My guinea hens (12 weeks) spend all their time hiding in brush or spying on me

[DonnaScott]

My Guinea hens are less than active. They spend all their time hiding in brush or trying to spy on me on the deck. It's a fairly high deck and I cant seem to keep them from spending their time out of the coop looking for me...any suggestions? My husband hates that they poop all over the rails on their way up to see what I'm doing. They dont travel away from the backyard either which I'm sort of grateful for. Uggg. Help!

 

[Unicornlife3316]

Have you raised them from keets?

My first group, I hand raised from keets and they did the same thing, constantly searching for me like a member of their flock. Which was fine, until breeding season came and the male saw me as a threat, so he started attacking me.

I’ve stopped hand raising my keets, because I want them to act like birds and not my shadow.

 

[R2elk]

and hiding in trees to watch them.

In my experience the only time guineas spend in trees is to roost at night and to escape real or perceived danger. I have never seen my guineas "hiding in trees to watch their prey."

 

[Unicornlife3316]

In my experience the only time guineas spend in trees is to roost at night and to escape real or perceived danger. I have never seen my guineas "hiding in trees to watch their prey."

Agreed.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

My Guinea hens are less than active. They spend all their time hiding in brush or trying to spy on me on the deck. It's a fairly high deck and I cant seem to keep them from spending their time out of the coop looking for me...any suggestions? My husband hates that they poop all over the rails on their way up to see what I'm doing. They dont travel away from the backyard either which I'm sort of grateful for. Uggg. Help!

Ours were super home bodies when they first started free ranging. I really wondered if they would ever branch out... They would even follow me for walks around our property, which I greatly enjoyed. It wasn’t until spring, or their first breeding season, when they really started to explore. They visited the road, the neighbor, anywhere! Friends call me to tell me that they were near the busy road... Actually, staying close to the coop when they were young was a lot better...