The Guineas Are In Their Coop!

(Guineas, with the ladder to the perch in the foreground.)

After what seemed like forever, last Thursday I moved the guinea fowl into their new coop! I set myself a goal of using materials scrounged from the various junk-filled outbuildings on this property. Uneven scraps of material going up in a crooked building; it was a lot tougher going than I ever imagined. The people on this farm saved everything and that coop is an homage to 70’s rec rooms. There are three different types of paneling, including one beige style with brown flowers. There are two different patterns of sheet vinyl including a white one with blue flowers and all sorts of scrap lumber. Flimsy plastic faux shutters from the trash heap in the barn now adorn the ceiling. That is my favorite example of adaptive reuse from this project.


(Plastic faux shutters on the ceiling. Every surface had to be covered to combat invasive fowl eating pests.)

Fowl security demanded that I buy lots of expensive hardware cloth, which is a ½” welded wire that manages to stand firm against raccoon assault, which cheaper chicken wire does not. It also will keep out snakes and mice. I built a screen door for the front and leave the “solid” door open all the time for good ventilation. The nice young men from MountainScapes brought me a truckload of sand for the floor, which they shoveled over a layer of hardware cloth I installed to keep digging pests out. Sixteen cubic feet of small flake pine shavings went over the sand.

(Hardware cloth lines the floor under the sand.)

I built a perch about 4.5’ up with a makeshift ladder. Guineas are good flyers but it can take them awhile to figure that out! If you remember from my original post, this building is made up of a long stall on the right, divided into two rooms, front and back, a raised gangway in the middle and a full length stall on the left. The guineas are in the small front room on the right. The wall between the guinea’s area and the gangway is lined with hardware cloth as will be the wall between the gangway and the chicken’s area on the far left.

(Looking from the guinea area, across the gangway to the chicken area.)

When it’s all finished I will have feeders and waterers for both areas that can be filled from the gangway. I’m going to try and heave an old chest freezer up there for rodent-proof feed storage. Some shelves will provide additional storage and a chair will give me a comfortable viewing area.

(The gangway; guinea area is through the hardware cloth to the right.)

The guinea’s space is about 8 feet square and they seem happy to have some room in which to move around. I learned that guinea fowl are smellier, messier and noisier than chickens and I am ever so glad to have them and their big brooder box out of the house. I’m sure they share my sentiments.

(When I go in the pen they cower in the corner as though they expect to have their heads lopped off at any moment!)

That job complete; now it’s time to start on the chicken side!

(The chicken side. A large portion of the back side of this building has to be re-sided.)