keeping Guineas without a coop

[aonis]

I would like to know from some of you experienced Guinea folk if anyone kept their birds in a semi-wild state. The curiosity struck me because I would like to keep Guineas but would prefer to have them roost in the trees on my property. I have 30 acres and would keep them in a temporary pen for a month or so in order to give them a sense of place and after freeing them would keep food and water for them.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that predators can be a problem but I would like them to roam and eat ticks all day.

any advice welcome!

 

[Hambone]

Exactly what I was thinking about doing. I don't see why not. Just make sure you get young birds so they grow up associating your place with home. A lot of times when you get older birds no matter if you cage them for a while or not they leave to find their old home.

 

[1acrefarm]

It would be fine but check your local laws. In my county if you keep any animal no matter what type it has to have available shelter with three walls and a roof.

 

[aonis]

yeah. I'm getting 6wk old birds that are just ready to go out and I will be keeping them in a safe pen outdoors for a month. hopefully that should work.

 

[greathorse]

I have about 10 acres but the guineas do not roam very far from the primary area where they were started. It has been my experience that if you keep them in a coop or run for a while (couple weeks) they will stick fairly close. They would have limited access to water if they went away from here. The biggest problem is predators. For all their reputation for sounding predator alarms, mine seem to get picked off with some regularity. The biggest issue is that they are ground nesters and when they get on a nest they are very good at hiding and are easy targets.

Mine are on their own and I am now down to a pair and they seem to do a pretty good job of handling themselves.


I did find a nest of eggs earlier and am hatching a bunch of keets as we speak. I hope to keep a few year around that survive the predators and can take care of themselves.

 

[aonis]

thanks Greathorse.

sound advice and I am totally aware of the predator possibility so we'll see what happens.

 

[sundance]

My GS has 10 and 3 babies, they free range all day and fly up in the tree in front of their house in the summer. when its cold and all the leaves fall they move to the cedar tree in my back yard, My RIR and the guineas all roam around together , night comes my hens go in their coop and I shut them in and GS birds fly up their tree. they stay around either his house or mine, I would say a few hundred yards circle for all of them. marrie

 

[MissCluck]

How high do Guineas like to fly up to roost? I've also been considering Guineas but I'd prefer that they are down in the paddock, pasture and barn with the horse and goats, rather than up in the backyard with the chickens.

I'd certainly hate for them to be picked off by predators but I thought that they would enjoy the freedom that living down at the barn would give them.

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
My Guineas were always in a semi-wild state and would not roost in the Coop with the chickens.
I had to hatch a batch of Guineas and Chickens together on the incubator (Add chicken eggs a week after starting guinea eggs) to get the guineas to roost in the Coop. They do fly out of the pen every day and patrol the property for ticks and bugs.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

The only problem you are going to have with ranging them is when the hens lay and sit on a nest. They will do it under bushes anwhere there is cover and that makes them very easy prey for predators. Every year we were loosing 1/2 of our hens during the late spring and early summer. We now pen the hens with a few males and let the rest of the males range. They roost high in the trees at night and are pretty safe.

Steve in NC