How (and Why) to Install a Sliding Barn Door in your Chicken Coop

While I certainly love building stuff and tackling DIY projects, I'm far from being an expert. I sort of learn as I go along, and often make mistakes along the way. My scrap pile of mistakes sometimes grows larger, but those scraps always come in handy for a future project! In the end, most things come out just fine. The most recent example of this was my determination to install a sliding barn door in my chicken coop.
Like many of you, I've become a bit obsessed with HGTV's Fixer Upper and Chip and Joanna's house makeovers featuring shiplap, white subway tile and everything farmhouse. I was already in love with their design style, but my recent trip to Waco to visit Magnolia Market at the Silos really sealed the deal. Since my husband wouldn't let me stage a #demoday and redo the inside of our house (imagine that!), my only option was to redo the inside of our coop. So I covered up the pink floral vinyl shelf liner "wallpaper" I had put up when we first got the coop with white shiplap, which turned out to be incredibly easy to install. Just measure, cut, and nail into place, working from the bottom up. In addition to installing the shiplap and adding some cute farm decor, I decided I wanted to replace the current door inside the coop with a sliding barn door.

Why Divide your Coop?

There are lots of reasons to have a divided coop. When I was designing my coop with Horizon Structures, I requested that a dividing wall be constructed to give me storage space right inside my coop. It's nice to have storage for feed, treats, straw or shavings, plus first aid supplies. I have subsequently added a small brooder/nursery in the storage area, under the shelving, where a broody hen can hatch and raise her chicks in peace - safe from the rest of the flock. A divider is also nice when you are integrating new flock members, have an injured hen, or need to separate a bully. 
Dividing the coop also has the added benefit of keeping the sleeping area warmer in the winter. The smaller square footage will be much easier for my girls to keep warm with their body heat, which is really important here in Maine. 

The original divider was an open-air wire wall - which allowed feathers, straw and dust to drift in from the sleeping area and collect in the storage area - so I decided to cover the wire with shiplap - a solid wall will keep the storage area much cleaner (although I did leave the top area open wire for good air flow and ventilation). 

Why a Sliding Barn Door?

I originally was just going to try to find an old rustic, chippy door at an antique store and install it with hinges to replace the original wire door, but then I had a better idea. In the winter when I keep a thick layer of straw on the floor as insulation from the cold, it's hard to open the door, since it swings open out into the coop. If I replaced the existing door with a sliding door, that problem would be solved. Far easier to just slide a door along the wall, than pull it open.
Even with a foot of straw bedding on the floor, it's still easy to slide the door, and if the ducks are bedded down by the door, it disturbs them far less than a swinging door would.

Building the Door

Since I soon realized it would be near impossible to actually find a door that was the right size (and also found out that doors can be pretty pricey), I decided to build one myself. I took measurements of the opening and sketched out my vision. Then I just cut some pine boards to the right length, screwed them together by making a wooden frame around the outer edge, then added a bit of decorative framing and a handle. 

I couldn't decide whether to leave the door natural, stain it or paint it, so in the end I just applied a light coat of clear polyurethane to it to bring out the natural beauty of the pine.
When the door was dry, I began to attach the door hardware. Unfortunately, it required a Forstner drill bit - which I didn't have - but thanks to Amazon Prime, $10 and two days later one arrived, only delaying my project a bit. (And as an aside, this is a really cool bit that I have already used for two projects that will be in my new book coming out next fall! So I highly recommend buying one if you are thinking about installing a door and don't have one.)

Installing the Track

Anyway, while I was waiting for the new drill bit, I decided to get the door track installed. First I first screwed a header board across the top above where the shiplap ended into the side beam supports. For extra support, I screwed a second board to that board from the back with the wire "wall" sandwiched in between. 
Then I measured where the track needed to go in order for the door to have enough room to clear the floor and actually slide. With a pencil and yard stick, I drew a horizontal line across the support board, then marked where the holes in the track were.

I pre-drilled holes into the board then screwed the track to the board. Fortunately the hardware kit came with pretty good instructions, even for someone who had never hung a door before! But I still threaded the screw, spacer and washer on in the wrong order the first time and had to fix them.  But once I got the hang of it the track went up pretty quickly and easily.

