once i purchased 10 young adult guineas for tick control. because they weren't raised on my place, i was afraid they would fly away and not come back, as there was no attachment. so i decided to pen them all up for a couple of weeks, then let 2 out, thinking they would stick around because they were a fairly close knit group. after the two stayed near the coup, and roosted on top of it for a week, i let two more out. the four did the same thing the two did for a week, that is, stick close by the coup and roost on top of it at night. every week i let two more out of the coupe. when there were eight out and only two in, and all eight were roosting on top of the coup, i figured they had acclimated to the place, and let the last two out. they stayed for one more day, then took off, and i never saw them again. so much for tick control. but i leaned my lesson, and from there on out purchased day old guineas. they have always stuck around, and several hatched out keets on their own. they're worth the mess they make when they're in the brooder, provided you don't mind a screech that is entirely disproportionate to the size of the bird, and provided you either have a lot of land or very tolerant neighbors. oh, and one of their favorite pastimes, when they're not eating ticks, is to chase the much larger roosters around the place and pull the roosters tail feathers.