Flock Question

[Melodychick]

I finally decided to get some guinea keets and mentioned it to my neighbor across the road. She used to have 15 guineas and free ranged them 24/7. As a result she only has 2 left. She has now decided to get 12 more keets this summer, and will free range as soon as they are big enough. Once mine are old enough I plan to free range days and hopefully lock them up at night. Her last flock came to my house all the time, so my question is do you think my flock will join with hers, or will they stay in their separate flocks? I’m thinking if they join together, I’ll never get mine in at night...

 

[R2elk]

I finally decided to get some guinea keets and mentioned it to my neighbor across the road. She used to have 15 guineas and free ranged them 24/7. As a result she only has 2 left. She has now decided to get 12 more keets this summer, and will free range as soon as they are big enough. Once mine are old enough I plan to free range days and hopefully lock them up at night. Her last flock came to my house all the time, so my question is do you think my flock will join with hers, or will they stay in their separate flocks? I’m thinking if they join together, I’ll never get mine in at night...

You did not mention how many keets you are getting. If you are only getting a few, they may well join your neighbor's flock. If you are getting a decent size flock (10 or more) they may act as two separate flocks. Being that close to each other, there will be interaction between the two flocks with one flock potentially poaching hens from the other flock and vice versa.

If you start your coop training very early and do not tolerate any of them staying out at night, your guineas may stay coop trained. It helps to have a coop with desirable perches. My coop has perches starting at 2' and going up 2' at a time until the final roosts which are the exposed ceiling joists at 8' off the ground.

Good luck.

 

[Melodychick]

Thanks for the reply. I was planning on a small flock of 6-8, but that was before I found out my neighbor was getting more. Now I’m trying to decide if I should get any or just let her group come eat my ticks and other bugs. I’ll probably give them a try though since I am kinda looking forward to having them around.... I’m building them a coop that is attached to but separate from my chicken coop and have roosts that will go up to around 7-8 feet. Thanks again, and any other pointers are welcome.