Guinea Coop Question

[Soccer Mom]

DH is building me a new wire enclosure and guinea coop. (I have the best husband ever.)

What do you use for your roosts and at what level do you place them?


Also, how long should the guineas live in their new enclosure before being allowed out for free ranging? I want them to adjust to the idea of their new home so evenings aren't a beating. Is 6 weeks long enough? 8?

 

[Aj1911]

i use a 2x4 for all my roosts, i placed the one for my guineas at about 4 and a half feet or chest height for me (i'm 6'5'')

as for how long to keep them in

i kept mine in for about 4 months and they do fine.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

I use a 2x2 with smoothed out corners.

They seem to like them fine and I place them at 1 foot, 3 feet and 5 feet and I have a "shelf" for them to look out through hard wire in the side of the Nursery.

In the barn the just fly to the highest rafter they can find for roosting.

 

[Soccer Mom]

Cool. Thanks, Y'all!

 

[RuffTuffCreampuff]

My small flock of guineas are housed in a 12'x8' hoop coop. I used three cattle panels for the top and framed the bottom with 2"x6". The end framing is 2"x4". The DW found a gallon of brown stain for just a few bucks to pretty up the project. The bottom 3' of the panel tops are covered with hardware cloth and the top is just regular chicken wire. I built my roost support from 2"x4" and the roost is constructed of 3" circumferance branches from various trees (cedar, oak, or wild olive). The guineas are accompanied by a pair of blue slate turkeys who don't seem to mind. In a few weeks, I'm going to start releasing the guineas in small groups to coop train them. I'll band the females as we identify them to avoid releasing a pair that might take off to see the world.
John

 

[Soccer Mom]

Good luck, John! Mine just moved to their new coop last night. I'll add pics as soon as I have batteries in my camera. So far, they seem to love it.

The wild things have actually settled down a bit from their brooder behavior. I think it's just a matter of more room and a lot more natural stimulation. There are things to watch and do for them. They seem happy.

Being released from the coop for day ranging is a looooong way off for my guys. They're only a couple of weeks old.