View source for Hay hood

{{Short description|Architectural element of barns}}
[[File:Anderson Barn.JPG|right|thumb|A pointed hay hood on the [[gambrel roof]]ed [[Anderson Barn (Johnstown, Colorado)|Anderson Barn]] in [[Johnstown, Colorado]]]]
A '''hay hood''' is a roof extension which projects from the ridge of a [[barn]] roof, usually at the top of a [[gable]]. It provides shelter over a window or door used for passing hay into the attic or loft of the barn; it may hold a pulley for hoisting hay or [[hay bale]]s up to the loft, or a fork or [[grappling hook|grapple]] and track system (or [[hay carrier]]) where hay can be lifted and then moved throughout the barn. A barn may have the ridge beam extended past the wall with a lifting mechanism but no hay hood.{{r|js}}
This simplest hay hood includes a tapered roof extension providing some protection from the weather. A non-tapered extension provides more protection. A hay hood with partial or full walls underneath the extension on two sides is more protective, while an extension with three sides, allowing hay to be brought into the barn only through its "floor" keeps virtually all rain or snow out of the barn.{{r|js}}
A hay hood can be built on a barn with any roof type. The type of hood is generally determined by the weather of a particular region. A barn in a semi-arid region may have no hood or just a simple pointed one. A barn in a region with frequent driving rain may have a completely enclosed hay hood. This is common in an area of western Oregon in the United States, centered on the town of [[Monroe, Oregon|Monroe]] in the [[Willamette Valley]], where it is called a '''hay cupola'''. Most [[gambrel roof]]ed barns in the western U.S. have pointed hay hoods.{{r|js}} Hay hoods have been built on [[round barn]]s.{{r|nrhpocrb}}{{efn|A hay hood on a round barn does not meet the standard definition since the roof of a round barn has no ridge, therefore the no ridge extension. On a round barn, a hay hood is more of a [[dormer]] but serves the same function of protecting a loft opening.}}
It may also be known as a '''hay bonnet''',{{r|js}} '''hay gable''',{{r|js}} '''widow's peak''',{{efn|This term is used by contemporary manufacturers of vintage-looking barns for a purely decorative element, apparently borrowing the name from [[widow's peak]] and/or [[widow's cap]].}} '''crow's beak''',{{r|hf}} or '''hanging gable'''.{{r|Harris}}
To prevent small gaps around the closed doors at the beam penetration that would allow birds to enter the barn, one farmer in [[Reasnor, Iowa]], designed a hay hood with a "bunker door" that when closed, was an angled floor on the hay hood, completely enclosing the hood and keeping birds such as [[New World sparrow|sparrow]]s and [[pigeon]]s out of the barn.{{r|dr1}}
==Other uses==
[[File:BARN, HOIST IN SOUTHWEST GABLE - Laguna Seca Rancho, North side of U.S. Highway 101, Coyote, Santa Clara County, CA HABS CAL,43-COYO,1-5.tif|thumb|A catshead to a barn]]
A little '''catshead''' (alternatively '''cat's head''' or '''cats head''') is an [[Architecture|architectural feature]] commonly found on multi-storied mills, agricultural buildings, and factories, composed of a small extension protruding from the [[gable|gable end]] of a larger [[roof]].
A [[grist mill]] with a single main roof and catsheads at each end vaguely resembles a [[cat]]'s head in sillohuette, with the catsheads forming the "ears" of the imaginary feline; this may be the origin of the name.
Catsheads originally existed to protect the ropes and pulleys associated with lifting equipment (such as the [[block and tackle]] rigs used to shift multi-ton milling equipment and the simple wheel [[pulleys]] used to lift [[fodder]] into haylofts) from ice and the corrosion caused by rain. In driest climates, if they had an opening to the building which lacked a door or window, this may have been adequate to prevent the goods from deteriorating.
Adding the protective catshead to the gable end of a roofline makes [[roofing material|roofing]] tasks such as taking and removing tiles/panels simpler, and was an economy as obviates the [[flashing (weatherproofing)]] of a completely separate roof.
Whimsical architectural styles (such as [[New World Queen Anne Revival architecture]]) may also sport catsheads as non-functional decorative features.
==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed heights=180px>
File:Cheadle Barn hay hood - Finley NWR Oregon.jpg|Fully enclosed hay hood on the [[Cheadle Barn]] in [[Benton County, Oregon]], U.S., listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]
File:Leidiingshof (Scheune).jpg |Fully enclosed hay hood on a barn in [[Heiligenstadt in Oberfranken]] in [[Upper Franconia, Bavaria]], Germany
File:Alberta barn July 2011.jpg |Pointed hay hood on a round-roofed barn in [[Alberta, Canada]]
File:Sparrow_proof_hay_hood.jpg |Bottom-doored hay hood in [[Reasnor, Iowa]], U.S.
File:Virginia Tillery Round Barn.jpg|Hay hood on a round barn ([[Virginia Tillery Round Barn]] in [[Greene County, Illinois]])
File:Walker Lane - DPLA - 393daa75f91eb55e391dae9d757e3097.jpg|Barn with hay hood in [[Wallowa County, Oregon|Wallowa County]], Oregon
</gallery>
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist |refs=
<ref name=js>{{cite journal |last=Francaviglia |first=Richard V. |title=Western American Barns: Architectural Form and Climatic Considerations. |journal=Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers |volume=3 4|year=1972 |pages=153–60 |doi=10.1353/pcg.1972.0010 |jstor=24041292 |s2cid=128474828 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24041292 |access-date=April 23, 2022}}</ref>
<ref name="Harris">{{cite book | author = Cyril M. Harris | date = 1998 | title = American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | isbn = 978-0-393-73103-3 | oclc = 1005157692 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=G6bwEDoS6dAC |page=169}}</ref>
<ref name=hf>{{cite web |url=https://www.hobbyfarms.com/old-barns-in-america-a-field-guide/ |website=hobbyfarms.com| title=Old Barns in America: A Field Guide | last=Johnson |first=Samantha |date=June 10, 2019 |access-date=April 23, 2022}}</ref>
<ref name="dr1">{{cite news |title=Sparrow-proof dairy barn |access-date=April 23, 2022 |work=The Des Moines Register |date=February 6, 1949 |location=Des Moines, Iowa |page=115 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100344952/the-des-moines-register/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}  {{free access}}</ref>
<ref name="nrhpocrb">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=03000996}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Ojo Caliente Hot Springs Round Barn|author=David Kammer|date=August 2003|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|accessdate=December 7, 2016}} with {{NRHP url|id=03000996|photos=y|title=four photos}}</ref>
}}
[[Category:Architectural elements]]
[[Category:Barns with hay hoods|*]]