Keets to full grown feeding question

[DanD2]

I'm new to Guinea Fowl....have done a bunch of research but have not found this answer.
From what I've read, Keets should ALWAYS have food. Once they are beyond the keet stage, and transferred to the coop, should I feed them at a specific time to help train them so that they come back to the coop when I start to let them out?

Thanx in advance for any replies.

 

[R2elk]

I'm new to Guinea Fowl....have done a bunch of research but have not found this answer.
From what I've read, Keets should ALWAYS have food. Once they are beyond the keet stage, and transferred to the coop, should I feed them at a specific time to help train them so that they come back to the coop when I start to let them out?

Thanx in advance for any replies.

Some people do and some people use treats to get them to the coop. My guineas have food and water available all of the time in the coop. The coop is the only place that they get fed or watered other than what they can forage for.

I taught my guineas to go in the coop in the evening by using long sticks as extensions of my arms and herding them in. Mine will go in the coop on their own but I still herd them in every evening to make sure they are cooped for the night. This includes chasing broody hens off of their hidden nests to make sure than are safely in the coop for the night.

 

[DanD2]

So I have been giving them millet around 5ish each night but my keets are wicked skittish and I just want to get ready for when I move hem into my coop

 

[R2elk]

So I have been giving them millet around 5ish each night but my keets are wicked skittish and I just want to get ready for when I move hem into my coop

One of the ways to get your keets over being skittish around you is to spend lots of time with them. Some just take a chair and sit with them. The closer you get to their level, the less frightened they should be of you. They have an instinctive fear of anything approaching from above them.

Good luck.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I’m doing something similar to R2Elk with feed and water in the coop and herding with sticks. I rarely need to herd them in anymore at one year old, they almost always go in on their own, though later than I’d prefer... For me, treats in the coop turned out to be a bad idea, as it was encouraging the more dominant ones to chase off the lower ranking members at roosting time, so the lowest ranking guineas would just sit outside the coop waiting, and then it would get too dark for them to be comfortable going in. I also used to use a triangle bell to signal to them that they were getting treats in the coop. That also was problematic as they started getting so excited that they would just run around and around the coop (they need their brains engaged to use the ill advised tunnel and door that allow them access to the coop.) What I do now is whistle for them in an area near the coop but a little bit away from the tunnel entrance. They know that means food, dried mealworms, soldier fly larvae, or millet. I sprinkle it around multiple locations so everyone gets a little bit, even if the bullies try to chase them off. When they finish, they usually mosey on over to the tunnel and coop door, eat a little bit of the feed that’s always available, and roost for the night. If they get hung up somewhere, like calling from the roof of the coop, then I direct them down and into bed.