Would this work for a guinea coop?

[Moonbeam Guineas]

I was once told that my guineas would not go in and out through a shoulder high window.. Well, they do! Every morning every night!! They usually fly out the window and at night they hop up the guinea ladder. I did train them from the moment they went outside to "go to bed" at night. They have a fully inclosed outdoor area so training them to go up the ladder was pretty easy, they realized that it was easier to "go to bed" then this giant featherless -two legger (thats what they call me) catch me and put me in the coop! It has been great! Even now they are free ranging and at sunset they are near their coop and by the time I have my horses fed they are on their way to bed! These are my 2nd generation of guineas that I hatched from eggs..my 1st generation went feral when I let them out and I can't tell them what to do, they sleep on the rafters in the barn.

 

[Moonbeam Guineas]

Flying out

 

[MROO]

I was once told that my guineas would not go in and out through a shoulder high window.. Well, they do! Every morning every night!! They usually fly out the window and at night they hop up the guinea ladder. I did train them from the moment they went outside to "go to bed" at night. They have a fully inclosed outdoor area so training them to go up the ladder was pretty easy, they realized that it was easier to "go to bed" then this giant featherless -two legger (thats what they call me) catch me and put me in the coop! It has been great! Even now they are free ranging and at sunset they are near their coop and by the time I have my horses fed they are on their way to bed! These are my 2nd generation of guineas that I hatched from eggs..my 1st generation went feral when I let them out and I can't tell them what to do, they sleep on the rafters in the barn.

They do like to roost in trees, so it makes sense that bedtime sends them "up." They probably think they have the biggest hollow tree in the world! If you ever have an issue with them not wanting to go upstairs, they could always swap "apartments" with the chickens!

 

[Moonbeam Guineas]

I don't have chickens

They do like to roost in trees, so it makes sense that bedtime sends them "up." They probably think they have the biggest hollow tree in the world! If you ever have an issue with them not wanting to go upstairs, they could always swap "apartments" with the chickens!

I don't have chickens

 

[southwind00]

Flying out
View attachment 3296077

Yea, the ladder looks good and coupled with your enclosed outdoor area, which I am assuming is ground level entrance your young guineas have no problem navigating up it. A problem my arise as they get older and more territorial with the dominant cocks guarding against the lower ranking birds from entering. Adolescent guineas are way different then 4 or 5 year old guinea and as the flock dynamics play out you may have some birds not getting in unless you are there to direct traffic.

 

[MROO]

I don't have chickens

I don't have chickens

OOPS! I thought that was what was down below. So, what's in the chicken coop?
I mean ... really ... Heaven forbid we actually use a shed for it's originally intended purpose ... storage! Why would anyone want to protect a lawnmower or a tractor or garden tools or - gasp - the kids' bicycles when they could have chickens?

 

[Yardmom]

OOPS! I thought that was what was down below. So, what's in the chicken coop?
I mean ... really ... Heaven forbid we actually use a shed for it's originally intended purpose ... storage! Why would anyone want to protect a lawnmower or a tractor or garden tools or - gasp - the kids' bicycles when they could have chickens?

I'm the op. Yes there are chickens in the lower part of the coop with the guineas up top.

 

[AGeese]

My guineas are almost grown and have had 2 nights in a row where they returned to their loft coop without assistance. We had a rough start when we first released them. They did not go back to the coop nor did they roost high in the trees. Instead they kept trying to roost on a sidways tree only 3 feet off the ground. We decided to do a reset and added a landing perch at the door way. The first ones released figured out the perch entrance right away. When we released all of them they had a couple nights when they wanted to go in with the chickens then tried the low branches before we guided them to the ground near their entrance. All but one flew up without a problem. The last one was carried up a few nights, but now is flying up with the rest. They didn't even try to go by the sideways branches the last two nights.View attachment 3296061

The Sentinels

 

[Moonbeam Guineas]

Good to know! My oldest birds are only 1 year old.. I mentioned that they sleep on the rafters in the barn, but because I said so.. One of the adults is in the coop tonight with the young guineas. I do have an alternative on the birds getting in but it is inside the barn and also a window they would have to fly up to.

Yea, the ladder looks good and coupled with your enclosed outdoor area, which I am assuming is ground level entrance your young guineas have no problem navigating up it. A problem my arise as they get older and more territorial with the dominant cocks guarding against the lower ranking birds from entering. Adolescent guineas are way different then 4 or 5 year old guinea and as the flock dynamics play out you may have some birds not getting in unless you are there to direct traffic.

 

[southwind00]

Good to know! My oldest birds are only 1 year old.. I mentioned that they sleep on the rafters in the barn, but because I said so.. One of the adults is in the coop tonight with the young guineas. I do have an alternative on the birds getting in but it is inside the barn and also a window they would have to fly up to.

Like I have said before, everybody does guineas a little differently and it is really about the effort you put in as to what you get out of them. Older guineas are way more laid back and set in their ways. My guineas, now it is fall hang more by my coops and go in and out probably 10 times a day. They do fly up on the enclosed run and hang out there but when it is time to go in they go ground level. As a matter of fact I built an entrance high like you guys did with the thinking that my birds , (because of all the pictures on the internet I saw of guineas going in coops that are raised off of the ground) would use it 'big time'. I even put an electric actuator on it with a remote control so I could open and close it. When they were young, yea they used it some but the older they got the less they used it for going in. They even started going in ground level and going in their coop flying up and exiting back out as I was trying to get the others in from the ground. It was an abject failure by the second year and it has not been open since then. No matter how much you what them to fly up, you will never be able to get them to consistently. They are ground birds who fly to hang out, to escape danger or each other. You can see the picture of the door here.

You can want guineas to act a certain way but their instincts dictate their behavior.