Clipping wings

[Blodwyn0419]

Good morning everyone!

I have recently added guinea keets to my flock. I did a lot of research prior to doing so and so far it has gone well.

We live on 5 acres, I have a large chook run. In that run I have a pigeon coop, a small hen house for my 4 adult chooks and then I built an enclosed run for my young chooks and keets. This has aided in the introduction process between them and the adults safely.

I raised the keets with chooks and it has been successful establishing them as one big flock, I know so as when I let the chooks out but keep the fowl in for their own safety, they panic until they return (the chooks are only out for a short time so as not to stress the fowls too much and because I must still supervise them with the adults). I have been feeding them at a set time in the evening to attempt to teach them to return home for food before it is time to roost.

While we have a large property we do have a lot of stray cats, dogs and foxes roaming. I am very attached to my little fowl and want to keep them safe. So I would like to clip their wings. If they remain in their run they will be safe.

They are approximately 2 months old now. Is this too early to clip? When I do are they like chickens where you reclip once they have molted or will I need to do it more regularly?
Will clipping even achieve what I want?

I have a separate section for my vegie garden and that is also enclosed. I hope down the track to let them out to forage in there to assist with pests. I just haven't figured out how I am going to usher them out without the destructive chooks following. Any tips on that?

Looking forward to any helpful comments anyone can offer.

 

[R2elk]

Good morning everyone!

I have recently added guinea keets to my flock. I did a lot of research prior to doing so and so far it has gone well.

We live on 5 acres, I have a large chook run. In that run I have a pigeon coop, a small hen house for my 4 adult chooks and then I built an enclosed run for my young chooks and keets. This has aided in the introduction process between them and the adults safely.

I raised the keets with chooks and it has been successful establishing them as one big flock, I know so as when I let the chooks out but keep the fowl in for their own safety, they panic until they return (the chooks are only out for a short time so as not to stress the fowls too much and because I must still supervise them with the adults). I have been feeding them at a set time in the evening to attempt to teach them to return home for food before it is time to roost.

While we have a large property we do have a lot of stray cats, dogs and foxes roaming. I am very attached to my little fowl and want to keep them safe. So I would like to clip their wings. If they remain in their run they will be safe.

They are approximately 2 months old now. Is this too early to clip? When I do are they like chickens where you reclip once they have molted or will I need to do it more regularly?
Will clipping even achieve what I want?

I have a separate section for my vegie garden and that is also enclosed. I hope down the track to let them out to forage in there to assist with pests. I just haven't figured out how I am going to usher them out without the destructive chooks following. Any tips on that?

Looking forward to any helpful comments anyone can offer.

Read the thread Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA .

I am sure that you think you researched guineas very well. Unfortunately there is a lot of really bad advice available about raising them.

Right now everything may seem fine between your guineas and chickens. Next spring during their first breeding season, everything is very likely to change.

I have never clipped guinea wings and don't recommend it. Flight is their means of escape from danger whether it be from predators or their flock mates.

It is pointless to clip wings at 2 months old as they are not yet their adult feathers and the wings would have to be clipped with every molt. Once they have their adult feathers then they could be clipped after each molt.

Unlike chickens, I have never seen a guinea have a hard molt. Mine do molt every fall.

If you want to be able to allow guineas into your garden, do not feed them treats from your garden.

You didn't say how many keets you have. They are a flock bird and do best in large groups. I never recommend having fewer than 10 guineas for a flock. They need more than a few to be able to have proper flock dynamics.

Guineas need a lot more room than chickens can get by with.

 

[Blodwyn0419]

The reason I ask about wing clipping now, is I would like to begin letting them out of their enclosure in the afternoon to familiarise them with their area. I don't know if they would go home or fly into the trees in the pen. It is a bit too cold for them at the moment and an owl would most definitely eat them, they are still so small. Thoughts on doing this in a way to keep them safe?

I got 6 keets as I had 5 chicks.

My research came up with a lot of what I read in that post you directed me to. Thanks for that. I basically went off people's personal experiences and generally went with what was backed up by the majority.

 

[R2elk]

My research came up with a lot of what I read in that post you directed me to. Thanks for that. I basically went off people's personal experiences and generally went with what was backed up by the majority.

The majority have really good experience with brooding keets with chickens right up until the first breeding season starts.

After that they come back with "Why are my guineas attacking my chickens?"

 

[Blodwyn0419]

The majority have really good experience with brooding keets with chickens right up until the first breeding season starts.

