First Day Out!

[SimplyForties]

After three days with the door open and no outward movement, I flushed the guineas out this morning. They were so excited! They also acted like they had no idea how they got into this fantastic new world and expressed no inclination to go back in all day. They flew around like crazy and had a great time. The chickens were a little surprised to find them out and about but mostly left them alone. I was a little concerned about getting them back in at the end of day. It ended up being surprisingly easy to herd them back into their coop. Hooray! It'll be funny tomorrow to see if they remember how to get back out. I'm dubious!

All in all a promising guinea day!

I'm curious if most of you have guineas that "coop up" at night or do they mostly stay out? Also, if your guineas stay out, how do they manage in the winter?

 

[featheredfriendlover]

thats neat.

my adults roost outside during the summer.

they just started 3 days ago roosting in the coop at night.

all my baby guineas roost in the coop up in the rafters at night.

 

[Toddman07]

Mine go inside with the chickens every night. Every once in a while ill have a straggler or two. But they like to go inside and get up high to roost.

 

[poultrypatch]

I have a couple of questions about keets. I have 7 that will be 3 wks next Sat. We have our immediate, about 3/4 of an acre fenced....4 ft chain link.
I intend to give them a run with 6 ft chain link and a house. Will cover the run. I wanted to know, if I clip their wings will they still fly over the 4 ft chain link ? I don't want to keep them in a run but also don't want them to get loose and end up killed. What do you think ?? These are my first babies. I try and hold them a few times a day trying to calm them down a little. Thanks
Liz
Rochester, MA

 

[BigBen]

My buddy got a dozen guinea hens and raised them to full size.
He let them out and on the first night 9 of them were eaten by predetors.
He managed to get the other 3 back in. They stayed there for a few months until he found them a safe home.

 

[SimplyForties]

Quote:
Yikes! Those are pretty bad odds!

 

[feathersgalore]

My guineas go inside every night but it takes weeks to train them (I pen them for 6 weeks and then might have to do some more as a refresher). Outside at night, guineas are just a sitting snack.

 

[guineaman]

ditto to feathersgalore ^

 

[damselfish]

If you brooded them in the coop, which it sounds like you did, they will tend to want to roost there, especially with chicken role models.

As ours got older, they became more independent, and some started roosting out. We let them, we lost some...

Anyway, bird seed (millet/sunflower) is their favorite treat and by simply feeding a little in the coop at roosting time, they now all roost inside. They actually show up early and stand around (we can see them from the window).

I'd try to keep them sleeping inside if you possibly can.

 

[SimplyForties]

So far I open the door every morning. They never come out, I don't think they've put it all together yet. I flush them out about 4p, leave them out for a couple of hours and then herd them back in around 6p. Hopefully after a couple of weeks of that they'll get the idea! The chickens sometimes ignore them and sometimes chase them around, which doesn't help!