The Guinea Coop

Yay!  The guinea coop is finished.

I'm diggin' it.

The guineas are diggin' it.

We thought it would be a good idea to reuse one of the old screen doors that we took off of the house when we remodeled.  Jordan took the screen off, cut the top off and rebuilt it to fit the a-frame, then replaced the screen with chicken wire.

(Coming soon...when the weather cools a bit, I'm going the paint the door a fun color)

We have several extras of these latches that we use on the paddock gates.  Of course, if we were to walk in and let the door shut behind us, we'd be locked in.  Hence, the orange baling string that is tied to the latch and strung through to the inside.

This is the door the guineas will use when it's time to let them out.  Jordan calls it the "Shelly door".

It slides up, like so, and can be propped open so that the guineas can come and go without having the big door propped open, which wouldn't work on windy days.

The back slides open for easy access to the nesting boxes and, hopefully, future eggs.

Another view of the back.

Jordan made a "track" for the nesting boxes to fit into.  These are drawers that came out of our kitchen during the remodel.

The frame is made out of treated lumber and we already had plenty of chicken wire laying around.  All of the cedar is from the trees that Jordan cut down and milled.  For this project, he cut a "rabbet joint" into each board so that they would overlap and the enclosed area would be water tight.  He also sealed all of the wood, which really brings out the pretty grain.

The Guinea Project

The squash bugs finally got a foothold in my garden and this is what my pumpkin patch looks like now.

At least I was able to hold them off for most of the season.  There are several more pumpkins and butternut squash still on the vine.  Although, I have more than I can use, I would hate to loose these, so am hoping that the vines will live long enough to ripen what's left.

So, since the squash bugs have multiplied themselves, I have a plan for next year and it's in the works.

Guineas!  I went to pick these up today.

They're a month or two old, but will be fully grown by the time the next planting season comes around.  Supposedly, guineas eat squash bugs, ticks, and other pests, but they don't scratch up the ground like chickens do.  So, hopefully, I can turn these loose in the garden to eat the squash bugs.

So, they need a home.  In a mad dash to the finish line (which is the nephew leaving for Tennessee), I crammed in yet another project for him to finish....the guinea coop.  It is well underway.

Using up the last of the cedar.

In the meantime, we had to come up with a safe temporary place for the young guineas.  The barn is too hot so we couldn't keep them in there.  We tried the back yard, but the cats were too interested in them and we feared a casualty.  This was our solution.  In the greenhouse, sitting halfway on top of the aquaponics, hovering over the water.  We figured the cats wouldn't jump up there because of the water.

We tied it to the roof bar to help hold it up.