Hanging the Door and Installing the Door Stop

And once the track was up, it was just a simple matter of lifting the door up onto the track. Then I screwed the door stop to the floor - this required a bit of jerry rigging on my part. I'm not sure if I was sent the wrong parts or it was operator error, but either way, the door now stops nicely where it's supposed to! 

I added a seasonal wreath and my door was done! And I have to say that I absolutely love my new sliding barn door! It's not only beautiful, but also really super functional. It's so much more practical as far as the space it takes up than a swinging door, and I love that I can even open and close it with an elbow or my foot when my hands are full.
Most of all, I'm so proud that I did it all by myself.  And I think even the chickens like it!

p.s. a huge thank you to my farm friend (you know who you are!) for giving me encouragement and making me believe I could actually do it! Because I did!

 Barn Door Hardware Kit | Forstner Drill Bit | White Shiplap | Boxwood Wreath

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Take a Peek at our Week - Oct 22nd - 28th

It was so nice to spend the week at home with family, just relaxing from my recent trip and continuing to get our farm, garden and coop ready for winter. I also managed to finish up my coop interior renovation - I'll share more photos of that next week I hope! We're still molting, so eggs are at a premium, but the Littles should start laying soon. Although the foliage this year in Maine was a bit of a disappointment, I'm still not complaining. Fall is a beautiful time here in New England. Enjoy this peek at my week!

If you enjoyed these photos, be sure to join me on Instagram so you don't miss a single one all week!
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The Importance of Keeping a Closed Flock of Backyard Chickens

The longer I keep chickens, the more I realize that my decision early on to keep a "closed flock" has been the right one. I hear and read so many heartbreaking stories about someone who adds adult chickens to their flock and next thing they know they have sick (or dying) birds on their hands. My chickens are super healthy, and while I accredit that mainly to a strict regiment of preventive, herbal immune system boosting and good genes, i.e. only getting stock from a reputable source, I also know that not bringing adult birds into my flock is likely the biggest reason my chickens never get sick.

A thirty-day quarantine period is the rule of thumb when you introduce new chickens from an outside source. This, in theory, gives you time to monitor and assess the newcomers to assure they are healthy before letting them mingle with your current flock. The problem with that is that there are a couple of diseases that are asymptomatic, or certain birds can be carriers but not necessarily be affected themselves. MG (or Mycoplasma gallisepticum) and the avian flu are two examples of this. And trust me, you don't want either of these to infect your chickens! Since it's in the news almost daily now, it's worth mentioning that salmonella is also often asymptomatic.

So What Exactly is a Closed Flock?

Keeping a closed flock means that you don't add any juvenile or adult chickens to your flock. In my case, it means hatching my own chicks from hatching eggs that I get from a reputable hatchery with an NPIP certification. If you keep a rooster, you can easily expand your flock internally ...and almost indefinitely, although I do think that bringing in new blood from time to time is important, despite the fact that inbreeding isn't really an issue with chickens like it might be for certain other types of animals  - or people!
Keeping a closed flock can also mean acquiring days-old chicks from a feed store, breeder or hatchery. Since the chicks will be separated under heat in a brooder for weeks and weeks, and sick chicks don't generally live for more than a few days, you can be pretty certain that any chicks raise that survive to the point where they can go outside are healthy. Although the NPIP certification is voluntary, all the major hatcheries have the certification. If you are planning on purchasing from a private breeder, be sure to ask about their certification. Most hatcheries also offer vaccinations for chicks being shipped out, if that's something of interest to you. (It's important to note that I have never had any of my chicks vaccinated.)

Good Biosecurity

Deliberately deciding not to introduce adult chickens to your flock is the linchpin of a closed flock, since many chicken diseases can be transmitted through feces, feathers or by air or direct contact with infected rodents or wild birds, biosecurity is super important as well. Simple things like not hanging wild bird feeders near your coop, covering your run to prevent wild birds from entering, and wearing dedicated footwear to care for your chickens etc. are all important, but of equal importance is limiting your contact with other chicken keepers - at least around your coop area. 

