Need Advice from Guinea Expert Please!

[okiekeets]

Guinea Expert,

History: I have had 10 guineas that I have raised since two days old and they are now 7 months old. I built them a fully enclosed, predator proof coop (see pic) at our farm which they have lived in for the last 5 months. Since I do not live at the farm, I let the guineas out to free range 3-4 times a week for hours while I am there. They always stay relatively close to the coop/run and come in and out. I always put them up before dusk. I have trained them to come on command: I ring a cowbell and treat them inside their run. Now that they are older and are very athletic, I wanted to give them free range time daily. So, I bought them an automatic chicken door (see pic) that can be programmed to open in the morning and close at dark using a photocell. For the last few days, I have not allowed them to exit and enter the run/coop via the old entrance/gate and only use new chicken door which I am manually opening and closing when at the farm.

Last night I was staying the night at the farm and decided to leave the new chicken door open until dark to see if they would put themselves to bed in the coop. Normally, they are confined to their coop/run before dark and they put themselves to bed on the roost inside their coop before dark. This has been their routine for the last 5 months. Well, last night they did not go into their run via chicken door on their own and instead flew to the top of the coop and roosted on the edge. I tried to call them with the cowbell but they did not budge from the top of the coop. So I had no other choice but to leave them outside of their protected run/coop for the night but I did leave chicken door open hoping they would eventually go into their run. They stayed on top of their coop until the middle of the night. I know this because I have a security camera that I can monitor them. At 2:00am I heard banging against the metal barn and the guineas were no longer on top of their coop.
Sadly, this morning there were only 6 of my 10 guineas left. There was evidence of feathers in and underneath trees which I assume they flew to for protection and were killed by owl(s)?

Question: Are guineas able to be trained to but themselves to bed inside their coop before dark on their own? My neighbor has chickens and her chickens will go inside their run into their coop on their own at dusk without any coaxing. I have heard stories of farmers letting guineas free range all the time on their own but how do they keep them alive. I lost 4 on the first night and only night they stayed outside. Is it because they are too young (seven months)? Once they get more familiar with automatic chicken door will they put themselves to bed on their own before dark?

I would appreciate any and all advice from people who have experience with guineas. This is my first experience with poultry/fowl. I have taken such good care of them and have babied them for the last seven months and I am so sad to have lost four the first and only time they stayed outside.

Thank you!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Sorry to hear about your loss. I've had guineas and they rarely chose to go into their coop voluntarily, so I used long sticks to "herd" them in at dusk. We have great horned owls here, and birds out after dark don't usually survive.

The people I know who didn't securely coop their guineas at night eventually lost them all to predators. Best of luck!

 

[R2elk]

Guinea Expert,

History: I have had 10 guineas that I have raised since two days old and they are now 7 months old. I built them a fully enclosed, predator proof coop (see pic) at our farm which they have lived in for the last 5 months. Since I do not live at the farm, I let the guineas out to free range 3-4 times a week for hours while I am there. They always stay relatively close to the coop/run and come in and out. I always put them up before dusk. I have trained them to come on command: I ring a cowbell and treat them inside their run. Now that they are older and are very athletic, I wanted to give them free range time daily. So, I bought them an automatic chicken door (see pic) that can be programmed to open in the morning and close at dark using a photocell. For the last few days, I have not allowed them to exit and enter the run/coop via the old entrance/gate and only use new chicken door which I am manually opening and closing when at the farm.

Last night I was staying the night at the farm and decided to leave the new chicken door open until dark to see if they would put themselves to bed in the coop. Normally, they are confined to their coop/run before dark and they put themselves to bed on the roost inside their coop before dark. This has been their routine for the last 5 months. Well, last night they did not go into their run via chicken door on their own and instead flew to the top of the coop and roosted on the edge. I tried to call them with the cowbell but they did not budge from the top of the coop. So I had no other choice but to leave them outside of their protected run/coop for the night but I did leave chicken door open hoping they would eventually go into their run. They stayed on top of their coop until the middle of the night. I know this because I have a security camera that I can monitor them. At 2:00am I heard banging against the metal barn and the guineas were no longer on top of their coop.
Sadly, this morning there were only 6 of my 10 guineas left. There was evidence of feathers in and underneath trees which I assume they flew to for protection and were killed by owl(s)?

