Advice on Housing

[linbee]

I have an 8 x 10 portable building with 2 small windows and 2 small wall vents that we converted into our Guinea House. I have never kept any type of poultry, so everything is new to me. I have them in a wire brooder inside their house now (they are almost 3 weeks old). I no longer use the heat lamp (it's 95 in the daytime and 79 at night). Inside the building is a few degrees warmer - I have a fan inside for daytime use. My plan is to turn them out inside the building at some point for their nursery, but the door to the building must be open during the day because of the heat. At what size do snakes not try and eat them? I already had a snake get inside their first cage and eat/kill some. I will have a half-wall barricade inside the building for them so they can't get out the door but no top. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Finn's Mom]

Can you frame out a temporary "screen door" with hardware cloth for your main opening or is it too big? I did that for my chickens on a smaller scale and it is working out nicely. If I am understanding this correctly, with no top, I think they will be able to fly over your half wall in no time at all ---

 

[linbee]

That is what I am going to do - after much fretting and looking at other people's poultry set ups, I think that will solve my problem. I am off to get supplies today. It's either that or move my bed into their house! Who knew this involved so much worrying? Thank you again for the wonderful suggestion. I will keep the outside area screened on top and then I can close the inside door and hopefully all will be well. Do you know what size they have to be before snakes don't try and eat them?

 

[Finn's Mom]

I am using 1/2 inch hardware cloth. Snakes can squeeze through a small hole, but any that can squeeze through that should not pose a problem. We have snakes here too. (ick) I read here someone used deer netting balled up around their coop and it catches snakes because their scales get caught.
I don't know what size prey snakes consider their cut-off point! I saw one trying to swallow a toad 10 x the size of it's mouth once. I thought it was a new breed of reptile for a minute.

 

[linbee]

Ick is right......I have learned to really hate snakes - both of my dogs were bitten last year (they survived but it was horrible). I am now on a quest to kill every snake I see (and I don't care if they are the "good" snakes or not). I read about that netting and may check into that. My husband is wondering just how much those guineas are going to end up costing....

I'm using 1/2 inch hardware cloth also, so, I guess I'm doing all I can. Everything I read says the guineas should stay in their house for 6-8 weeks. Is there any reason they couldn't go outside in a completely screened area off to the side of the house? It's very hot in their house - I have a fan in with them, but in the afternoons, it is 96 degrees + inside. So, I'm thinking they could have a shaded patio area where they could hang out in the daytime, and then back in the house at night. What do you think?