Is it possible to use an old chicken barn for horses?

[Real_Rush]

I’m slowly working on fencing in the rest of my new property that wasn’t already fenced when I moved in back in December. There’s one section of pasture that has a small, old chicken barn next to it. It would be a helluva lot easier to include this barn inside the fencing to use as a run-in shed for the horses for this pasture, but I’m scared shitless about the prospect of one of the horses contracting salmonella. (pun intended, there) There have not been any chickens on this property in at least 15 years, but the floor inside this barn is dirt, so the possibility of the bacteria still being very accessible to the horses is great.

What say you? Use it, tear/burn it down and avoid the area like the plague, or what?

[HPFarmette]

I would strip out the top layer of dirt, and then spray everything down with a 1/32 bleach solution. But is there a biologist out there in COTH land who could comment on whether the microbes would still be alive?

[khall]

Well I have known of the big chicken barns being converted to use as horse barns, in fact that is what Valhalla did in FL. Not sure if it is the same but they at the time had dirt aisle ways and I believe dirt stall floors.

[trubandloki]

My chickens wander around my paddocks and my barn…

Am I not worried about something I should be worried about?

[candyappy]

Just clean it out real well. You could put mats down, but if it was clean I wouldn’t worry.

[SmartAlex]

And make sure there are no creepy crawlies left behind (i.e. Bird Mites)

[Foxtrot_s]

My neighbour has chickens AND horses in her barn, without incident as far as I know - for years and years.

I have often wondered if horses could catch lice from chickens?

[horsepoor]

No chickens in 15 years? I’m not sure salmonella or such would live that long. I hope someone that actually knows will weigh in, but in my mind, I wouldn’t be too worried. And I’m a worrier!!

[Equibrit]

Converted chicken houses are used for horses all over north Georgia. Never heard of anything nasty lingering.

[enjoytheride]

I’d be really really worried if bacteria lasted 15 years in the ground!

Also, don’t people have chickens loose all over their barns all the time?

Is your danger a real danger?

[horsenut_8700]

Ours was a commercial chicken farm before going out of business ~15 years ago. My dad then gutted one of the coops (buildings are 40’x240’) and put in 15 stalls. We did power wash all remaining surfaces with a bleach solution but we’ve never had an issue

[Simbalism]

I did board at a barn in the past that had refurbished a chicken barn to use for horses. The main problem with this barn was the height. They had to dig down to allow for enough height for the horses. The only problem with this was on one side of the barn the level of the ground was higher( kind of built into a gradual hill). Many of the stalls on that side flooded like crazy if we had a lot of rain. This farm is still in existence and have never heard of any weird infection problems.

[ellisrun]

I have seen one in my area, it was nice and roomy. I believe they did lay a concrete aisle way and wash bay and then matted over the stalls.

[rebecca_yount]

The Eaton family in Woodbine, Maryland (Doug used to build riding arenas–Eaton Excavating, and Karen and also their daughter Elizabeth were very active in horses) had converted a chicken barn and it was very nice. The name was Winfield Farm.

[furlong47]

The only time I ever knew a horse to have salmonella, there were no chickens around (and I don’t think there had ever been chickens there… it was a summer camp). There were, however, many snakes, which is the only other vector I can think of.

[cowboymom]

Salmonella lives in the ground; an area can be overridden with it without any chickens anywhere near it. I know a rancher that has to vax his cows against it b/c it’s in his ground; he has no chickens or much of anything else except cows.

I wouldn’t think anything of using an 15 year old chicken shed for a horse. Stuffing a bunch of chickens in WITH a horse not so much but Mother Nature has done cleaned house on that shed already. :yes:

[Real_Rush]

Thanks, everyone. A good friend of mine lost a horse to salmonella a few years ago, and I guess that made me more conscientious of the danger to my own. So cool, now I’ve got an already usable small open barn that will suffice as a run-in shed and save me some time and money.

[RxCate]

Friend of mine’s mother converted a big chicken barn in to a stable and it’s worked out great the last 20 years. It’s a bit dusty as its’ an all dirt floor, but we have had no issues of sickness, etc.

[ejm]

We converted an old commercial chicken house into a horse barn. The floor was covered with a couple of feet of 20-year-old chicken manure, which we dug out and spread on the cattle pasture. We pressure-washed the whole inside, and put down rock base covered with 6" of stone dust, and mats in the stalls. It’s been a great, problem-free horse barn for 20 years.