new to BYC from smith county TN

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dwuenst

dwuenst

Hatching
8 Years
Nov 4, 2011
4
0
7
Hello, I am still in the gathering information stage. I found this web page and just love all the information and such. A year ago I wanted to get guineas after learning that they eat ticks, I asked my husband to build me a chicken coop and figured that if I were going to get guineas I should just get a few chickens for the eggs, My husband isn't very handy with a hammer and the idea soon fell by the wayside, then after visiting my sister out in Colorado and seeing her chickens I once again decided that I was going to look into getting a few chickens and 2 guineas. Since I don't think my husband would make a very safe coop I started looking into buying one, WOW was I surprised when I seen the cost of the coops. I really like the cute ones that look like a barn but I can't justify spending 2000 or so for one. I am getting very flustrated, I for sure want 2 guineas and I understand I have to raise them from very young or they will run away. Once the guineas are big enough I want them to roam free but maybe sleep in the coop at night. I would not want the chickens to roam free because we have 9 big dogs (7 golden retreavers, 1 shephard and 1 chow/ golden mix) who live inside the house but are outside a lot of the time too. We have 5 acres but no real barn only 2 run-ins for the mini donkies. Once I figure out my coop deli a I would like to get 2Americana or Easter egger for the blue eggs, a road island red, Plymouth rock and 2 silkies. I found a hatchery in my same town and hope to visit there tomorrow to see some chickens and maybe get an idea about a coop. My sister says I will probably want to seperate the guineas from the chickens due to the fact I don't want to let the chickens free roam but I want to let the guineas roam. I never dreamed all this would be so difficult. Any suggestions?? Thanks in advance for any and all help...........Donna
 
We kept our guineas with our chickens, but we let everyone free range regularly...eggs from free range chickens seem to be superior in every way to those from hens that are kept penned up all the time...I condition my chickens to come when I call them, so that if I want to put them back in the coop at any time, I just call them over and pen them up...It is something you may want to consider...just to give the chickens more freedom to be chickens, but that is just my personal view. There are many people who sucessfully keep their chickens penned all the time, and they are just fine and happy with it.

My girls get mad at me when I don't let them range for a few days...Snow has even started trying to work out how to open the coop door herself....

Building a coop may not be as hard (or as expensive) as you think...there are tons of great coop plans here on BYC...I for one live in Texas, and don't have much need for cold weather shelter for my girls, so I just spent 100 bucks on craigs list for a 10ft by 10ft metal dog run, put some wire mesh that I had laying around over the top, and got fortunate enough to find some free corugated metal to put down the back side, and across back half of the top for a roof. I put half inch hardware cloth along the bottom for a little extra predator proofing, and landscaping stones along the bottom edge to prevent digging predators. It may not be the most beautiful coop, but it is safe and effective for my girls.

My dad built me a nest box, I used some thick dowel rod I had around for roosts, and cinder blocks for a waterer platform (to keep the girls from kicking the bedding into the waterer). Total cost was maybe 200 dollars max.

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from Maryland!

You might be able to find something on Craig's List if you have it in your area. If you can't find a chicken coop on there, sometimes you can find sheds, and then just modify it. My husband and granddaughter bought my chicken coop for me as a surprise. LOL... it was a surprise alright! Nothing at all like I had in mind, but it is cute and is working out just fine.

Good luck in your quest!
 

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