I don't encourage anyone with chickens of their own to visit my chickens, and if they do, they generally aren't allowed inside our run. We keep extra pairs of rubber boots in various sizes for anyone who needs them.

I don't wear my chicken boots off our property - and most certainly not to the feed store. Just walking through a store that someone else with chickens has been walking around can transmit pathogens from their footwear to the floor to your footwear and ultimately back to your coop.

Avoid Coop Tours and Swaps

I don't participate in coop tours (worst biosecurity nightmare ever!) which are basically groups of chicken keepers traveling from one coop to another, and likely spreading all kinds of pathogens and germs as they go. I don't stop to browse at those parking lot poultry swaps - and would never buy a chicken at one. While most sellers at swaps are responsible, some aren't - they often might not even realize that their chicken is carrying something.

Even accredited, reputable poultry shows do pose a bit of a risk - even though the chickens being shown all have to be tested (for some things, but not for every possible infectious disease) - the number of people coming through those events pretty much guarantees that someone is going to be bringing in some type of germ with them that you could carry home to your flock, so buying from a show does mitigate your risk, but a quarantine period still needs to be adhered to. 

Bottom line, introducing new flock members from any outside flock poses a risk. I have received way too many tearful email from readers over the years about ending up infecting their flock when they ended up buying a chicken at a swap and bringing it home and while it "looked healthy", it ends up transmitting some awful disease to the rest of their flock. 

Obviously, I recommended they have a necropsy done on any deceased chickens, and have the others tested by their vet or state university or avian lab. It's impossible to make a decision about treating or culling without complete and accurate information and a diagnosis from a medical professional.

Err on the Side of Caution

I don't mean to be an alarmist, but to me, the risk is just too great to take any chances. With antibiotics coming off the shelves and only available by prescription, it's not so easy anymore to treat a sick flock, and some of the worst infectious diseases don't have any cure anyway.So, a closed flock it is for me. For nearly the last decade, my chickens have been healthy and I haven't had any issues with sickness or death in my flock. I just couldn't bear to lose one - or all of them, which is a very real scenario with some of the non-treatable infectious diseases - just to bring home the "flavor of the month": that one chicken I just have to have.

Now with all that said, I myself do sell, and give away and rehome chickens from my flock periodically. The unwanted multiple roosters I end up hatching, the hen that lays eggs in a disappointing shade, those that end up not being my absolute favorites... And I guess I am a bit of a hypocrite that way, telling people not to add adult chickens to their flock and then giving them mine! 

But I know that my chickens are healthy and I also know that I am responsible enough to contact anyone who had bought or been given one if I did ever have an outbreak of any sickness in my flock, since there's a good chance that pathogen was festering well before any symptoms came to light and I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't contact those who had taken some of my chickens....just in case.In short, it's super important to me to keep my girls as healthy as I can. Maybe it's a bit of luck, but I certainly do believe in keeping a closed flock. I recommend thinking long and hard before adding adult chickens to your flock.

Sidenote: While some experts recommending housing chickens and ducks separately, I have kept them together in the same coop and run since 2009 and never experienced any issues other than the random duck thinking it's funny to go around "goosing" the chickens! Again, boosting immune systems and starting with healthy stock is of utmost importance.

Further reading:Merck Vet Manual - Common Infectious DiseasesSmallholder Series: Closed Flock or Herdhttp://ucanr.edu/sites/poultry/files/201395.pdfhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/122892
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Fresh Eggs Daily on the Hallmark Home and Family Show!

If you missed the Hallmark Home and Family show last Monday, you can catch my segment here! I was super excited to appear on the show to talk about my new book Let's Hatch Chicks!  

I'll be sharing some behind the scenes photos and stories from my trip to California later this week hopefully, but for now I just wanted to share the link to the show for anyone who missed it. Enjoy! 


The entire cast and crew were super nice and the whole experience couldn't have been more positive. Everyone was really interested in the chickens and remarked on how well behaved they were...for the most part! And I was excited to bring some of the joy of keeping chickens to nationwide audiences across the country!

