BYC Guinea hen club

[Mysterious]

I have 4 of them plus 2 pheasants

 

[hellbender]

IF you access the internet ?

 

[Gawa]

Can a guinea hen and her eggs be moved a raccoon got 3 of her eggs last night and Im so mad and heart broken what can i do.

 

[R2elk]

Can a guinea hen and her eggs be moved a raccoon got 3 of her eggs last night and I'm so mad and heart broken what can i do.

Just be happy that all the raccoon got was eggs and not the hen too.

You can try to move the hen and the nest but most likely all that you will accomplish is to get the hen to abandon the nest. Some people have had a little success by placing a cage that can be closed at night over the nest. Even those have not had very much success.

Good luck.

 

[guineapeeps]

Can a guinea hen and her eggs be moved a raccoon got 3 of her eggs last night and Im so mad and heart broken what can i do.

Is she sitting on her eggs yet or just in the process of laying them? I've only had success moving one hen after she started sitting on her nest in a field. I think I was especially lucky, but it's worth a try if you don't have any other options. Here is how I did it: I waited until after dark then went out with a large Rubbermaid container with a lid. I cut a hole in one end so she could get out later plus have some air and then put straw in the bottom.I snuck up on her and then quickly tossed her and her eggs inside. Making sure to cover the hole, I carried her in the container back in the coop and turned out all the lights so she wouldn't come back out all night. The next morning she was still in the container but as soon as I opened the coop doors, she ran back to where her nest was. So every morning, I would carry that container out to the field and set it where she originally laid her nest and every evening after dark, I would go get her and carry her and her Rubbermaid container back to the coop. It worked well and she hatched about 20 keets. Now the Rubbermaid container is known as the PNU....portable nesting unit! Good luck!

 

[Gawa]

Thanks so much.

 

[CryFowl1]

Hello fellow Guinea fowlers!

I suffered a loss during a move and have 3 now
I'm hoping that we will get more soon. My question is at what point should you let them roam the yard and how do you get them BACK into their roosting area? We found ourselves with a prison break and they roamed over most of the property! We finally got them close to the roost but had s devil of a time getting them in! Any helpful hints?

 

[guineapeeps]

Hello fellow Guinea fowlers!

I suffered a loss during a move and have 3 now
I'm hoping that we will get more soon. My question is at what point should you let them roam the yard and how do you get them BACK into their roosting area? We found ourselves with a prison break and they roamed over most of the property! We finally got them close to the roost but had s devil of a time getting them in! Any helpful hints?

If you move them to a new home, I would keep them penned up in the new coop for at least a few weeks (some people do 4-6 weeks, but I've had success with 2-3). As for how to get them to go in at night, bribery with treats works well. Mine like white millet and go especially crazy for Wild Harvest Orange Essence Parakeet/Finch food. Once your Guineas have been penned up for awhile and are used to their new home, they will hopefully come in at night on their own, even without the treats, but you could still use the treats as an extra bargaining chip! I leave my coop open during the day and my Guineas never fail to head to the coop before it gets dark each night (without any treats). If need to get them in the coop at any other time, that's when I resort to bribery....they will come running from far off if I call them because they know it means there are goodies to be had!
Good luck!

 

[CryFowl1]

Thank you so very much! My fault, my bad! We let them out after 3 days because i felt guilty. but we will keep them penned in longer! I hate doing it but do whatcha gotta do!

I know ill feel guilty foe the next few weeks but i cant rely on neighbors kindness to keep them next time.

Parakeet food? The kind with all the fruits and nuts?

 

[guineapeeps]

Thank you so very much! My fault, my bad! We let them out after 3 days because i felt guilty. but we will keep them penned in longer! I hate doing it but do whatcha gotta do!

I know ill feel guilty foe the next few weeks but i cant rely on neighbors kindness to keep them next time.

Parakeet food? The kind with all the fruits and nuts?

The parakeet food has mostly millet and grains in it...no fruit or nuts. Most commercial bird seed (wild or pet) has the same stuff in it, but mine like the orange essence kind the best. I tried all those fancy chicken treats, mealworms, etc., but they wouldn't have anything to do with any of those. My Guineas are kind of picky eaters; it's either fresh bugs, millet/bird seed, their game bird feed, or nothin'. When I first got my Guineas and had them locked up for a few weeks, I felt guilty too. I spent some time catching them some live grasshoppers and crickets around my property for them to eat, which made them a little happier about the situation.