Hills?

[SunHwaKwon]

That is my guess (that he winds up with another flock). Guineas hate to be alone so his top priority would be to find a flock to join. Hopefully he makes it that far.

I will add, though, to not be surprised if your keets also go up the hill. Where I live is flat and for the first few months after they started free ranging, my guineas would fly up on my roof several times a day, I think to memorize the landscape and layout. I would expect them to use hilltops in the same way.

 

[GlennLee]

Henry is back! Our neighbor at the top of the hill had a sighting this morning and sent me a text. I ran up with my bell and bag of meal worms. It took a bit of coaxing, but he finally followed me into the enclosed run and coop. He'll be in there for a while!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

That's great! I love that you were able to get him back with a bell. I had a lot of trouble training my first batch of guineas. Was he already trained when you got him?

 

[GlennLee]

No, he wasn't trained at all. He's not real consistent yet, but he sort of makes the connection. At first I pulled his food so that he couldn't eat on demand - he could only eat when I gave it to him and rang the bell. I have used meal worms and high millet birdseed for additional reinforcement. I make him move all around between the coop and the run, ringing the bell, putting down food, moving and repeating the process. He's learning to follow me and that the bell and I equal food.

 

[Starseed]

Quote:
Yay!!! Glad to hear he is ok

 

[GlennLee]

Update on thoughts about the hill - I have another month before the keets will be free ranging. Henry (adult male who has free ranged, but tends to head up the hill and across the road) was being VERY aggressive toward the keets, so he was removed and put in a double dog crate. Now he is set out to free range every morning and spends his nights in the covered run while the keets are shut up in the coop. The keets LOVE him even though he's mean and he just clucks and struts around them outside the run ALL day - no more uphill.

I'm going to try to put them together again before too long, but I was thinking I could put Henry in a crate and place him downhill when I get ready to work with the keets on free ranging - only about half of them as I'll leave some in the covered run as a draw back to the coop. I'm hoping that will entice them to go DOWN the hill to Henry. I'll give it a try and will let you know how it goes in about another month.

I wanted to post in case others have a similar problem. If it works, it's worth sharing.....

 

[Starseed]

Again, I'm more concerned about the flock accepting Henry when the time comes, so your plan sounds like a good one. Let us know how it goes.

 

[GlennLee]

The flock accepts Henry, but Henry doesn't accept the flock. I think he wants to be the only guinea fowl in the coop. They adore him, but he just wants to charge at them and peck them. Everyone is sticking close to the coop and the attached run when they are out. That's a good thing at this point. They'll be transitioning into a new barn - just feet from their existing coop in a few weeks. Hoping I can encourage them to go down the hill first in their morning routine. Will give an update when I get to that point. I did try Henry in the crate - downhill a bit, but within eyesight, but they were so intent on staying close to the coop that they didn't even know he was there. Thanks!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

GlennLee- are you able to post a pic of your setup so I can visualize it better?

 

[GlennLee]

This is a picture what their line of vision is as they come out of the run uphill. The house is on the right, garage/outbuilding on the left. Our property goes up the hill but stops just after the fenced area.



This is a picture of what their line of vision is as they come out of the run going downhill. The brown area is our lower garden and I need them to go down that far. We have 10 acres for them to work - a flock of 16.



This is a picture taken from the lower garden back up to the house. The coop / run is located under the grove of trees. It will be just opposite the trees (in the same area) when the new building arrives.

My concern is that from their perspective, they see the horizon line and just want to keep going. If I can get them going downhill first, I think I can work with them to stay on the property, but heading down is going to be key in their training.

Thanks for your interest...