Cooping Guineas

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Chickenmadness 7 - At what age are you going to let them start free-ranging? That is my dilemma. They really want out now from their cage but have only been confined outside for two weeks.
 
That's exactly the same scenario I'm dealing with. My keets are 7 weeks old and have been out in their run/coop for two weeks. They're just itching to get out! I honestly don't know if I can wait until they're 12 weeks, but will wait until they're at least 10.
 
If you ever need a good timer, they make them that plug into the socket and then you just plug the light into the box, used to use them for our greenhouse!
 
Percheron chick said:
Mine put themselves to bed at the same time my chickens do.

Mine started to roost up in the rafters of the barn in the spring.  I think the hens liked it because they are noisy from dusk until dark.  I did some remodeling and added a roost 6' up.  Guineas moved back into the coop at night.  The moral of that story is give them a roost that is higher than your hens can fly up to and they will probably stay in the coop.  
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So can you have guineas and chickens in the same coop? Or do they need to be separated? Especially if I am introducing new guineas to my chicken flock?
 
My guineas are with my hens. They were added last year to an established flock of about 15 hens at about 2 months. Sometimes I wish they are in their own coop if I need to lock them up for an extended period of time but for the most part there are no problems and they tend to stick to themselves. The cocks do cause a lot of commotion when they are let out in the morning but it's just with each other. Figure out how you want to keep them before you add them to your flock because it will be work to change their pattern once they are part of it.
 
Okay, I couldn't stand it any longer and left them out after 4 weeks. I figure they were in my living room for 8 weeks and know my voice and react to it. They come running to me outside - get not too close to me but do come to me with they LOUD chattering. At night I have a whistle and stand in their enclosure with a ,mixture of millet and dried mealworms (my mealworm farm is not established yet to give them the live ones) and they come running. All but the one that gets major picked on by the rest. He usually ends up sleeping on the top outside the enclosure. I have the solar blinking red lights shooting all ways, even into the sky, so I am quite secure with the set up. Have not had a predator get near the chicken coop, tractors etc. since hanging them 7 years ago. Have forgotten many times to bring the eggs I've gathered in and have left them on top of a tractor lid. They are still there the next day.
So, I don't worry about it if they all don't get in. Does anyone leave their guineas out all the time?
 
mkeawsh said:
Okay, I couldn't stand it any longer and left them out after 4 weeks.  I figure they were in my living room for 8 weeks and know my voice and react to it.  They come running to me outside - get not too close to me but do come to me with they LOUD chattering.  At night I have a whistle and stand in their enclosure with a ,mixture of millet and dried mealworms (my mealworm farm is not established yet to give them the live ones) and they come running.  All but the one that gets major picked on by the rest.  He usually ends up sleeping on the top outside the enclosure.  I have the solar blinking red lights shooting all ways, even into the sky, so I am quite secure with the set up. Have not had a predator get near the chicken coop, tractors etc. since hanging them 7 years ago.  Have forgotten many times to bring the eggs I've gathered in and have left them on top of a tractor lid.  They are still there the next day.
So, I don't worry about it if they all don't get in. Does anyone leave their guineas out all the time?
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This is GREAT to hear. Mine got out my accident a few days ago so I've been letting them out for short periods ever since. :)
 
No, I never let my guineas out all nite......too many predators lurking around. Guineas have terrible night-sight, and are unable to see dangers when it's dark. I've heard too many stories about owls swooping down and killing them. mkeawsh - I'm glad you haven't had any trouble since you hung those solar blinking red lights, but it didn't work too good with my chickens. When I first started raising birds (at that time, I only had chickens) I also attached them everywhere possible around their coop and surrounding barnyard. We got home maybe a half hour after dusk, only to find a coon had gotten into their coop (we were planning on closing it up when we got home). Out of a flock of 10, it had killed 3..... another one had a slit on her neck and was laying there in shock, and we had no idea what had happened to the rest of them since they were no where to be found. Fortunately, the remaining 6 had escaped out the backdoor and were hiding in the woods, eventually showing up the following morning. Ever since that night, we never relied on the solar blinking red lights to protect the birds. We took every precaution to make sure they were locked up securely anytime we weren't around.
 
Yep we try to lock ours in the coop an hour before sunset. If we know we will be out later than that, they get cooped earlier.
 

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