Lower drama guinea wrangling

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

As I recently posted on depopulating our guinea flock, I just rehomed six of our 15 guinea fowl. They are trained to a coop, with roosts just above my head, so I decided to catch them starting an hour before dawn to minimize the drama and stress. I used a red light head lamp and talked in a low voice (which they recognize; I sometime work quietly in the coop when they are roosted) when they started stirring. The first few went ok, but by the third, the whole flock freaked out and went ballistic. I had two girls hang themselves in wire and on a ladder, and the rest were richocheting off the walls. Ouch to them and me! Everyone was eventually OK, but it was traumatizing for all. I had brought a net, but was way too slow to use it; mostly had to trap them in a corner and grab, while the rest were flapping all around me. Visited them at lunch and threw them some scratch; they were jumpy but calmer than I had expected. For next time: Is there an easier, less traumatic way to handle them?

 

[R2elk]

As I recently posted on depopulating our guinea flock, I just rehomed six of our 15 guinea fowl. They are trained to a coop, with roosts just above my head, so I decided to catch them starting an hour before dawn to minimize the drama and stress. I used a red light head lamp and talked in a low voice (which they recognize; I sometime work quietly in the coop when they are roosted) when they started stirring. The first few went ok, but by the third, the whole flock freaked out and went ballistic. I had two girls hang themselves in wire and on a ladder, and the rest were richocheting off the walls. Ouch to them and me! Everyone was eventually OK, but it was traumatizing for all. I had brought a net, but was way too slow to use it; mostly had to trap them in a corner and grab, while the rest were flapping all around me. Visited them at lunch and threw them some scratch; they were jumpy but calmer than I had expected. For next time: Is there an easier, less traumatic way to handle them?

I have my guineas trained to go in the coop whenever I herd them in. When needing to capture a specific guinea, I herd the desired guinea and maybe one or two others into the coop. I do this during daylight hours. I do use a net for the final capture and it is helpful not having to deal with the whole flock at the same time. I take the captured guinea and remove it from the coop and put it in a secure cage or a small pen that I have and then release the others. If more are needed, I repeat the procedure.