in order to make a home for some of these...
I didn't want to invest a ton into this project since I am not sure how it is going to work out. I want some guinea hens to help out with the tick problem, but I'm a bit worried about whether they will survive here. Since my schedule is so goofy, I can't be around in the evening to lock them up. I am providing food, water and shelter, but they are going to have to fend for themselves for the most part.
I am hoping that the donkeys will help protect them from predators while the guineas help protect the herd from ticks. I figure that if the worst happens though and the guineas get eaten or take off into the wilderness (which they do sometimes), this could turn into a greenhouse.
This is what I call stone-soup construction. Aside from the wire, the entire thing is made out of scrap lumber and leftovers. I added skids on the corners to make it portable.
Much to their delight, the equines got to help out. I took down a couple of small beech trees that were growing in a bad spot to use as roosts and I enlisted the herd's help in cleaning them up for me. Beech leaves are the ultimate in delightfully delicious delectables.
Within a couple of hours they had the trees polished clean without even a speck of bark left on them.
The ever helpful donkey. They make excellent carpenters.
Success. I had intended to move it farther up the hill, but the mud is so deep I was afraid of getting bogged down.
If all goes well and the guineas work out, I will probably cover this in greenhouse plastic to make it a more permanent structure. For now, it just has to provide containment and enough shelter to keep them happy for about a week. After that, I hope to let them out to free range, once they know that this is home now.
It it Sunday afternoon as I write this and we are planning on moving the guineas tonight after dark. That should be interesting.
