Beginner with ???

[Melky]

Roof at your comfort level to walk thru for ease of cleaning.

 

[R2elk]

Hello,
I would like to raise a flock of guinea fowl in Adams, Ny. We have 10 acres with a 500+ feet of stream and over 3 acres of mowed lawn.
I was thinking if starting with around 10-12 birds. My biggest question as of now is about the coop.
The house used to have a small veterinary clinic in it. So there is water in the old clinic and then a small storage room off the back of clinic. Off the storage room there is a kennel that is 10x12’ and about 6’6” high. The roof does not extend over the kennel but I can make it so they don’t get rained on. The kennel has as I said a man door going into house, actually behind garage. Chain link fence with a gate to go into backyard. The floor is black top with concrete curb.
So I’m thinking this is a great spot to cool them as it will be easy for me to keep feed and water right inside the house and the prebuilt pest proof kennel. But the thing I’m not sure of is if I extend a tarp or something over kennel the roof would be about 6’ high with pitch, is this high enough? And also what about the black top floor, I figure hay can cover it but just wasn’t sure if it would be a PIA to clean or bad for the guinea.
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks, Markgyver!
And remember you can’t break broken, but I can probably fix it

Read the thread Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA .

Consider 4 sq. ft. of open floor space per adult guinea a minimum requirement for coop space. You need to have additional space for feeders, waterers, hiding places, etc. They need even more run space per bird.

Guineas like to roost high. Train your guineas to go in the coop every evening. Guineas are very susceptible to predators at night especially hens that are sitting on their hidden nests.

Guineas that are not free ranged during the daytime will do nothing for your tick problem.

 

[Markgyver]

The kennel is 120 sq/ft and that is for coop only purpose other than that they will be out from sun up to sun down. The existing roof it about 7’ high for them to roost when they come in at night.
I will read that article and thanks for any and all advice

 

[R2elk]

The kennel is 120 sq/ft and that is for coop only purpose other than that they will be out from sun up to sun down. The existing roof it about 7’ high for them to roost when they come in at night.
I will read that article and thanks for any and all advice

Do not wait until sundown to put them in their coop. They need to be put in their secure nighttime area while it is still light out. They do not enter dark places well.

 

[Markgyver]

Ok I had read that before that people keep a dim light in coop because they don’t like the dark

 

[50-45-1]

He Markgyver,
you should start a new thred over in the Guinea section of the website with the photos of what you have now and the guinea experts like @R2elk can help you out with good advice.
I would advize you start with keets as adult birds sometimes take a long time to inprint to there new home. I have had some confined for 2 months and they still went walk about never to be seen again.
I am curious to see how your guinea story continues.

 

[Markgyver]

Thank you. Solid advice right there!

 

[Markgyver]

But first bump in the road, wife!! Sometimes it is better to beg forgiveness than ask permission

 

[Leahs Coop]

 

[Thatcrazyteacher]

OK, where to start...
I think I'll just go 'row by row' with replies...
>starting with around 10-12 birds
Question 1: are you starting with eggs or keets?
Either way, figure on about 10-20 % loss in the first month or so of free-ranging because they are the stupidest thing God ever put a feather on. Our neighbor started with 47, by the end of the 3rd month, she was down to 24, and she now has 8 that have survived past the 1 year mark. All of our girls are eggs from her hens that we rescued because they were laid then abandoned. We kept finding clutches of eggs (or eaten clutches) that the idiots had forgotten they laid or had laid, just went walkabout, and never bothered to return to. Long story short: if you want 10 - 12, start with 20 -30.

>The floor is black top with concrete curb
Much like chickens, guinea foul scratch & peck - it's instinct. While a bit of grit and gravel are good for them (along with oyster shell) blacktop is toxic and I hate to think of what that would do to their system, to their eggs (are you planning eating their eggs?) and especially to their offspring. They need dirt to scratch in, to bathe in... so I have serious reservations about the blacktop.

>the roof would be about 6’ high with pitch
IMHO, the roof height is more about your comfort (walking under it to clean...) than theirs. We have an offset layer of chicken wire (to keep predators out) over part of the run, and galvanized steel (that rippled stuff over patios...) over part of it for shelter from rain/snow/hail (because, again, they are too stupid to come in out of it.)

A couple of other things that come to mind:
Smell - - guinea produce a smell that is like no other (and I nose-blind to a wealth of odors) so I would question whether or not you really want that 'aroma' so close to a door that opens directly into the house.
Insects - - The above mentioned smell seems to be a natural survival mechanism for these loonies in that it attracts a wealth of insects (all you can eat free buffet!) It cuts down on the feed bill, but do you want the insect population that close to the house?
Heat - - If you are starting with adult birds, heat is not much of an issue, just give them time to acclimate if you're bringing them in from one clime to another. For youngsters, the vet clinic sounds like an optimal spot for hatching/brooding because it's enclosed, has electricity, and in close enough for daily check-ins. For some reason, consistent temperature seems to be more critical for hatching eggs/keets than it does for chickens. They are all sensitive snowflakes I guess...
Acclimation - - From what we've found, acclimation is key, whether it's temperature or location. For keets (& youngsters) **slowly** lower the temp of their environment to match where they will be living outside. For newly hatched keets, you want to start @ 95-99 degrees F, reducing by 5 degrees F each week. Environmentally, if you don't want total strangers showing up pounding on your front door asking, "Are those your turkeys running down the road?" you will want to start with them living in an enclosed run and then get "play dates" (ask your wife, she'll explain) with the great outdoors. Once they are accustomed to the wide wide world of sports and predators and cars and dogs, you have a go at leaving the run open for them to sprint into like scared mice when the wind shifts, the horse neighs, or the neighbor's dog breaks wind. Of course, when an eagle swoops over screeching menacingly, they will stare up at the sun screaming, "Big yellow orb!" as they're scooped up and carried off. Did I mention they're idiots? Keeping their familiar food & water containers in the run will remind them that, "Oh. Yeh. DUH! This is where I come back to." OK, honestly there's a 20-30% chance that they'll remember to come home, and maybe a 10-15% chance they'll move when a semi is barreling down on them at 65 MPH. But the food serves as a reasonably good reminder as to where they 'live.' And when you find their lovely spotted feather strewn across the yard? Well, at least you'll know you've done your best to give them what they needed to survive; 'case we guinea folk all know - nature sure as hell didn't.
Socialization - - Our girls are hand raised (the advantage of having kids in the house) so they know us. They see us coming and run to greet us. This provides a measure of assurance that they know where home is, we can keep a head count, and we can 'casually' follow them through the yard to a thicket or bramble to see where their nest is and keep an eye on it. Unlike dogs, microchipping isn't a really viable option for keeping tabs on them (doesn't work for squat on wives either) so knowing them and them knowing you has countless benefits. Because, do you hear what's coming? Because in spite of being dumber than dirt, they are incredibly social creatures and they will imprint on you and that provides a measure of safety for them and peace of mind for you. The downside, of course, being that if one of them becomes fox food - it rips a chunk of your heart out (and you're stuck telling yourself, "I told you not to get so attached to these idiots!")
All this being said, they are lovely graceful creatures, comically useful alarms, watch dogs who rid the area of unwanted pests (tics & snakes are just the beginning, crabby neighbors will stop dropping in to complain) and they return the "feed me" favor with a plethora of delicious *bigger* eggs.