At the Beginning

Everyone as to start somewhere, and we are no exception. Andersen Acres is the brainchild of my now 14-year-old son Tristan. He wanted chickens, goats, and a miniature horse. My younger son Rowan wanted rabbits. But we had nowhere to keep anything. No barns, no fences, no coops...nothing. So we needed something.


Back in 2019, Tristan had an idea. Two smaller barns and a coop to use as a nursery between them. Also a fence to keep everyone from wandering into the neighbour's yard. The very first thing he wanted was a barn (though we'd end up with a coop before the barn was erected). To build a barn, it would need a solid base.


The base of a barn is a tricky thing mostly because there are so many options. You can use concrete, wood, dirt, shavings, or literally anything else. After much discussion, Tristan decided he wanted a sand and limestone floor for his chickens. It would be easy to scoop clean and if he layered the sand over gravel and pea stone it would have excellent drainage.


Now to build it. It was the fall of 2019, so there wasn't much time before the first snow would hit First, he had to cut cedar beams to size. 6x6 cedar beams so they could support the weight of his barn. Then he had to cover those beams in liquid rubber. After that was the digging. To make them flush with the ground, he had to dig down several inches into the ground. It was hard work, especially when he was only 13 at the time. But he did it with a smile on his face.


Once the beam where anchored in place, he laid down landscape fabric and added some gravel. Then it was ready for barn, though that constructed wouldn't begin until the Spring of 2020...