Guinea talk.

[guineapeeps]

Love the coop Victoria but my guineas would be on the ground wondering how to get up on the perch.  I've clipped their wings twice and I don't think they know they can fly.  I am not going to tell them either.  They freerange in the yard so I don't want them flying over the chain link fence.  

Well Spiderman and Mary Jane took a trip to walmart in the truck.  My husband didn't tell me about it until the next day.  He said they were very calm and good and he only had a problem with Mary Jane when he shifted the gears on the floor Mary Jane would peck him.  Can you imagine peoples faces if they saw two guineas in the truck.     He should have taken them inside because our Walmart anything goes.  They would fit right in with the crowd.  

We've had so much rain here and everything is a muddy mess.  I haven"t let the guineas in because of all the mud.  I would have muddy footprints all threw the house.  

I hope everyone has a nice day we are going up to 61 today but we have rain predicted.  

I would have loved to have seen Spider-Man and Mary Jane riding in the truck. Just thinking about it put a smile on my face! Next time they go for a car/truck ride, someone will have to get pictures or a video for you to post on here!

 

[pattyhen]

I know I would have loved to seen it too. He didn't tell me about it until the next day. The little stinkers.

 

[pattyhen]

 

[pattyhen]

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote:
Hi. The way we've set it up, it is ideal for hot/humid climates with mild winters. I had originally thought I would put up tarp sidewalls for the winter, but it hasn't turned out to be necessary. We had a hard freeze couple days last week and the guineas were fine up in the arch where it's protected. If the weather stayed freezing or that harsh, would be looking at doing sidewalls (most of the time when people make these hoop-coop designs in snow country, they totally cover them with a big opaque tarp and sometimes even add some kind of insulation). What works for us is that guineas really love to roost high, so by giving them that option, they like their coop, which can be a real issue with these birds. It was also simple enough for us to build ourselves, although we did have a very knowledgeable builder spearhead this one. We love using the cattle panels because they are wonderfully adaptable and can always be broken back down to panels and re-used for something else. And we love the curved arch created, as a shape and a space in the landscape, it's just delightful.


TARP: it's called a "Clear Tarp", lots of tarp places on the online carry them-- you have to shop carefully because some of them seem to have low prices but very high shipping, and shipping is expensive, so it pays to look at the total cost. This tarp was about $100 (total) for 20-ft x 12-ft or so. It's made of HEAVY clear poly, with nylon cord reinforcement in a grid pattern throughout, and the company I bought from has grommets every 18" instead of the standard 36" for same price. And it's UV protected. It makes it soooo nice inside. Here's a better photo so you can see:

 

[guineapeeps]

Hi. The way we've set it up, it is ideal for hot/humid climates with mild winters. I had originally thought I would put up tarp sidewalls for the winter, but it hasn't turned out to be necessary. We had a hard freeze couple days last week and the guineas were fine up in the arch where it's protected. If the weather stayed freezing or that harsh, would be looking at doing sidewalls (most of the time when people make these hoop-coop designs in snow country, they totally cover them with a big opaque tarp and sometimes even add some kind of insulation). What works for us is that guineas really love to roost high, so by giving them that option, they like their coop, which can be a real issue with these birds. It was also simple enough for us to build ourselves, although we did have a very knowledgeable builder spearhead this one. We love using the cattle panels because they are wonderfully adaptable and can always be broken back down to panels and re-used for something else. And we love the curved arch created, as a shape and a space in the landscape, it's just delightful. TARP: it's called a "Clear Tarp", lots of tarp places on the online carry them-- you have to shop carefully because some of them seem to have low prices but very high shipping, and shipping is expensive, so it pays to look at the total cost. This tarp was about $100 (total) for 20-ft x 12-ft or so. It's made of HEAVY clear poly, with nylon cord reinforcement in a grid pattern throughout, and the company I bought from has grommets every 18" instead of the standard 36" for same price. And it's UV protected. It makes it soooo nice inside. Here's a better photo so you can see:

Thanks for all of the info! I have one more question for you. How did you attach the wood roosting bars (the ones that look like long 2x4's) up towards the top of the coop? I really like how high they are as my Guineas like to roost about 8-10 ft high and I wasn't sure how to secure bigger roosting bars up high on a frame like that.

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote:
We used one of the various kinds of "Simpson Ties" that are thinnish, malleable metal plates of various types that are made to brace and connect lumber for construction. Lowe's has a whole end-cap (end of an aisle) full of different types, which is down near the lumber section. The plate we used is a flat rectangular plate with holes for screws, which we attached to the end of the cross-tie, bent it around the cattle panel wire, then screwed it again (using deck screws) onto the other edge of the cross-tie. The particular plate is not sold for this, but it adapted perfectly, easy to bend but completely solid. If you decide to build this way, the thread (liked in earlier post) discusses each issue, including this one. Our builder/handyfriend came up with this solution. Aart (BYC member) used another type of metal brace salvaged from some furniture. The full thread also discusses using the ultra-nontoxic wood preservative called LifeTime Wood Treatment on all the lumber-- I would not want my birds roosting on standard treated wood (the foundation lumber is standard treated). Here's photos:

 

[guineapeeps]

We used one of the various kinds of "Simpson Ties" that are thinnish, malleable metal plates of various types that are made to brace and connect lumber for construction. Lowe's has a whole end-cap (end of an aisle) full of different types, which is down near the lumber section. The plate we used is a flat rectangular plate with holes for screws, which we attached to the end of the cross-tie, bent it around the cattle panel wire, then screwed it again (using deck screws) onto the other edge of the cross-tie. The particular plate is not sold for this, but it adapted perfectly, easy to bend but completely solid.  If you decide to build this way, the thread (liked in earlier post) discusses each issue, including this one. Our builder/handyfriend came up with this solution. Aart (BYC member) used another type of metal brace salvaged from some furniture. The full thread also discusses using the ultra-nontoxic wood preservative called LifeTime Wood Treatment on all the lumber-- I would not want my birds roosting on standard treated wood (the foundation lumber is standard treated).  

Thanks for the information and the pictures with the details....it was very helpful! Great idea on how to attach the roosting bars. I will make sure to check out the full hoop coop thread that you posted earlier.

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote:
You're most welcome. Glad to help.

 

[GlennLee]

Hey all,
It's been a while since I've been here. I've never posted about our guinea coop here, I don't think. I wanted to design a coop that the guineas would enjoy, and also figure out a way to make it using cattle panels, so @Aart helped me engineer it. I just added a new piece of information to my thread about building the coop, and that link is:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1120946/modified-hoop-coop-design-development/30 The link goes to p4 where the photos start, more on each page of the thread.

Here are a couple of photos. The top of the roof is 10-ft tall:

What an AMAZING design. I love the way it looks and how it provides for the guineas to roost way up high. It's definitely a "warm weather" design and I'm sure they must feel like they are still out in nature. I'll be they LOVE it! Nice work and thanks for sharing.