry compost soil. Over time, the original pens have lost their design function.
The east face of the original barn, built by Art Andrew, with modifications over the decades.
On the east side, there are three person-height doors, and on the west, there are two. The center door connects to a walkway that bisects the barn. At some point in time, the sliding barn door on the lean to on the east wall was cut out to make an opening for the Farmall 706 tractor. I’ve put up a temporary wall to block the weather.
In the photo, the left door leads to the new turkey pen.
You can tell from the photo this is a very weathered barn with a significant list. Nothing in the barn is square. So designing new supports for walls, a door, and the framing for the chicken wire was done with some measuring and a lot of estimating. This is crude construction at it’s best…or worst.
A quick frame from scrap 2"x 6" lumber closes a passage in the barn to complete the pen.
I made a frame for an old screen door, This gives access to the turkeys from the inside of the barn for feed and water. The screen was out of the door, and I stapled 1 inch poultry netting to the face of the frame.
I cut the poultry netting long at the top and the bottom to leave a sweep to help deter small animals from burrowing or gnawing on the door frame.
The 1 inch poultry netting ( chicken wire) is 48 inch wide. I strung a 2 ” x 6″ horizontal between the existing posts in the barn, then stapled the poultry netting to the ceiling and mid frame 2 “x 6″.
Finally, I burred some poultry wire in the ground around the perimeter to help deter any digging predators and rabbits.
The installed door.
The turkeys in their new home.
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