Found two guineas killed last night night.

[BauerWFarm]

So, i will explain further…. I grew up on about 24-28 acres of land…. And the guineas came with the property…. I was in the 4th grade….. I’m 44 now…. We have had all kinds of fowl and livestock, horses, etc but we loved our guineas…. And I was in charge of hatching by using an incubator. Yes they are awful at brooding and mothering…. It was not uncommon for us to find nests of like 60 eggs with three hens trying to lay on them…. One time we had up to 100…. Slowly they disappeared, mostly from a great horned owl we had hunting them as they roosted. My father tried twice later after we all grew up and left to bring the guineas back and failed due to raccoons…, I am now trying to do the same thing. My mom is widowed and they excellent at telling you when there is an intruder, lol

Last night I lost two teenagers… knowing raccoons would pop up in fall and forgetting this is Fall in Texas LOL…. I keep thinking of Fall as in Utah Fall season. Today I now have to plan and build a pen for these guineas… and thought maybe I should go ahead and put the younger keets with them to help maintain social balance.

I need recommendations, what kind of wire might work better than others… a should I make an outer pen with an inner pen so they can’t be grabbed at thru the pen?

 

[R2elk]

if they hopefully choose, to return at night.

They have to be taught to go in a coop in the evening. You can do this with treats or by herding them in. You have to be consistent and always win the battle of getting them in the coop in the evening.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thank you, I’m going to be researching, reading threads on the do’s and dont’s. For my remaining Guinea keets… yes, I’m concerned on the idea being able make s space safe fr them till they reach maturity and free range at day and if they hopefully choose, to return at night. Also concerned about the number of birds left… I know they are super social and thrive in numbers… I have promised not to purchase more till housing arrangements are more secure… at the moment I have 6 left . 2 teenagers and 4 around 7or 8 weeks… wondering at what age I can’t combine them because I think it would be good for the two older ones.

It is usually pretty easy to introduce juvenile Guinea fowl to each other, but difficult to introduce adults. So yes, you could probably combine your keet groups. By the same token, it will be easier to introduce more this fall when the guineas are juveniles.

As for coop training, there are multiple articles about it but here’s one from Guinea Fowl International:

https://guineas.com/articles/training

As R2elk said, consistency is key. Guinea fowl are creatures of habit and will develop a routine that they will stick with unless threatened.

 

[R2elk]

What has been your experience in mixing guineas with chickens?? Is that a good idea or no? As of now we prefer to keep the two groups separated if possible….

Not a good idea.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

So, i will explain further…. I grew up on about 24-28 acres of land…. And the guineas came with the property…. I was in the 4th grade….. I’m 44 now…. We have had all kinds of fowl and livestock, horses, etc but we loved our guineas…. And I was in charge of hatching by using an incubator. Yes they are awful at brooding and mothering…. It was not uncommon for us to find nests of like 60 eggs with three hens trying to lay on them…. One time we had up to 100…. Slowly they disappeared, mostly from a great horned owl we had hunting them as they roosted. My father tried twice later after we all grew up and left to bring the guineas back and failed due to raccoons…, I am now trying to do the same thing. My mom is widowed and they excellent at telling you when there is an intruder, lol

Last night I lost two teenagers… knowing raccoons would pop up in fall and forgetting this is Fall in Texas LOL…. I keep thinking of Fall as in Utah Fall season. Today I now have to plan and build a pen for these guineas… and thought maybe I should go ahead and put the younger keets with them to help maintain social balance.

I need recommendations, what kind of wire might work better than others… a should I make an outer pen with an inner pen so they can’t be grabbed at thru the pen?

Hi Bauer, sorry to hear about your loss last night! Yes, penning them up at night will help a lot with your losses. There are many threads in this forum about Guinea coops. A few:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/23033298

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/25016895

 

[BauerWFarm]

Hi Bauer, sorry to hear about your loss last night! Yes, penning them up at night will help a lot with your losses. There are many threads in this forum about Guinea coops. A few:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/23033298

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/25016895

Thank you, I’m going to be researching, reading threads on the do’s and dont’s. For my remaining Guinea keets… yes, I’m concerned on the idea being able make s space safe fr them till they reach maturity and free range at day and if they hopefully choose, to return at night. Also concerned about the number of birds left… I know they are super social and thrive in numbers… I have promised not to purchase more till housing arrangements are more secure… at the moment I have 6 left . 2 teenagers and 4 around 7or 8 weeks… wondering at what age I can’t combine them because I think it would be good for the two older ones.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

What has been your experience in mixing guineas with chickens?? Is that a good idea or no? As of now we prefer to keep the two groups separated if possible….

I started out with keets brooded and houses with the chickens and ducks. That ended disastrously, with the juveniles attacking the other juvenile ducklings and chicks at 3 months old. Now I brood and house them separately and they get along well.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thanks for these links… I’m needing to build a coop for them, but I’m also trying to figure out how I am going to get them separated from my chicken flock . The plan is chickens on one side the property near the house and guineas down at the barn…. Somewhere lol…. Letting them out with the chickens wasn’t intentional but it’s becoming a problem because they peck at their wattles and my rooster acts like his personal space is completely invaded . My poor birds.

Just having some separation, like splitting the coop, was enough that the guineas mostly leave the chickens alone.

 

[BauerWFarm]

So, i will explain further…. I grew up on about 24-28 acres of land…. And the guineas came with the property…. I was in the 4th grade….. I’m 44 now…. We have had all kinds of fowl and livestock, horses, etc but we loved our guineas…. And I was in charge of hatching by using an incubator. Yes they are awful at brooding and mothering…. It was not uncommon for us to find nests of like 60 eggs with three hens trying to lay on them…. One time we had up to 100…. Slowly they disappeared, mostly from a great horned owl we had hunting them as they roosted. My father tried twice later after we all grew up and left to bring the guineas back and failed due to raccoons…, I am now trying to do the same thing. My mom is widowed and they excellent at telling you when there is an intruder, lol

Last night I lost two teenagers… knowing raccoons would pop up in fall and forgetting this is Fall in Texas LOL…. I keep thinking of Fall as in Utah Fall season. Today I now have to plan and build a pen for these guineas… and thought maybe I should go ahead and put the younger keets with them to help maintain social balance.

I need recommendations, what kind of wire might work better than others… a should I make an outer pen with an inner pen so they can’t be grabbed at thru the pen?

These keets are driving me crazy, I don’t remember it being so difficult growing up. They were also attacked from my chickens free range area… and I can’t find signs of entrance anywhere.

 

[BauerWFarm]

It is usually pretty easy to introduce juvenile Guinea fowl to each other, but difficult to introduce adults. So yes, you could probably combine your keet groups. By the same token, it will be easier to introduce more this fall when the guineas are juveniles.

As for coop training, there are multiple articles about it but here’s one from Guinea Fowl International:

https://guineas.com/articles/training

As R2elk said, consistency is key. Guinea fowl are creatures of habit and will develop a routine that they will stick with unless threatened.

I’m thinking of putting them
All together…. Mostly because the two older ones don’t seem to be as happy… they no longer “talk” but have digressed to just cheeping like noises…. Waiting for me every evening at the gate because the want to be brought in. . I need to follow up on the links shared for Guinea coops…. But I’m feeling a little
Overwhelmed knowing they need a new containment until they mature……

And sadly I’m pretty sure the two I lost were the females…. I have only heard one call and it’s definitely male. Not sure on the other…..