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At long last! (~Insert heavy sigh of relief~)

This afternoon I was privileged to assist in the final stages of construction of the interior of the chicken/guinea coop! Though I must say I was a little out of my element. Picture me: long flowing lilac dress fluttering about my ankles, bending laboriously over a sawhorse in the barnyard, and wielding a disc sander on a stack of 2X4's. I was preparing them for their ultimate destiny as rungs for a roost. I'm certain I presented an incongrous spectacle to bemused passers-by! (Aren't you proud of me using a power tool especially when I have a singular fear of anything that plugs into an electrical outlet and goes "buzz"?)

So, praise the Lord.......after many weekends of grueling labor, an abundance of mental as well as muscular exertion (and not a little sweat), and a flurry of industrious activity by Dwayne today, the Taj Mahal of poultry coops was declared inhabitable this evening. Following a burst of initial protests over their sudden eviction from their previous residence, its new tenants are now slumbering contentedly on their freshly-sanded-by-yours-truly perches. And so we are finished. For the time being. Ahem. I'm sure revisions will come along the way. Being a perfectionist means never being completely satisfied!

I'll be posting several before and after pictures to display the extent of the work that Dwayne accomplished, at times with the help of his dad. What we are using as the coop is actually a structure built onto the back of the barn (a shed, if you will) that was divided into two sections. It was in great disrepair but looks completely different now except for the ceiling and rafters. The floor is cement and we're using pine shavings for the bedding. The guineas are blocked off from the chickens with poultry wire in a large holding pen area since they are still getting accustomed to one another. They need to stay in there for the next six weeks to imprint upon their pea-sized brains that this is home. According to what I've researched, they will then return each evening after their daily foraging. Hopefully they've read the same books. I can only imagine the daily antics I will be sharing with these characters. (~Insert happy sigh.~)

At six weeks old, they are getting quite homely with their tiny heads and large bodies, although the spotted feathers are attractive. I've heard of critters being called so ugly they're cute.....well, these beauties are halfway to being ugly and cuteness is long-gone. Once their heads grow bald and white and they develop little cup-shaped wattles and a knobby red growth on their noggins, they almost make you believe in creatures from outer space. I personally think fully grown guineas resemble a Dr. Seuss character gone mad......but they eat ticks, I keep telling myself. (Funny thing about those ticks. I think the word got out about the guineas coming because I have not seen one of those eight-legged creepy-crawlies since springtime. Not one! Someone in the neighborhood is undoubtedly wondering why they have twice as many as usual this year!)

It was quite the exercise in patience and frustration transfering them from the porch to the barn though not as much as I had anticipated. We closed off the porch and opened the pen; they flew out in a screeching, flapping, panic-stricken mass; we chased them down, put them in a covered bin, and carried them over to the shed. Once in their new pen, they at first huddled in speechless horror at the furthest end, then one by one began mincing cautiously around, pecking at the feed, taking a sip of water, glancing up at the rafters, peering suspiciously through the wire at me! Then, with a flap of wings, one bold aviator took flight, and suddenly it became a circus as they all attempted his example simultaneously. Feathers exploding everywhere! They were having the time of their lives. With the heights they're achieving at this tender age, I can just see them roosting in trees and on the rooftops!

The chickens were far from excited; in fact, they were quite put out with me for closing off their harbor of safety on the porch and ushering them into a strange new place with those same psychotic neighbors. Someday they'll forgive me. Have you ever heard a chicken cry? Honestly, when I left them in the barn they were literally weeping. I think I will leave them in there for a day or two to get comfortable with the idea of their new home. Not six weeks though! I have come to believe that chickens are a lot smarter than we give them credit for, although they do occasionally have their functioning-on-limited-brain-cell moments. But then....don't we all?