I bought six 3week old guineas, what can I do

[LA~Poulet]

to make them slightly less flighty, is there anything?

I know different people have different ideas on making birds 'pets'. I don't expect or want them to sit on our laps and be stroked, but I would like them not to completely take off running at the sight of us. We've had them 3 days and they don't even approach when I have food-they run and huddle.

Is it a lost cause because of their age, or does anyone have suggestions for helping them get accustomed to people? Would it help or hurt worse to try to take them out of our brooder cage individually?

 

[pixiechick]

Even though we raised our keets from the time they hatched, I still wouldn't call them friendly. We tried holding them, but it always seemed traumatic for them, and, yes, they would run and cower. They got a bit braver as adults, though and will now run (towards us) if we have food. Maybe yours will settle down when they grow up, too.

 

[LA~Poulet]

Thanks for responding, I hope ours get more friendly (and not less) like yours.

 

[jvls1942]

all you can do is keep them close to you. by that I mean, you cannot let them freerange.. You have to get them into a pen every night..preferably a pen where you can go in and walk amongst them..
feed them treats before you put out the regular feed for the day..

mine are not crazy about being caught, but they are tame enough to step over, or push gently aside with a foot.. If they are in a nest laying an egg, I can push my hand under them to check for eggs..

that is about all I can hope for.. some people can get them to perch on their shoulder.. I do not have the time for that,,..

 

[Debbienmousey]

Our guineas are just like pixiechick's. We got our first guineas as 2-3 day old keats and they would get nervous and stuff when we went near them during their younger weeks, but once they became adults and trusted us more, they came running to us if we had food.

We currently have 3 week old keats too, and whenever I go near their brooder they run and huddle in a corner. I think it's a guinea keat thing. Lol.

Our adults won't let us catch them, but I don't really want to. They will come up to us and if we move slowly we can pet them.


You could take them out of the brooder and hold them..But to really tame them I assume you'd have to take them out a couple times a day pretty much everyday for a couple weeks. However I've never done this so I'm not sure.

Good luck