Free Range problems

[scifiponygirl369]

Last year we tried having Guinea Fowl, did the research, moved them to an outdoor hutch about 12 weeks old, kept them in the hutch for 8 weeks. Then started letting them out one or two at a time during the day, recooped at night. We started out with 6, 3 females, 3 males. We lost the first female when she tried to lay a nest in our woods and something ate her. Male got hit by a car. Next female we lost hurt her leg somehow and after treating it for two weeks, the rest of the guineas attacked her one night and pecked her to death in the coop. The last 3 were loose, free range and no longer would go into the coop at night but stayed around the house. We fed them scratch grains twice a day and they stayed close. After weeks of no problems the last female vanished over night. A week later the last two who seemed bonded disappeared.

Got 8 more keets last fall, raised in the barn over the winter. Lost one keet to a cat who managed to pull it through the wire fencing (not our cat). All 7 left did fine over winter, didn't let them out this spring as our coop collapsed and the weather has been awful so far this year. All 7 seemed to be males as we did not have a single egg, ever. On Monday this week 5/18, we tried letting a couple out of the barn and all 7 got out. They hung out with our goats all day and then went into the barn with the goats come dusk. So figured we'd just try letting them hang out free range. Tuesday morning, we only had 5 guineas in the goat yard, two were gone. Tuesday night when the goats went to bed, we were down to 4 guineas and I spotted a black cat (not ours) stalking them. This morning (Wed 5/20) we were down to 3 guineas and I found a pile of feathers by my farm truck.

We caught the 3 that are left and put them back to being shut up in the barn. Any advise for how to keep them from getting killed or disappearing? The cat I saw stalking the flock is not ours, but a neighbor's (we've had discussions on keeping their cats indoors and they refuse). We have a donkey who has kept any coyotes away for 3 years now.

I'm considering getting more keets and possibly a gosling and chickens to raise with them, and then try to free range them next spring. Any suggestions? Another neighbor down the road has free range chickens and they never seem to get preyed upon or hit by cars.

 

[NJpineyflock]

Last year we tried having Guinea Fowl, did the research, moved them to an outdoor hutch about 12 weeks old, kept them in the hutch for 8 weeks. Then started letting them out one or two at a time during the day, recooped at night. We started out with 6, 3 females, 3 males. We lost the first female when she tried to lay a nest in our woods and something ate her. Male got hit by a car. Next female we lost hurt her leg somehow and after treating it for two weeks, the rest of the guineas attacked her one night and pecked her to death in the coop. The last 3 were loose, free range and no longer would go into the coop at night but stayed around the house. We fed them scratch grains twice a day and they stayed close. After weeks of no problems the last female vanished over night. A week later the last two who seemed bonded disappeared.

Got 8 more keets last fall, raised in the barn over the winter. Lost one keet to a cat who managed to pull it through the wire fencing (not our cat). All 7 left did fine over winter, didn't let them out this spring as our coop collapsed and the weather has been awful so far this year. All 7 seemed to be males as we did not have a single egg, ever. On Monday this week 5/18, we tried letting a couple out of the barn and all 7 got out. They hung out with our goats all day and then went into the barn with the goats come dusk. So figured we'd just try letting them hang out free range. Tuesday morning, we only had 5 guineas in the goat yard, two were gone. Tuesday night when the goats went to bed, we were down to 4 guineas and I spotted a black cat (not ours) stalking them. This morning (Wed 5/20) we were down to 3 guineas and I found a pile of feathers by my farm truck.

We caught the 3 that are left and put them back to being shut up in the barn. Any advise for how to keep them from getting killed or disappearing? The cat I saw stalking the flock is not ours, but a neighbor's (we've had discussions on keeping their cats indoors and they refuse). We have a donkey who has kept any coyotes away for 3 years now.

I'm considering getting more keets and possibly a gosling and chickens to raise with them, and then try to free range them next spring. Any suggestions? Another neighbor down the road has free range chickens and they never seem to get preyed upon or hit by cars.

Hi! First let me start off by saying I have a one year old guinea flock that I have been raising since they were two years old. From my own experience and from others experiences I’ve read pretty much everything you’ve said is somewhat common with guineas. I am lucky enough to be a stay at home dad so my daughter and I have had tons of time to raise and keep an eye on our guineas. Some things to note, it is extremely hard to keep them out of the street. I have spent many hours chasing them from the road and I’ve noticed if you stay vigilant and just constantly discourage them from going into the street they will do it less however I can’t seem to get them to totally stop. They still usually end of in the street at least once a day. I do have some tips that have worked for me. First off I have 10 guineas but I built them a very large coop with a very big run. That way I could train and contain them when I had to. Guineas are nothing like chickens, It took mine 10 months to finally go into their coop on their own at night. Before that I used a combination of treats at night (white millet) and a small battery operated light in their coop. They can be afraid of darker spaces so they often wouldnt go into the coop unless the light was on. This all has to be done before it gets too dark as they can’t see at night and usually will not move once it gets dark enough. Over time I phased out using the light and now they go to bed on their own every night. As far as discouraging them from laying eggs in the woods. As soon as they started laying this spring I just left them in their coop and run till about 1 or 2 pm that way they couldn’t lay in the woods. Once they started their nest inside the coop I went back to letting them out earlier. Now they all lay in the coop either way and I have 2 girls sitting on a pile of eggs. Obviously you need a good sized coop and run to leave them locked up, guineas are athletic and need room to move around plus they will fight once mating season starts. As far as cats, I have quite a few stray cats walking around my forest. On top of my guineas I also have chickens and my neighbor has about 25 chickens. I’ve never once seen the cats go after any of our birds. However the guineas are predator magnets! We’ve always had bad hawk problems but now the foxes and coyotes have started to move in. The only plus to it is it seems like all the predators have totally lost interest in our chickens and now focus solely on the guinea flock. We have a fox that has been hanging around for weeks that is becoming a problem. I know this is lengthy, hope some of this info helps you out

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Well, y’all are making me feel better about our guinea issues! In my opinion, being a predator-savvy guinea is a real learning curve for the guineas. Think of how much they need to learn about predators with no parental guidance. With no training and protection, I think that they get picked off pretty quickly. Here in Oklahoma, I’ve met multiple people who rely on hatching /restocking the guinea flock every year, because their guineas are totally free ranging and will eventually get eaten. We sold keets last year and are hatching eggs to sell again now, so I learned to stop talking to the buyers as I felt too bad for the birds; I console myself by saying that at least they have pleasant free range lives for awhile...

If you can protect them at night by cooping, then I think you take a big risk away, but not all of the risk. We’ve kept them for two years, in an area that’s lethal to chickens and ducks. We have lost a few guineas to daytime predators, but they are very vigilant, flighty, and aware.

We start with keeping them in the coop, which is pretty big and tall to suit guineas, for six weeks as juveniles, so they develop the habit of roosting there. Then we fence around the entrance to the coop that I want them to use. That way, they automatically develop the habit of going into that coop door to roost at dusk. Like chickens, they are very dependent on routines. Then, at about 3 months, we let them out of the fence in the afternoon, with supervision. They are clueless at that point, but they are starting to learn to be aware and to come back to the coop at dusk. I use a herding stick to reinforce that, and do everything I can to keep them from spending the night outdoors. I wonder whether it’s better to start them out free ranging at 3 mo in the fall or 6 mo in spring? I don’t know, but I think we have more predator pressure in spring/summer, so that may not be the beat time to bring them up to speed... I don’t give treats in the coop to decrease aggression. Then I start extending the time out. Right now, ours are locked up more than I like because they are insisting on crossing the road. I’m about at my wits end with the road issue!