How to get Gunieas to expand their territory?

[mlowarren]

Hi all! I've been raising chickens for about 7 years, but I'm new to Guinea Fowl and I have a question!

We recently moved to a very wooded area on a small river. There are hundreds of acres of woods behind our house, 4 of which belong to us. We've had a terrible time with ticks, so I decided to get some Guineas. They are now 4 months old and for about a month now I've been letting them out of their coop each morning to free range. The only problem is that instead of going into the woods and eating the ticks, they hang around the house all day begging me for food! They refuse to go into the woods to find food! Does anyone have any tips on how to get them to expand their territory and stop begging me for food?

Thanks in advance for any help! I am really enjoying them, but I would like them more if they would quit begging me and find their own food!

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Most younger guineas are that way. They should eventually start to spread out and explore. Once they start laying you'll be wondering why they don't ever stay close to the house!

 

[mlowarren]

Ok, that makes sense! Thank you so much for the reply

 

[Bean789]

Most younger guineas are that way. They should eventually start to spread out and explore. Once they start laying you'll be wondering why they don't ever stay close to the house!

Thank you for that info. I have 9 week old guineas (4 of them) being raised with my baby chicks of the same age (6 of them). They will all eventually be integrated with 7 older girls, approximately 26 weeks old now. I free range all of the younger crowd a few times a week and the guineas just hang with the chicks for now. They all come to me for their treats and go into their temporary coop as a group but sometimes I still need to coral the guineas in the door. They do like to fly around the yard a little but basically hang within short distance with the others.

At what age will they begin to lay and explore the rest of the little acre we live on and go outside their 'immediate' area (which is about 40 ft in any direction)?

I still can't tell the males from females at this point either. Geesh! Out of 4 I think I have 3 males!

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Ours are all free range. Some hatch their own eggs if they hide their nest, the rest that we hatch out in the incubator, we turn loose once they leave the brooder and for a while they tend to be home bodies. They might come in the coops at night, but usually prefer the sweetgum trees lol We keep about 6 - 12 through the winter and they are always laying by early spring. I don't really keep up with them enough to know what ages they start to wander, but i'm guessing by about 5 to 6 months old.

 

[gguineasfamily]

When my guineas were 6 months old they flew over the fence and went running down the road every day

The older they get the further they roam