We decided that we should now only get animals after their housing situation is completed and we have their living situation secure. However, one stop at Tractor Supply and our first adventure in game birds began. Let’s be honest: how can you turn down bringing home 8 cute little baby Guinea Hens?!?
These little guys and gals were only a few days old when we brought them home with zero supplies and zero clue about what to do with them. Sure, we had been reading the best internet literature on caring for Guinea Hens and their miraculous help in decreasing the tick population within your yard. But we didn’t have the supplies to set up their brooding box, keep them warm, etc. To that end, I am sure that Tractor Supply thanks us for our business.
So into the dining room, this large metal trough went. With a heating lamp, we started our journey.
Once we established that we were the proud owners of 8 Guinea Keets (the term for guinea babies), we realized very soon that our overly ambitious trip to Tractor Supply necessitated the quick construction of our first structure on the Fetterly Farm!
So we again turned to our trusty research source, the internet, and began scouring all the images of Guinea coops and structures we could find. Finally, we agreed that we liked similar structures, but now we needed to figure out how to make this thing. There are benefits of having worked in the construction world for 15+ years, so Tyrel has at least recently seen the structures of buildings. I have helped stand a wall or two, so with our vast experience, we set out to Lowe’s to purchase the required materials…
So maybe it took three or four trips back and forth to Lowe’s to gather all the requirement materials, and then an additional trip the Lowe’s in Virginia to get the correct screws for the floor joists… and maybe it was a bit bigger of a project then looked on paper.
It was time to scour the land, searching for the right spot to build the Guinea coop. We have just under 5 acres and have just finished fencing the area around the house, which is probably close to an acre. The rest of the land does have either a gradual slope or a bit of a cliff. We are still investigating most of the land, and since we do live in the foothills, there are some predators we need to make sure our Guinea are not as susceptible to. So, next to the house at the tree line seemed logical. The only thing that made this spot enjoyable was the gradual and muddy slope.
Once we realized that we, in fact, did not live in a vortex house and that the slope was just playing tricks on our eyes, we were able to get to work on finishing the floor. Our first walls were pretty easy to stand as well. We wanted to build this structure to last, so we followed the rules for building homes. Plus, if this doesn’t work out for the Guineas, our youngest can move in here when he needs space.
Once the walls were standing and things were starting to feel a little more sturdy and like an actual structure, it was time to put on the roof and siding. Things got a little sketchy since this building is about 9 feet tall and a couple feet off the ground at the steepest part of the slope, and Tyrel had to go on the top to secure the metal roof. Deep breaths, hoping he didn’t slide off the back and impale himself on the fence posts behind the Guinea coop. I am pleased to report that he safely secured the roof to the Guinea coop without incident.
Once the siding was on, and the roof on, Tyrel did some custom work on the inside. We purchased some inexpensive waterproof vinyl flooring to help prevent the plywood floors from being destroyed by Guinea poop (which did you know Guineas poop sooo much!). He also built some nesting boxes, just in case they want to lay eggs for us to try, and some roosting areas. We will also be adding a few branches inside as well since they all fight over the one higher perch. They also have a solar-powered light to help them find their way home in the evenings.
All left was to select our paint colors and build the outdoor ramp so the Guineas could quickly enter and exit the structure. Again, we ventured to Lowes!
I knew that I wanted orange and gray, so I walked over to the paint selection without thinking that Tyrel would agree. Since the coop sits outside my office window, and I work from home, Tyrel decided that I could paint it any color, so after much deliberation over the vast collection of Orange and Grey paint swatches, we found our selection!
The Spooky Coopy will be mine!
So how did we get a pile of lumber, plywood, screws, metal roofing, and random metal joists into a Guinea Coop? Well, I would be lying if I said we did it without arguments or grumpy days. I would also lie if I said we learned nothing about each other through this process. I learned that my husband is a small details kind of guy, whereas I am a ‘big picture’ end product kind of person. That means that he focuses meticulously on whether or not things are level (silly, right?!), and I think things take too long to get to the end result. So, what I learned is to trust his process because the end result is way better than I could have imagined! And that it is probably a good thing that the Guinea Coop is level and structurally sound.
And what we are also realizing is that he is a bit of a Guinea Whisperer. I think the Guinea’s listen to him better than our dogs do!
escapingcrazy 