At what age can the be put out with the chickens?

[furbabymum]

My guineas are almost 8 weeks. I really need to kick them out. I've discovered that they are the aggressive culprits pecking off the feathers of my chicks (chicks and guineas are the same age). I tried to stop the feather pecking by increasing protein and giving them a larger, more interesting area. After watching them for awhile I really think I just need to get them out. They seem to chase all the other chicks/keets/peacocks for no discernible reason.

 

[Fishbone]

Do mean outside?
I put mine out at 5 weeks old.
Your area may be colder at night.

Are you still using a heat lamp? (I see a red background in your profile pic)
Are they still in a brooder?
They should be weened off the heat lamp...raise the lamp, which will lower the temp about 5 degrees a day.
No drastic temp changes

At 8 weeks they could have been outside by now.
When they're fully feathered, about 2 or 3 weeks old the should be weened off the lamp.

Guinea grow/mature faster than chickens and kept in a small space it will end in fighting.

 

[furbabymum]

My brooder is outside in my barn "coop". They haven't had a light in quite awhile. Profile pic is when I first got them so it's been awhile. I wasn't sure if the chickens would beat them up or not.

 

[PeepsCA]

Do mean outside?
I put mine out at 5 weeks old.
Your area may be colder at night.

Are you still using a heat lamp? (I see a red background in your profile pic)
Are they still in a brooder?
They should be weened off the heat lamp...raise the lamp, which will lower the temp about 5 degrees a day.
No drastic temp changes

At 8 weeks they could have been outside by now.
When they're fully feathered, about 2 or 3 weeks old the should be weened off the lamp.

Guinea grow/mature faster than chickens and kept in a small space it will end in fighting.

Actually Fishbone keets are not fully feathered and able to regulate their own body temps until they are 6 weeks old, and that's only if they've been raised on high protein (27% or higher) starter feed for the 6 wks (lower protein feeds cause slower growth/development and much slower feather growth).

When to wean keets completely off heat is a debatable topic, and really depends on one's climate and how sheltered the individual coop or brooder set up is. I've hatched/raised a couple thousand keets, and have many different types/sizes/shapes of brooder set ups, but if I weaned my 2-3 wk old keets off their brooder lamps they'd be dead over night from being chilled, or at the very least weak, lethargic and not feeling too good. Chilled keets do not thrive, aren't as active, don't eat or drink as much as they should and are much more susceptible to becoming ill and suffering parasite overloads.Warmer keets = heartier healthier keets.

I agree, brooder temps should be reduced 5 degrees at a time, but at each week of age (and that starts at 1 wk old), not 5 degrees each day. Temps should be lowered each week until the brooder temps are equal to ambient outside temps, but if it's chilly, especially at night (or rainy/stormy) then they may still need a heat source to use if they want/choose....even after they are 6 wks old.

 

[PeepsCA]

My guineas are almost 8 weeks. I really need to kick them out. I've discovered that they are the aggressive culprits pecking off the feathers of my chicks (chicks and guineas are the same age). I tried to stop the feather pecking by increasing protein and giving them a larger, more interesting area. After watching them for awhile I really think I just need to get them out. They seem to chase all the other chicks/keets/peacocks for no discernible reason.

Overcrowding, especially of mixed flocks when young can lead to aggression from Guineas at an early age, but so can a surge in hormones as the keets start to mature... lots of free range time and extra coop space can help alleviate the issue, but I would establish a routine of cooping them up each night (in either your existing coop, maybe in a separate section, or in their own coop entirely) or predators will start picking them off one by one, and then go to work on getting to your chickens and Peafowl after the Guinea supply has been depleted.

I don't start letting my keets out until they are 12 wks old, mainly because they are more agile by then, a bigger size and they also seem to have a little more grey matter upstairs when it comes to escaping predators and being more self reliant... but that's a personal choice on my part, due to the predator load in my area. If you feel they are safe on your property being let out at a younger age then give it a try... if they start disappearing then obviously you will want to work another situation out until they are older... or maybe even re-home them if you are not happy with how they interact with your other types of poultry.

 

[furbabymum]

Overcrowding, especially of mixed flocks when young can lead to aggression from Guineas at an early age, but so can a surge in hormones as the keets start to mature... lots of free range time and extra coop space can help alleviate the issue, but I would establish a routine of cooping them up each night (in either your existing coop, maybe in a separate section, or in their own coop entirely) or predators will start picking them off one by one, and then go to work on getting to your chickens and Peafowl after the Guinea supply has been depleted.

I don't start letting my keets out until they are 12 wks old, mainly because they are more agile by then, a bigger size and they also seem to have a little more grey matter upstairs when it comes to escaping predators and being more self reliant... but that's a personal choice on my part, due to the predator load in my area. If you feel they are safe on your property being let out at a younger age then give it a try... if they start disappearing then obviously you will want to work another situation out until they are older... or maybe even re-home them if you are not happy with how they interact with your other types of poultry.

I did relocate them to a seperate pen all by themselves for a week. I've just recently started letting ALL the chicks out as we killed our rooster and our hens are pretty laid back. So all the babies are hanging out in our much larger area and I haven't seen the aggression. The peacocks are flying our and roaming the property but the guineas still aren't even trying to fly out. They'll have free roam when they're older. I just hated what they were doing to my chicks. Looked totally abusive!

 

[furbabymum]

Overcrowding, especially of mixed flocks when young can lead to aggression from Guineas at an early age, but so can a surge in hormones as the keets start to mature... lots of free range time and extra coop space can help alleviate the issue, but I would establish a routine of cooping them up each night (in either your existing coop, maybe in a separate section, or in their own coop entirely) or predators will start picking them off one by one, and then go to work on getting to your chickens and Peafowl after the Guinea supply has been depleted.

I don't start letting my keets out until they are 12 wks old, mainly because they are more agile by then, a bigger size and they also seem to have a little more grey matter upstairs when it comes to escaping predators and being more self reliant... but that's a personal choice on my part, due to the predator load in my area. If you feel they are safe on your property being let out at a younger age then give it a try... if they start disappearing then obviously you will want to work another situation out until they are older... or maybe even re-home them if you are not happy with how they interact with your other types of poultry.

Just as an idea this is a pic of my brooder:

There is a lot more space on the right but I took a pic of the majority of the birds all grouped up there. It was pretty large and had 2 areas for seclusion. Anyway, that is all the poultry that was in it and a pic of the size of the guineas compared to the chicks. Peacocks haven't shown any aggression nor have they been faced with aggression from the other birds.