Get inside!

[eweaber]

I have 6, 10 week old guineas. They were in a chicken tractor for about 3 weeks while I worked on the larger coop and run. Every night they would go inside the small coop of the chicken tractor. I made the mistake of putting them into the run part of the new coop first. Now I can not get them to go into the coop. I have their food and water inside. I tried putting a light inside at night.
I have a couple of questions.
1. How do I get them to go inside before it starts getting cold?
2. Do I need to move their water outside so they do not get dehydrated until I can get them to go inside.
3. How hard will it be to introduce 3 chickens and a rooster in the spring?
4. Would it be easier to only keep a pair of them if I plan on getting chickens?

Any help would be appreciated, Thank You

 

[ClaytonCoop]

I am fairly new to this so my help may not be the best but here goes..
Can you get into the run? Go in after dark and put them in to coop and keep them in there most of the day. My birds are very observant and cautious when it comes to new things. Yours may be afraid of the new coop. If they refuse to go in move the water out for them. I wouldn't downsize because they like to be in a flock. I also think adding chickens would be okay but every flock is different.
When I have to do anything with my birds I wait until they roost. I use a flashlight so they aren't totally surprised and do whatever needs handled.

 

[eweaber]

Update: All six birds are in the coop with the door closed. How long do I leave them inside?

 

[ClaytonCoop]

A few days should be enough.

 

[PeepsCA]

You'll need to make a nightly routine of herding them into the coop, giving them a treat inside and closing them in safe each night. If you are consistently doing this for at least a few weeks (tho it may take up to 6 wks or more) then eventually they will be waiting in the coop for you, wanting their treats. Guineas like routine, you just have to help them establish one.

 

[eweaber]

When they were in the chicken tractor, they learned very quickly that the little "coop" was a safe place for them. Hopefully they will learn the same thing in the new coop. Thank you, everyone for your help.

 

[jbirds2012]

I'm new to guineas also so i only can tell you what I've observed so far. when they were 7 weeks old i put some 2 week old Bo's in with them and they were very kind and accommodating. a few days later i added another feeder because they were eating the feed as fast as i could fill it. so they all fled when i put it in and a minute later the Bo's started walking over to the new feeder to check it out and the guineas slowly and cautiously followed them, watched them start eating and then decided that it was safe and OK. a few weeks later after i took the Bo's out i added a gallon size coffee can of feed in the middle of their pen and they would not go near it. so i put it next to the original feeder and left for a couple of hours and when i checked in on them i noticed that they had ate some, so all was well. so from what i can tell, they don't like change and are very cautious of there surroundings.