Housing Guineas

[Crayon Rock]

I ordered 40 Guineas from Winters that are due the first of June. I am planning on housing them in their own yard/coop in the evening and letting them roam during the day. 20 of them are going to a friend after they come out of the lights. If the brooder is in my main barn, am I going to have an issue with them wanting to roost in there rather than in the coop that I plan on moving them to once they are old enough?

We have a huge problem with Ravens snatching babies, so as a general rule nothing is allowed to roam until it's grown to about
3 lbs. That seems to be the point where the ravens leave them alone. They will be in the main barn until then. This is my first excursion into Guineas, but this is the rule we have learned to follow with chicks and poults.

 

[PeepsCA]

6 wks confinement to their new coop after the brooder stage will program/condition them to accept that as home/shelter/safety. Try to make it as comfy for them as possible with lots of roosts and lots of treats, and even sit out there with them a lot so they get used to your presence... you ultimately want their coop to be a happy comfortable place that they feel safe in so that is where they want to be when the sun starts going down and it's time to roost. You will most likely need to work with them for a while about going back in each evening (herding them in and calling them in for a treat as a reward), but once you get an evening routine going for them they usually follow it/stick with it. Always using the same call when you feed them or give them treats helps them associate that call to food, and can help a lot when getting them to come in. And a covered run attached to their coop is also useful... it lets you start the herding in routine from a confined space so it's a little less of a fiasco.

 

[PeaChick C]

One thing that I do to condition my guineas and helps them know when to come home is whistle a certain call every time I feed them. I start when they are little keats. When its time for them to leave the coop, it only takes a whistle for them to all come gliding back in from the field. A sprinkle of feed and all you have to do is close the door behind them.

Only problem with this is that my wife can't whistle so she has a hard time getting them in! I have heard of people using a bell with them too but whistling just seems to speak their native language.

 

[PeepsCA]

Whistle, call, bell, watever.. it doesn't really matter as long as it's consistently repeated every time they get feed or treats. They will eventually make the association that it means they need to come running for food.

 

[Mmmatt13]

I am planning on using a big dinner bell for when they're in their grown-up coop, but I can't exactly have the dinner bell inside to train them, could I use a smaller bell that may not make the same pitched "Ding" as the big dinner bell? Would they associate a ringing bell no matter what tone/pitch it is?

 

[PeepsCA]

I would just use a specific call while they are little and in the brooder, then combine the call and the dinner bell once you move them out... eventually using only the dinner bell if you want.

 

[tomingreeneco]

One thing that I do to condition my guineas and helps them know when to come home is whistle a certain call every time I feed them. I start when they are little keats. When its time for them to leave the coop, it only takes a whistle for them to all come gliding back in from the field. A sprinkle of feed and all you have to do is close the door behind them.

Only problem with this is that my wife can't whistle so she has a hard time getting them in! I have heard of people using a bell with them too but whistling just seems to speak their native language.

You can go to Dick's sporting goods and buy a whistle that the sport officials use. They come on a cord. Hang it somewhere so that anyone can call the guineas in.