How to help adult Guinea get used to new home

[eggcited2]

I have only three guineas left from my original flock (16 from summer of 2020, until just a couple months ago). I have found some adult guineas for sale.

I know guineas stay where they were raised and you have to 'adjust' them to new homes. I always keep 10-12 week old ones in small fenced area for a couple months. I have no idea how long it would take adults to learn their new home.

How long should I keep them fenced in (12x12 or bigger) to adjust them to living here? Of course they would be under shelter. I am considering using a horse stall or put in a double wide dog run (10x12 or little bigger).

The person has 15 available, but am wondering if smaller amount would do better.
Maybe add five of them to my current three? Or how many would you suggest?

We have a 30X40 barn, and they always go up into the rafters to roost. We are on six acres and let our guineas free range. Although the new ones would not be turned out/loose right away.
We feed and water them in the barn. Keep a 5gal heated dish of water for them over the winter.

 

[raingarden]

It only takes a few weeks to settle them down for release. If there is an existing flock then you can do it even sooner.

That's pretty heavy mortality for only a year or so. What predator you are dealing with?

 

[R2elk]

I have only three guineas left from my original flock (16 from summer of 2020, until just a couple months ago). I have found some adult guineas for sale.

I know guineas stay where they were raised and you have to 'adjust' them to new homes. I always keep 10-12 week old ones in small fenced area for a couple months. I have no idea how long it would take adults to learn their new home.

How long should I keep them fenced in (12x12 or bigger) to adjust them to living here? Of course they would be under shelter. I am considering using a horse stall or put in a double wide dog run (10x12 or little bigger).

The person has 15 available, but am wondering if smaller amount would do better.
Maybe add five of them to my current three? Or how many would you suggest?

We have a 30X40 barn, and they always go up into the rafters to roost. We are on six acres and let our guineas free range. Although the new ones would not be turned out/loose right away.
We feed and water them in the barn. Keep a 5gal heated dish of water for them over the winter.

The recommended standard for adult guineas when bringing them to a new home is confinement for 6 weeks.

 

[eggcited2]

It only takes a few weeks to settle them down for release. If there is an existing flock then you can do it even sooner.

That's pretty heavy mortality for only a year or so. What predator you are dealing with?

We have racoons, fox, ermine/weasels, coyotes, etc. Try killing them, but so darn many of them. Neighbor behind us shoots them year around and still they are all over.

We actually put down two layers if chicken wire, two layers of hardware cloth, and three layers of chain link fencing on the entire floor and 6 inches up the sides of the chicken house floor and walls. Lost over a dozen chickens in less than a week. It was predators. Bill want out to feed and found a weasel inside the chicken house, had a chicken by the neck. The door to the house was not an entry way.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I have only three guineas left from my original flock (16 from summer of 2020, until just a couple months ago). I have found some adult guineas for sale.

I know guineas stay where they were raised and you have to 'adjust' them to new homes. I always keep 10-12 week old ones in small fenced area for a couple months. I have no idea how long it would take adults to learn their new home.

How long should I keep them fenced in (12x12 or bigger) to adjust them to living here? Of course they would be under shelter. I am considering using a horse stall or put in a double wide dog run (10x12 or little bigger).

The person has 15 available, but am wondering if smaller amount would do better.
Maybe add five of them to my current three? Or how many would you suggest?

We have a 30X40 barn, and they always go up into the rafters to roost. We are on six acres and let our guineas free range. Although the new ones would not be turned out/loose right away.
We feed and water them in the barn. Keep a 5gal heated dish of water for them over the winter.

Wow, you’re dealing with a lot! How will you introduce the new group? Can you use the “look don’t touch” method for at East a few weeks? I don’t know how your two flocks will react to each other, but I would guess that the bigger flock will dominate the behavior of the guinea confusion. As far as how long to keep them penned, I’m with R2elk that the longer the better. There are so many stories of new flocks that have flown off when released… They might take your original four with them too, especially if there are more new than resident guineas. Let us know what you decide and how it goes!

 

[Isadora]

When you're ready to let them out, you can do one at a time instead of releasing them all at once.
I just finished integrating 5 keets to an older flock. Had them in the coop with the older birds, but separated through a wire fence. After about a week, I let one out to go with the older birds when they went out to free range in the morning. After a couple minutes of the older birds following the younger keet around with a "What the heck?" expression on their faces, everybody was cool. Over the period of the next week and a half I would let one new keet out every couple days or so. The older birds taught the younger birds how to go back to the coop at night, and now everybody is one big flock.

 

[Sydney65]

Wow, you’re dealing with a lot! How will you introduce the new group? Can you use the “look don’t touch” method for at East a few weeks? I don’t know how your two flocks will react to each other, but I would guess that the bigger flock will dominate the behavior of the guinea confusion. As far as how long to keep them penned, I’m with R2elk that the longer the better. There are so many stories of new flocks that have flown off when released… They might take your original four with them too, especially if there are more new than resident guineas. Let us know what you decide and how it goes!

Agreeing. I wasn't thinking of them leaving and taking yours with, but the larger group of newcomers attacking your 3. @R2elk can advise best, but I'm wondering if in addition to the long confinement & see but not touch, the integration itself should be staggered? Or maybe the look but not touch would suffice. Sorry, I'm adding to your question rather than answering it.

 

[eggcited2]

I always put them in fenced in area inside the barn (shelters them from weather). I usually turn them loose one at a time or maybe two at a time when an extra slips out. Have wire across the top of the fence and under it, so basically a box of wire. Heavy duty hardware cloth. So they can all see each other and check each other out, but not touch to attack. I have always gotten 10-12 week old keets, put them in the wired area for a couple months. This will be my first time getting adults.

 

[eggcited2]

The only other poultry I have are a few japanese black tail white bantams. My original roo and hen. She hatched out five chicks last spring. A poultry raiser came by for us and let us know what the chicks were - all five turned out to be male. She said she would take all of them and arrange to get hens for us. She brought five hens (said they were from this spring). These ones look different than my originals. I am not talking color, just different over all.
I do know I want to get rid of most of the new ones. I'd like to get down to my original two and one other japanses bantam hen. They are in a well made 20 ft long 8 ft wide run, with nice coop. They stay in it and don't have free range, cause of all the darn predators. The guineas and those guys are all the poultry I have any more.

After loosing approx 30 chickens, more than two dozen guineas, and about as many ducks (muscovy) in just one summer to predators......I was so devastated (so was hubby) that we just can not bring ourselves to have much anymore.

 

[Sydney65]

The only other poultry I have are a few japanese black tail white bantams. My original roo and hen. She hatched out five chicks last spring. A poultry raiser came by for us and let us know what the chicks were - all five turned out to be male. She said she would take all of them and arrange to get hens for us. She brought five hens (said they were from this spring). These ones look different than my originals. I am not talking color, just different over all.
I do know I want to get rid of most of the new ones. I'd like to get down to my original two and one other japanses bantam hen. They are in a well made 20 ft long 8 ft wide run, with nice coop. They stay in it and don't have free range, cause of all the darn predators. The guineas and those guys are all the poultry I have any more.

After loosing approx 30 chickens, more than two dozen guineas, and about as many ducks (muscovy) in just one summer to predators......I was so devastated (so was hubby) that we just can not bring ourselves to have much anymore.

Seems like many of us have had a bad year. Here's hoping next year is the year of the guineas.