Chi Chi Haven came to be because of a neighbor, who one day decided the guineafowl that he previously enjoyed on his property became a nuisance. My guineas had been ranging for ten years, and this came as quite a surprise. There were no alternative solutions he would consider, he wanted them gone. What to do? My 6 acre property was in the middle of large tracts of acerage on all four sides by neighbors. It was not feasible to try train them at this point to stay on my property with such a long history (and knowledge) of freeranging. So I devised a plan to fence in a large yard and clip their wings. This would keep them out of the neighbors yard for sure. And then I thought, why not use this opportunity to build them a natural habitat and add all kinds of medicinal native herbs there for my observation and ultimately their good health? I also thought that at some point I could let them range again all day, everyday like they used to inside the yard. Before my neighbor had even complained, I had built my Taj Maguinea pen to keep them up while I was at work all day. I work full time in the city and I felt it wasn't fair to my neighbors to let them run all over with me not at home. And if predators, like stray dogs came around, I would not be there to help if I could.

So the yard was constructed, approximately a 1/4 acre in size. We used 7 foot metal posts, and 5ft welded wire fencing. It took about 6 weeks from start of plan, until the building was completed. It took several hours to clip about 80 pairs of wings, but it proved more time consuming than anything. What I hope is to document bird behavior and mostly native herb and plant consumption. As an added bonus, my till then permanently penned peafowl could now also join them outside. Please join me on my adventure, and please check back as I will update this page as the journey unfolds.....