Question: Are guineas able to be trained to but themselves to bed inside their coop before dark on their own? My neighbor has chickens and her chickens will go inside their run into their coop on their own at dusk without any coaxing. I have heard stories of farmers letting guineas free range all the time on their own but how do they keep them alive. I lost 4 on the first night and only night they stayed outside. Is it because they are too young (seven months)? Once they get more familiar with automatic chicken door will they put themselves to bed on their own before dark?

I would appreciate any and all advice from people who have experience with guineas. This is my first experience with poultry/fowl. I have taken such good care of them and have babied them for the last seven months and I am so sad to have lost four the first and only time they stayed outside.

Thank you!View attachment 1705237

Sorry about your losses.

Do not wait until dark and expect guineas to go into an unlit coop. I herd my guineas into their coop before it gets dark. I never allow them to roost outside the coop. On the rare occasion that one of my guineas tries to roost on the coop, I get a ladder and a long stick and shoo it off of the coop and then herd it into the coop.

I know you want to be able to trust your guineas to use the auto door but I think it is unlikely that you can trust them to do so. Once laying season happens, they will try to have hidden nests outside and when the hens become broody, they will sit on the hidden nests all night and become even more susceptible to predators.

The only thing that I can offer is if you cannot be there to attend to the guineas, if you free range them, you are going to lose them. This is why I have no trouble selling keets every year because someone always needs to replace their guineas.

 

[okiekeets]

Thank you Food Freedom Now and R2elk! I wish I would have consulted you before last night. I assumed since they absolutely love to roost in the coop at night and they are used to coming and going inside the run while I am there, that they would put themselves inside. I guess the automatic door was an unnecessary addition and I will continue to only free range them when I can put them up before dusk.

Another question: When can I expect to start seeing them lay eggs? I think that I now have two males and four females but unsure. Do I need to leave the eggs inside the coop/run if I want keets? I have six ground level nesting boxes with straw inside the coop. Normally, I do not let them out of their run until after 9:00a. Is this late enough in the day to ensure they do not lay outside of the run and not come back on demand. I'm just trying to ensure the success of the remainder of my flock.

 

[R2elk]

Thank you Food Freedom Now and R2elk! I wish I would have consulted you before last night. I assumed since they absolutely love to roost in the coop at night and they are used to coming and going inside the run while I am there, that they would put themselves inside. I guess the automatic door was an unnecessary addition and I will continue to only free range them when I can put them up before dusk.

Another question: When can I expect to start seeing them lay eggs? I think that I now have two males and four females but unsure. Do I need to leave the eggs inside the coop/run if I want keets? I have six ground level nesting boxes with straw inside the coop. Normally, I do not let them out of their run until after 9:00a. Is this late enough in the day to ensure they do not lay outside of the run and not come back on demand. I'm just trying to ensure the success of the remainder of my flock.

My guineas tend to start laying in mid to late April. First year layers may start a week or so earlier. You can try seeding the nest boxes with fake eggs. If you want to hatch the eggs, the best method is to use an incubator. The guinea hens tend to lay in communal nests and can lay very large clutches before they go broody. Late in the season they can go broody on fewer eggs.

When they first start laying, they will most likely drop their eggs wherever they happen to be when the urge hits them. Once they get in a routine, each individual hen will tend to lay at the same time of day but they won't all lay at the same time. I had one hen that laid her egg every day about 4 PM. Some of the ones I now have lay early in the day, some in the middle of the day and some late in the day.

If you feel the need to mess with a nest, do not let the guineas see you doing it. They do not like their nests being messed with and it does not take much to get a hen to abandon a nest.

Not all guinea hens will go broody.

During laying season, once some of the hens go broody I shoo them off of their nests with a long stick and herd them in for the night. I get some amusement from watching the hens viciously attack the end of my stick when I shoo them off of a nest.

Good luck.

