Guinea fowl

[whitto]

Can guineas be trained to lay in a chicken coop bad snake problem

 

[Kiki]

I do not raise guineas but I can't think of one reason why they can't be trained.

 

[whitto]

I have tried keeping them locked up but no luck as soon as I let them out of coop they start nesting in forest and then the pythons get them

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Welcome to our FUNomenal Flock!
Best of luck with those snakes!

 

[sourland]

Unless they have been penned up, my Guinea fowl have always 'hidden' their nests. Perhaps someone has had better luck with them.

 

[R2elk]

Can guineas be trained to lay in a chicken coop bad snake problem

The only guaranteed method of getting guinea fowl to lay their eggs in a coop is to keep them confined until after they lay their eggs for the day.

Making desirable nesting places in the coop can be helpful. Such places are where the guinea hens can feel hidden and undisturbed. Some people make hidden nest sites by using bales of hay or straw. At least one poster makes a nest site in a wheelbarrow for her guineas. Of course it helps to have an oversized coop with lots of hiding places.

If you manage to get your guineas to lay in your coop, be sure that you do not disturb the guineas or their nests.

Good luck.

 

[R2elk]

I do not raise guineas but I can't think of one reason why they can't be trained.

Guineas are not chickens and do not behave like chickens. Guineas can be trained but not when the training goes against their natural instincts to have hidden nests that are undisturbed.

 

[Biddybot]

Sure they can be trained, but my experience with guineas is that they wouldn't like most chicken coops and wouldn't want to stay in them any more than they have to. They like LOTS of space, space enough to fly a bit, in fact, and to roost up much higher than what the average chicken would find satisfactory, for starters. I kept mine in a baby barn with a single long roost that spanned the width of the building set about 9 feet up, plus they had a chicken ladder so any youngsters that couldn't fly too well yet could get up with the adults, which helped them develop the good habit of roosting indoors every night. For nesting, they liked a well bedded area directly on the ground under an overhang of some sort...two-foot-wide shelving set about four feet high created artificial cover that made them happy, plus of course they liked running around on the shelving. I'd prop a large piece of plywood against the wall under the overhang, creating a cozy, partially hidden nook for them, and voila, a communal guinea nesting site. Once one hen used the nest, others did too, and most of them could be trusted to come inside the barn to lay after that if you left a few eggs in the communal nest. Keeping them shut inside until noon also pretty much guaranteed they'd lay indoors, of course, but unless their accommodations are truly to their liking, I think they get a little resentful about being shut in and start becoming leery about going indoors even to roost at night. They are pickier birds than chickens, that's for sure!

Basically, you try and recreate what it is they like about nesting outdoors, and if they find it acceptable, they'll generally become agreeable about laying where you want them to. If they don't like what you've got to offer, you'll have to keep them shut in until noon or so to get eggs, and even then, some of them will hold off laying until they get outside.

 

[whitto]

Thanks for your reply very good advice I am in the process of building a new coop for them I hope it works.