Integrating Juvenile Guineas with Adults

[merrymutts]

I have 2 adult ( 1 year old ) Guineas and 4 Juvenile keets ( about 3 months old ). The Juveniles are getting pretty good sized and starting to get their "big " voices. Could I now integrate them with the adult Guineas or should they wait a wee bit longer ?

 

[My2butterflies]

I would go ahead and set them up in a pen around the adults. Let them get used to the young ones in a “safe space”.
That’s my plan once my keets feather out.
Im not sure there is a set ideal age to integrate them, so it will be good to hear from members that have experience.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Did you see the other integration thread going right now? Seems to be going well...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/making-introductions.1397730/

 

[sunnie7]

Here’s my guinea story.... started last summer with 15 keets. I cooped them at night for awhile until March when their coop was getting ready to be the chicken coop. By this time I was down to probably 10 guineas. We live in an area with lots of foxes, coyotes and raccoons. Our purpose for guineas is tick control so we free range. I got down to 6 when I got lucky and found their nest. I collected eggs for a few night incubated them and I have 13 keets ~10 weeks old. I found another large nest and incubated them and got another 23 keets ~8 weeks old. I’ve been down to one adult female for a few weeks now and I put the older group outside in a pen about 3 weeks ago and the adult has been sticking right by the pen. Last week I started letting half of them out in the evening and the adult pecked at them at first a little but she’s been great with them! She keeps them close and she’s correct my kitten a few times now when he come to try to play! It’s funny! We just enclose the back part of the playhouse now so today I moved the younger group outside and I’ve decided we will start locking them all up at night now. We’ve just had too many losses and I don’t want to be do to 1-2 guinea this time next year.

 

[My2butterflies]

Here’s my guinea story.... started last summer with 15 keets. I cooped them at night for awhile until March when their coop was getting ready to be the chicken coop. By this time I was down to probably 10 guineas. We live in an area with lots of foxes, coyotes and raccoons. Our purpose for guineas is tick control so we free range. I got down to 6 when I got lucky and found their nest. I collected eggs for a few night incubated them and I have 13 keets ~10 weeks old. I found another large nest and incubated them and got another 23 keets ~8 weeks old. I’ve been down to one adult female for a few weeks now and I put the older group outside in a pen about 3 weeks ago and the adult has been sticking right by the pen. Last week I started letting half of them out in the evening and the adult pecked at them at first a little but she’s been great with them! She keeps them close and she’s correct my kitten a few times now when he come to try to play! It’s funny! We just enclose the back part of the playhouse now so today I moved the younger group outside and I’ve decided we will start locking them all up at night now. We’ve just had too many losses and I don’t want to be do to 1-2 guinea this time next year.

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Haha! Your guinea transport made me laugh. I just did something similar to move my chicks across the yard from their coop to the fenced in run. Lol
My makeshift chicken trailer

 

[sunnie7]

Haha! Your guinea transport made me laugh. I just did something similar to move my chicks across the yard from their coop to the fenced in run. Lol
My makeshift chicken trailer View attachment 2250200

When your home alone with no help you sometimes have to be creative!!! I usually just throw it on the back for the 4wheeler but that one was my big kennel and it’s too big and heavy! It worked though!

 

[EarlJ]

I'm far from an expert, but my impression is that the adults should take easier to juveniles than other near-adults. The older the new birds are, the more likely they might challenge the established birds, or less likely to follow them.

Let them see but not touch for a week or two, then start letting out pairs of younger birds and see how it goes. If all is well, you can release the other two and they should all stay near the adults. If it goes poorly, the two younger ones shouldn't stray far from the confined ones and you can corral them in and try again later.

 

[My2butterflies]

When your home alone with no help you sometimes have to be creative!!! I usually just throw it on the back for the 4wheeler but that one was my big kennel and it’s too big and heavy! It worked though!

Yep. Walking 10 chickens one at a time across the yard and driveway in 90F+ and high humidity gets exhausting real quick. Lol
Dog kennels work really nice as a way to move multiple birds at once. My big dog kennel just happen to be the right size to fit in my little utility trailer I used a bungee to secure the front and it doesn’t budge. Haha.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Here’s my guinea story.... started last summer with 15 keets. I cooped them at night for awhile until March when their coop was getting ready to be the chicken coop. By this time I was down to probably 10 guineas. We live in an area with lots of foxes, coyotes and raccoons. Our purpose for guineas is tick control so we free range. I got down to 6 when I got lucky and found their nest. I collected eggs for a few night incubated them and I have 13 keets ~10 weeks old. I found another large nest and incubated them and got another 23 keets ~8 weeks old. I’ve been down to one adult female for a few weeks now and I put the older group outside in a pen about 3 weeks ago and the adult has been sticking right by the pen. Last week I started letting half of them out in the evening and the adult pecked at them at first a little but she’s been great with them! She keeps them close and she’s correct my kitten a few times now when he come to try to play! It’s funny! We just enclose the back part of the playhouse now so today I moved the younger group outside and I’ve decided we will start locking them all up at night now. We’ve just had too many losses and I don’t want to be do to 1-2 guinea this time next year.

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Your play coop renovation is looking good!

 

[sunnie7]

Your play coop renovation is looking good!

Thanks....I had debated what to with that thing for awhile! I have entirely too many birds at the moment and I wasn’t planning on really cooping them but I needed a bigger brooder and a way to integrate. So as they get older I’ll keep locking them up at night but I currently have 1 adult +13 10 week olds and 23 6 week olds (I said 8 earlier but recounted on my calendar...it feels like it’s been 8 weeks of them in my garage )! I’m selling 6 to a friend tomorrow but don’t want to get rid of too many yet since we have had so many losses.