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4 Things Your Chickens Need This Winter...and 3 Things They Don't

While it seems natural to worry about your chickens in the winter, they're actually far more comfortable in the cold than you might imagine. Even here in Maine, our chickens do just fine when there's snow on the ground and it doesn't get above freezing for days on end. They do however, appreciate a little bit of TLC to get them through it.
So here are four things that are important to help your chickens when the temperatures drop.

Dry, Well-Ventilated Coop

In the winter, I put a nice thick layer of straw on the floor of my coop, and close the windows to prevent cold drafts, snow and sleet from coming in, but I leave the vents under the eaves open year round. This allows moisture and ammonia fumes to escape. 
It's the moisture more than the cold that can cause frostbite, plus your chickens need fresh air to keep them healthy and prevent respiratory issues.  If you get a lot of snow where you live, piling it up against the coop can actually help to keep the coop warmer. The snow acts as insulation against the cold.

Outdoor Perches and Wind Blocks

It's important to get your chickens outside as much as possible, every day, year round. Sunshine, exercise and fresh air are all critical for optimal health. But chickens don't like to walk on snow, ice or muddy ground, so some outdoor perches will help to entice them outside. 
Branches, benches, swings, pallets and even straw spread on the ground can all encourage your girls to step foot outside on even the coldest of days. Chickens also don't like wind, so wrapping part of your run with a tarp or clear plastic creates a nice wind block for them. 

  

Scratch Grains and Suet

Your chickens should be eating their feed as their main food source through the winter, but tossing them a few handfuls of scratch grains as a treat before bedtime will help keep them warm overnight, as their body creates energy digesting the grains. You can buy commercial scratch or mix your own. Suet can also help keep your chickens warm by providing them some extra protein and fat. Commercial suet cakes are available or you can make your own suet for your chickens as well.

Fresh Water

Even though they likely won't drink as much water in the winter as they do in the summer, your chickens still need access to fresh, unfrozen water all day long in the winter. Keeping it from freezing can be a challenge, although if you have electricity in your coop or can run an extension cord, an electric dog water bowl is about the easiest way to keep the water from freezing.

Chickens really need very little to get them through the winter just fine, but there are three things that they absolutely do NOT need.

Say No to Heat

I'm pretty sure that many, many more chickens die in coop fires caused by heat lamps than from the cold. Sadly, year after year, people burn down their coops, garages, barns and even their homes with faulty or poorly installed heat lamps. 
But even if you decide you'll use a (safer) radiant panel heater in your coop, what happens when you lose power in a storm? Now your chickens haven't been able to acclimate to the cold naturally. Also, heat creates moisture and that is extremely detrimental to your flocks' health. No matter how you look at it, heating your coop is a bad idea.

Say No to Light

While it's true that chickens do need about 16 hours of daylight to lay an egg, I prefer to give my chickens a break through the winter. To rest up after going through the molting season. Sure, twinkle lights are cute, but I don't use them to add artificial light in my coop. Have you ever seen a battery hen who is forced to lay year round after about two years without a break? Enough said. 
Instead, I'll let you in on a little trick: spring chicks that start laying in late fall generally will lay through that first winter without any artificial light, so if you get a few new chicks each spring...you'll have eggs through the winter.

Say No to Chicken Sweaters

Memes of chickens in sweaters circulate around social media each winter, but please, please do not start knitting your chickens sweaters - unless you're donating them to rescued battery hens (see above!) who literally have no feathers on their bodies. 
Chickens stay warm by fluffing their feathers and if you put them in sweaters, they can't keep warm naturally.  Trust me, your chickens don't need sweaters. Even those who are molting won't benefit from wearing a sweater - I would guess that would be exceedingly uncomfortable, bordering on painful, to have a sweater on while growing in new feathers.

Photo Credit: Bored Panda

So this winter do your girls a favor and add some more straw to the floor of their coop, offer them some scratch grains and suet, and open the coop door to allow them the choice to spend time indoors or out. They'll be healthier and happier. I promise.Further ReadingCold Weather Chicken Care Guide20 Cold-Hardy Chicken BreedsMy Top 5 Winter TipsKeeping Chicken Eggs from Freezing

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