Can minimalist shelter work to get keets of-age?

[CountryBoy19]

We live very rural, a long ways from the road, not near any other neighbors. The perfect place for noisy birds like Guineas.

We are attempting to hatch some for tick control. My plan is to free-range them; I have 30 acres of CRP broken up by wooded patches and valleys. My hope is to train them to stay within a couple hundred yds of the house. We have several mature Norway Spruce trees that would be excellent for roosting and my hope is that they will utilize them for that. I do have some old unused barns a few hundred yds from the house back in the trees but those increase predation threat. Our house is in the middle of the largest field (20 acres) and about 200 yds from the nearest barn. Predators certainly frequent the barns but not the house.

My concern is getting the keets to the point they will be safe roosting in the trees and free-ranging. Being rural we have plenty of critters & predators. The top threats I perceive are, #1 Our amazing outdoors cat. She is an excellent hunter, killing Quail (wild, native), young rabbits, songbirds, mice, moles, etc. I have no doubt; she will kill keets until they are big enough to not look tasty. She is definitely very timid and she will certainly be scared of them after they stand their ground to her. #2 Coyotes (and lesser so Foxes)... we have them here. I've been on a mission to reduce coyotes; I've killed 32 in the last 16 months (plus 2 fox). #3 Hawks, they soar over the CRP fields hunting. They will definitely take keets if the chance presents itself.

Therefore, these things are going to be maintenance intensive while young. I have accepted it. But I'm hoping to have enough and keep survivability high enough to replace any as they're lost to predators. I honestly have no desire to have a coop in the yard. I don't have the resources to devote to building a permanent coop and I feel that it would be counterproductive to my goal of a true free-range flock. My thoughts are brooder while young, transitioning to a makeshift run built from cattle panels plus hardware cloth, to supervised daytime release when the cat is put up, finally to full time release.

Does anybody have helpful suggestions? I'm all ears about ideas on how to get them to necessary size/age for predator resistance. I think I know how to get them to hang around (don't release them all at once until they are accustomed to returning).

 

[sourland]

Another predator that you need to consider is the Great Horned Owl. They will pluck your birds from their night time roosts. All may go fine until they locate your flock. Good work on the coyote population.

 

[R2elk]

We live very rural, a long ways from the road, not near any other neighbors. The perfect place for noisy birds like Guineas.

We are attempting to hatch some for tick control. My plan is to free-range them; I have 30 acres of CRP broken up by wooded patches and valleys. My hope is to train them to stay within a couple hundred yds of the house. We have several mature Norway Spruce trees that would be excellent for roosting and my hope is that they will utilize them for that. I do have some old unused barns a few hundred yds from the house back in the trees but those increase predation threat. Our house is in the middle of the largest field (20 acres) and about 200 yds from the nearest barn. Predators certainly frequent the barns but not the house.

My concern is getting the keets to the point they will be safe roosting in the trees and free-ranging. Being rural we have plenty of critters & predators. The top threats I perceive are, #1 Our amazing outdoors cat. She is an excellent hunter, killing Quail (wild, native), young rabbits, songbirds, mice, moles, etc. I have no doubt; she will kill keets until they are big enough to not look tasty. She is definitely very timid and she will certainly be scared of them after they stand their ground to her. #2 Coyotes (and lesser so Foxes)... we have them here. I've been on a mission to reduce coyotes; I've killed 32 in the last 16 months (plus 2 fox). #3 Hawks, they soar over the CRP fields hunting. They will definitely take keets if the chance presents itself.

Therefore, these things are going to be maintenance intensive while young. I have accepted it. But I'm hoping to have enough and keep survivability high enough to replace any as they're lost to predators. I honestly have no desire to have a coop in the yard. I don't have the resources to devote to building a permanent coop and I feel that it would be counterproductive to my goal of a true free-range flock. My thoughts are broader while young, transitioning to a makeshift run built from cattle panels plus hardware cloth, to supervised daytime release when the cat is put up, finally to full time release.

Does anybody have helpful suggestions? I'm all ears about ideas on how to get them to necessary size/age for predator resistance. I think I know how to get them to hang around (don't release them all at once until they are accustomed to returning).

If you want to keep them, build them a secure coop to shut them in at night.

In your list of predators, you omitted owls. I lost every one of my first flock of guineas to Great Horned Owl predation at night because I allowed them to be outside of the coop at night.

 

[speckledhen]

I agree with the above posters. You will lose them all if you don't protect them at night. Owls take out guineas easily.

 

[SueT]

I kept guineas for tick control for about 4 years, totally free range. They roosted in trees. I raised replacements every year. The only times I lost any were at night, I only lost 1 to 2 a year to predators. After a loss, the survivors moved to a different tree the next night. They seemed pretty savvy.
We had a LOT of ticks before, and after getting guineas, noticeably fewer. Since there are several tick borne illnesses in our area, tick control was crucial, guineas were expendable. I never had more than 8 guineas at a time but this small number made a difference, they were constantly foraging and scanning the ground, moving around. Altho we have 60 acres, they never ranged over more than about 3 acres. But it was enuf to affect tick population near our house.
At one point we thought we were going to move, and I stopped replacing the guineas, and the last one finally was taken by a predator. We never did move, and now raise chickens (which are confined. ) Until this year, our chickens could free range during the day, and I think they help with ticks too. But due to hawks, they are locked in. We shall see if ticks get worse this year.

As far as raising keets to adults, I kept them in a small brooder cage, and a makeshift pen which I dismantled after about a month. BTW, there were several farm cats but they were well fed and never bothered the keets.

 

[CountryBoy19]

If you want to keep them, build them a secure coop to shut them in at night.

In your list of predators, you omitted owls. I lost every one of my first flock of guineas to Great Horned Owl predation at night because I allowed them to be outside of the coop at night.

That's certainly not good news. The impression o was given by a local was that they are very predator resistant once grown. My hope was that if I can get them roosting in the Norway Spruce trees (a quite thick evergreen) it would provide adequate cover and concealment from nighttime owl predation. We do have great horned owls but I don't see/hear them very often.

I kept guineas for tick control for about 4 years, totally free range. They roosted in trees. I raised replacements every year. The only times I lost any were at night, I only lost 1 to 2 a year to predators. After a loss, the survivors moved to a different tree the next night. They seemed pretty savvy.
We had a LOT of ticks before, and after getting guineas, noticeably fewer. Since there are several tick borne illnesses in our area, tick control was crucial, guineas were expendable. I never had more than 8 guineas at a time but this small number made a difference, they were constantly foraging and scanning the ground, moving around. Altho we have 60 acres, they never ranged over more than about 3 acres. But it was enuf to affect tick population near our house.
At one point we thought we were going to move, and I stopped replacing the guineas, and the last one finally was taken by a predator. We never did move, and now raise chickens (which are confined. ) Until this year, our chickens could free range during the day, and I think they help with ticks too. But due to hawks, they are locked in. We shall see if ticks get worse this year.
View attachment 2105388
As far as raising keets to adults, I kept them in a small brooder cage, and a makeshift pen which I dismantled after about a month. BTW, there were several farm cats but they were well fed and never bothered the keets.

Sue, thanks for that! Your experience is much more in line with what I was expecting with the occasional losses and raising replacements.