new with questions!

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gwen-n-myk

gwen-n-myk

Hatching
6 Years
Jul 23, 2013
8
0
7
hoping you guys can help me start off right!
I'm going from guinea hens (2 left, both boys) to Chickens (bought 2 Bantams, 2 rhode island reds). I figured 6 birds was good for now, at least!

Where I'm coming from: I had guineas in a 12x6 fully enclosed and shaded dog run with a plastic kids' playhouse in it for thier 'inside', plus perches all over and the whole thing was fully tarped off in the winter. It fit 8 happily (14 temporarily, but with fighting). I let them free range around the neighborhood during the day. the playhouse floor is pine shavings, the run floor is dirt.

We are in the process of building a 2x6x2 raised coop, to butt against the outside of the run. it'll have 6 nesting boxes inside.

Where I need help!!!!
-what can I paint the inside of the coop? stain? latex? oil based? spray paint?
-chicks are girls, guineas are boys. will this be a problem?
-the guineas fly/waddle/travel all over the place because I leave em to do whatever they want all day (but always come home at night to get locked in). Do I need to do anything different with the chickens?
-I have a dog and cats. they never bothered the guineas. will the chickens be ok with this?

hmmm, I'm sure I will have more questions after I browse the forums! Thank you all!
-gwen
 
Greetings from Kansas, gwen-n-myk, and
welcome-byc.gif
! Pleased to have you with us! I'll address some of your questions:

Where I need help!!!!
-what can I paint the inside of the coop? stain? latex? oil based? spray paint?
If it was me I'd use latex...just seems logical that oil based would not be good for them...I don't have anything to back that up scientifically.
-chicks are girls, guineas are boys. will this be a problem?
Unknown...I've never had guineas but I've read they do their own thing while chickens do theirs. Having them cooped together?? You might want to ask in the guinea section here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/45/guinea-fowl

-the guineas fly/waddle/travel all over the place because I leave em to do whatever they want all day (but always come home at night to get locked in). Do I need to do anything different with the chickens?
Free ranging is always a risk - maybe for chickens even more than guineas. While guineas range farther, they also have more speed and flying ability than chickens. But yes, if you are willing to accept the risks of free ranging, your chickens will enjoy it and eat a lot of bugs.
-I have a dog and cats. they never bothered the guineas. will the chickens be okay with this?
Again, never had guineas but if the dogs tolerate the guineas the chickens shouldn't be an issue. I started with chickens and over time added ducks and turkeys...my dogs ignore them all. Watch out at the chick stage...the peeping makes my dogs very curious whereas they just ignore the adult birds.

One note on your nesting boxes and coop size...the recommended coop size is 4 sq. ft. per chicken...unsure for guineas. So you are at 6 birds = 24 sq. ft. but your coop is only half that size.
And more of that space is taken up by the 6 nesting boxes. Again, I can't speak about guineas but 4 chickens don't need more than 2 boxes...they will likely use the same one anyway. I have 18 hens that never use more than 4 of their 6 boxes...usually only 3 of them. Now, all that being said, you can get away I believe with a smaller coop if you free range them. My coop is undersized but my run is large and my birds range during the day.

Hope this helped with some of you questions! Good luck to you on your venture!!
 
Welcome to the site! You didn't really ask this question but I'll give my 2 cents anyways: I put a loose sheet of vinyl on the floor of my coop to keep the plywood safer and for easy cleaning.
 
Boy this ipad sure changes words. I meant identification. Do you know if the zip ties cut their legs or cause abrasions
 

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