After that they come back with "Why are my guineas attacking my chickens?"

Interesting. I have read of people who say they hear that but have never had an issue and they have been doing it for many years, always breeding new ones and introducing. I am hoping I will be lucky enough to be one of those people. If not, I have more than enough space to extend my run further and separate the chooks from the fowl necessary. The chooks will probably love it as they will have a new space to explore.

We live on a Crescent and the speed limit is 80km. Most do at least 100km past my house. If they got on the road they would most certainly be hit. I would also hate for them to cause an accident.

All these comments regarding the future behaviour of the guineas is nice and all and I do appreciate them. However I am after help presently with letting them roam at this age in a safe manner and training them to go into their house at night.

No matter what I do, whether I clip wing's in the end or make another run for my chooks, I still want my guineas to roost in a snake proof enclosure at night.

 

[R2elk]

When I first started letting my guineas out, it was supervised meaning I stayed right there with them for a limited amount of time. I herded them back into their coop when I was done.

Once they understood the herding back into the coop, I started letting them out for longer times alone.

At first they can be reluctant to leave their coop and unless alarmed for some reason will not start to stray far until they are older..

Others do have problems keeping their guineas off of the road. I have never had that issue. They can be taught to avoid areas that you don't want them to be in.

 

[Blodwyn0419]

When I first started letting my guineas out, it was supervised meaning I stayed right there with them for a limited amount of time. I herded them back into their coop when I was done.

Once they understood the herding back into the coop, I started letting them out for longer times alone.

At first they can be reluctant to leave their coop and unless alarmed for some reason will not start to stray far until they are older..

Others do have problems keeping their guineas off of the road. I have never had that issue. They can be taught to avoid areas that you don't want them to be in.

Thanks for that. I'll give this a go.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Interesting. I have read of people who say they hear that but have never had an issue and they have been doing it for many years, always breeding new ones and introducing. I am hoping I will be lucky enough to be one of those people. If not, I have more than enough space to extend my run further and separate the chooks from the fowl necessary. The chooks will probably love it as they will have a new space to explore.

We live on a Crescent and the speed limit is 80km. Most do at least 100km past my house. If they got on the road they would most certainly be hit. I would also hate for them to cause an accident.

All these comments regarding the future behaviour of the guineas is nice and all and I do appreciate them. However I am after help presently with letting them roam at this age in a safe manner and training them to go into their house at night.

No matter what I do, whether I clip wing's in the end or make another run for my chooks, I still want my guineas to roost in a snake proof enclosure at night.

Are you in Australia? I’ve read that Australian Guinea fowl are a bit different in temperament, being more willing to take on predators and snakes.

Yes, roads and guineas don’t mix, so I can see why you’d want to keep the guineas in your fence. I have not clipped their wings though, as they need flight to avoid predators. There are a few threads on this forum about wing clipping though so you might try searching on the forum. A few:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/25672346
https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/22382802

As for coop training - yes that’s indeed very important!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/20253882

https://guineas.com/articles/training

Let us know how it goes!

 

[mg37]

Hey there! I’ve read that it is recommended not to clip their wings as it can mess up their balance & can injure them.

In my personal experience I have clipped their wings and it does absolutely nothing. They’re still able to fly to tops of trees, over the fence, and even over top of my big coop.

I tried letting them free range when they started flying out of the coop and over the fence, which they had been in for 3 months, after that they refused to go into the coop and it was impossible to catch all of them. Majority was killed by predators and remaining keep escaping no matter what I do.

Edited to add: also let them free range because they started attacking my chickens badly even though they were raised together.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hey there! I’ve read that it is recommended not to clip their wings as it can mess up their balance & can injure them.

In my personal experience I have clipped their wings and it does absolutely nothing. They’re still able to fly to tops of trees, over the fence, and even over top of my big coop.

I tried letting them free range when they started flying out of the coop and over the fence, which they had been in for 3 months, after that they refused to go into the coop and it was impossible to catch all of them. Majority was killed by predators and remaining keep escaping no matter what I do.

Edited to add: also let them free range because they started attacking my chickens badly even though they were raised together.

Bummer! Can you give them there own coop and run area so you can retrain them to coop up at night? I like using a fenced area to train them to coop up, so that they get used to going back into their pop door every evening. The fence keeps them from wandering far. Being creatures of habit, coming back through that door repeatedly at dusk helps them to habituate to cooping up at night.