Help me finish my guinea coop, please

[Lunawriter]

Hi, I was given a free chicken coop in a roundabout way and I'm trying to convert it for use with guineas. It was in pretty rough shape and not at all secure from predators, but with a bit of work I think it will be great. The body is pretty solid anyway. Here are some pictures of how it started:

Since these were taken, the doors have been fixed and attached with more heavy-duty hinges and four 2 1/2' 4x4s have been attached as legs to raise it off the ground. I took a wobbly layer of chicken wire off the bottom and am trying to decide whether to replace it with solid flooring or 1/4 inch hardware cloth, which I already have on hand. I'll be using some hardware cloth to fill in the gaps in the top as well. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to set up roosts to make the most use of space--and how far apart do the roosts have to be if I make them ladder style? The coop is 4 ft deep by 8 ft long. How many guineas do you think could be house comfortably in there? And would a corrugated metal roof be okay, or would you suggest something else? Right now it's just warped plywood.

Oh, and one last thing, I was thinking of adding a nesting box to on of the sides. Is it worth the effort?

If anyone has any comments or suggestions for completing this coop and making it more guinea friendly, I'd love to hear them!

(And I hope the images come through okay. This is my first attempt at posting photos.)

Thanks!

 

[Barry]

I wish I could offer you some better advise but I have built a non human predator proof coop about 6x7x7 from a used machine shipping crate and steel siding.
It housed 5 guinea keets since last Sept.
In the last 2 months 2 flew out when I had the door open (at different times) never to be seen again. A few weeks ago I opened up a window in the door and installed landing boards on both sides of the door. These 3 have never been seen on the landing boards. They look out of the window beside the door which has a shelf on the side.
All I can answer to your question is limit it to 5 or 6 max and unless you have fantastic ventilation , or you will be cleaning it it out weekly. If you make it too Guinea friendly they may never go out. If it is too predator proof your guineas may not be able to find their way back in.