 

[okiekeets]

Thanks for the info.! Pardon my many questions and ignorance. How do you know if an egg is fertilized and can be incubated? You stated "if you feel the need to mess with a nest.." Does that mean you normally do not collect the eggs even inside the coop. I have heard people say guinea eggs are good to eat and richer than chicken eggs. Just wondering what I should do with the eggs if they lay them inside the coop. I will not go hunting for eggs outside the coop/run but could I incubate some eggs collected inside the coop and eat the rest? I only have experience with eggs chicken-sitting for my neighbor.

Thanks again!

 

[Fishkeeper]

You have to crack eggs open to figure out if they're fertilized. Fertile eggs have a white 'bullseye' marking on the yolk. You crack a few eggs to check, and if most or all are fertile, probably the rest are also fertile.
Messing with a nest refers to taking eggs from under a hen who has gone broody. Broody hens are hens who are full of the hormones that trigger their nesting instincts. They will stop laying, sit on a nest, incubate the eggs, and protect their nest. If you want her to stay broody and hatch eggs, don't disturb her. If you don't want broody hens, or if none are broody, you need to collect the eggs. Any eggs left un-collected and un-incubated will rot and burst.

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for the info.! Pardon my many questions and ignorance. How do you know if an egg is fertilized and can be incubated? You stated "if you feel the need to mess with a nest.." Does that mean you normally do not collect the eggs even inside the coop. I have heard people say guinea eggs are good to eat and richer than chicken eggs. Just wondering what I should do with the eggs if they lay them inside the coop. I will not go hunting for eggs outside the coop/run but could I incubate some eggs collected inside the coop and eat the rest? I only have experience with eggs chicken-sitting for my neighbor.

Thanks again!

I collect eggs every day but I gather eggs from inside the coop when the guineas are outside the coop so they can't see what I am doing. If the eggs are in a nest that is outside the coop, I gather them in the evening after I have put the guineas in the coop. You don't want to let the guineas see you doing anything with their chosen nests. If they abandon a nest, the next nest will most likely be harder to find.

If my guineas decide to go broody on a nest in the coop, I will let them but I will not let them go broody on a nest that is outside. They are just too vulnerable to predators.

You can eat or incubate any of the eggs that you want to. The eggs are good and seem to be a big hit with small children because of their size. Two guinea eggs will equal one large chicken egg. They like turkey eggs are very good in baked goods.

Eggs left laying around outside the coop/run can attract predators of all kinds. Skunks and raccoons love eggs. I have homemade fake guinea eggs that I need to replace because of the skunks chewing on them.

You can determine whether found eggs are old or fresh by putting them in a container of water with the water level high enough to submerge the eggs. If the eggs sink straight to the bottom of the container, they are very fresh. Eggs that float are older and the higher they float in the water, the older they are.

 

[okiekeets]

Thanks for all the info. If I decided to incubate the eggs, when could I introduce the hatched keets to the flock? Weather permitting, could I introduce the keets after hatching and keep them confined to the coop or do I have to wait until they are older? Do guinea hens know whether or not the hatchlings are their own? Since I have lost part of my flock, I would like to have some more keets but would prefer to do it the most natural way possible. Will a flock adopt young keets you buy from a farm center?

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for all the info. If I decided to incubate the eggs, when could I introduce the hatched keets to the flock? Weather permitting, could I introduce the keets after hatching and keep them confined to the coop or do I have to wait until they are older? Do guinea hens know whether or not the hatchlings are their own? Since I have lost part of my flock, I would like to have some more keets but would prefer to do it the most natural way possible. Will a flock adopt young keets you buy from a farm center?

Guineas are very accepting of new members that are hatched and raised by them. They are not usually very accepting of those that aren't hatched and brooded by them.

There are exceptions and a small group is more accepting of new members.

After hatching, you will need to brood the keets yourself. You aren't going to be able to stick them under a guinea hen like people do with chicks and chickens. Once you have them raised to the point that they are fully feathered and acclimated to the ambient temperatures, have them in a see, no touch area so that the adults can get to know them. Once the fighting through the wire stops, you can let the new ones join the flock. In some cases you get lucky and the older guineas take to the young ones quickly because they are a flock bird and prefer larger groups rather than smaller groups.