1. Barns were painted red because of rust! Hundreds of years ago, farmers mixed linseed oil, milk, and iron oxide (which is just rust!) to make a cheap paint that protected wooden barns from rotting. The rust turned the paint a bright, classic red!

2. Whole communities used to build a barn in a single day. Long ago, building a huge wooden barn was too much work for just one family. Neighbors would gather for a "barn raising," working together to frame and build an entire barn from morning until sunset!

3. The top floor is a giant bedroom for hay. The upper floor inside a barn is called a hayloft. Farmers store dry grass and hay bales up there to keep them dry and out of the mud so animals have food all winter.

4. Farmers used owls as natural pest control. To keep mice from eating the stored grain, farmers used to cut small holes high up near the roof called "owl holes." This invited wild barn owls to nest inside and hunt for mice at night!

5. The weather vane on top is an ancient weather forecast. Many barns have a metal rooster or horse arrow on the very top of the roof called a weather vane. It spins in the wind to show farmers which direction the storm clouds are blowing in.

6. There are different barns for different farm jobs. Not all barns hold cows! Dairy barns have special milking stalls, tobacco barns have wooden vents to dry leaves, and bank barns are built into hillsides so wagons can drive right onto the second floor.

7. In winter, the animals act like living heaters. Farm animals like cows and horses give off a lot of body heat! On freezing winter days, closing the big barn doors keeps all that warmth trapped inside, keeping the animals cozy together.