our guinea disappears at night??? :(

[Naturegirl44]

He has just chased her back to the coop and run again. There were 16 eggs on the nest and as i speak with joe right now on the phone, he see's her getting ready to fly the coop and go back to the nest. lol He will keep chasing her back as its not more than 50 ft from the run and coop. But she is not a very happy hen at the moment. lol

stupid chicken lol though she is not a chicken, we say that to all of them!! stupid chickens....of course with love in our voices how long can we expect that joe will have to keep chasing her back? will her broodiness last for weeks? and can we hope that she gets over it in a day or two.?

 

[JLeigh]

Can't you lock her up? .

 

[Naturegirl44]

well we have one coop with 2 runs...the big run she was chased into has no roof and is easy for her to get out of. Joe is watching and when she looks to fly, joe is standing in front of it. He is waiting for her to go through the coop to the other run that is 8x8 and 2ft high, fulling secured. But we have no separate place for her to be locked up in and since this has all happened today, our other hens are all free ranging at the moment so we are hoping when they all go to bed, we can get her in there and then keep her locked up in the little run for the next while lol

DOH!! joe says she fly out. He went to herd her back to the run and she FLEW 15 feet up a tree!! That is the first time we have ever seen her do that!! OMG I missing all the fun!! All her life she spent in a stinking smelly small coop and tiny run where she couldn't fly, then we rescued her in May and she had a summer to be just a normal guinea hen...and as of a few days ago we are learning what that entails!!!

 

[Naturegirl44]

she is down and drinking and eating with the other hens right now....just waiting for her to find her way into the small run where she can be secured lol wow what an experience and i am so sad i have work down south and miss all this.

 

[Mickey Lou 04]

Another questions......can a rooster fertilize a Guinea hen's eggs?

I have heard of guinea chicken crosses. depending on genetics some have bad immune systems and others are just fine. Although rare if you've seen the rooster try to fertilize her they could be fertile. I don't know much else besides that. I believe feahersite.com has some info on guinea hybrids some where.

 

[Naturegirl44]

I have heard of guinea chicken crosses. depending on genetics some have bad immune systems and others are just fine. Although rare if you've seen the rooster try to fertilize her they could be fertile. I don't know much else besides that. I believe feahersite.com has some info on guinea hybrids some where.

Thanks Mickey i will check out feathersite.com We have seen the rooster raping her lol

 

[Naturegirl44]

End of the night update. Joe was able to corral her back into the coop with the flock tonight!! He found 16 eggs on the nest lol He has collected them all and scattered the nest so hopefully she will be back to normal in tomorrow or within a few days!! But now we know what guinea hens who free range do and we can pay attention!!

 

[JLeigh]

I've glanced over your posts again Naturegirl, and I can tell you've caught the bug for chickens and guineas. Welcome to the insanity! Your pen/coop setup is just fine for chickens, but as you already know, it won't keep Miss Guinea in, LOL. Guineas are strong flyers and if spooked, they'll go over in a second. The problem is, they have no idea how to get back IN. LOL. They aren't the smartest fowl in the yard, but what they lack in I.Q., they make up for in quirky, entertaining behavior (if you like guineas). . Plus, they naturally roost in trees unless taught otherwise. So you need to teach her "otherwise".

Guineas need about six weeks penned up to program them to know where "home" is. I'm not sure, but it sounds like she knows your place is home, but she doesn't know to come back to it every night. Lock her up for about 3 or 4 weeks (or more - - six is the recommended minimum, but sometimes less time will work).

Since you're "hooked" (we all understand) you might want to consider covering your large pen area since it won't be long before you want more guineas.

. How tall is your large fenced area?
You can rig up anything - large tarps sort of "tented" over the fence, like a circus tent sort of. Or you can run chicken wire underneath tarps to keep rain off and provide some shade. You don't have to cover the entire pen, just part of it. Then close that covered part in so you can rest easy, and she'll be safe at night from nocturnal predators.

Then start the coop training. Keep her penned for some weeks and every night at dusk, go out and give her a treat (white millet = cheap, mealworms = expensive, etc.) and say the same thing every time you give her a treat. You can use bells or whistles if you want; it doesn't matter. She'll learn to come running when she hears the signal. Also, she'll learn that the pen/coop is where she roosts every night. That's really what you're trying to teach her.

Consider getting more guineas. Guineas are flock oriented in the extreme and while chickens help, nothing takes the place of their own kind. People recommend a different number, but if you have room for 10, consider it. Miss Guinea will be a lot happier, and you'll get lots of breakfast eggs - not to mention a lot of fertile eggs to hatch. But beware, guineas can become a big part of your every day by choice. Like chickens, they can be addicting. You can let them out during the day and then pen them at night. You can spend a lot of money on a coop and run, or you can do it inexpensively if you don't mind less-than-beautiful housing. The guineas won't care one bit, but if you can afford it make it beautiful

. I add a little to my pens and coops every spring.

Guineas are very weather tolerant, but they need to be able to get out of the wind and rain, especially in a cold northern climate like Ontario. Building a large, insulated coop will be a good idea for all your fowl. THEN, you can consider TWO coops - one for guineas, one for chickens.

Oh and it goes on from there LOL.

 

[Naturegirl44]

Quote:
Yes Joe and i have definitely caught the bug for guinea's and chickens In a BIG way. lol We never thought we this would happen when we decided to rescue this flock from a mean old man down the road. We had intended to keep them the summer and then cull as many we could before we went on our one month holiday in September but no way is that going to happen now!! we have fallen in love with them. Its interesting how Miss Guinea has scared the heck out of us these last few days but last night after getting her back into the coop we talked about getting more down the road lol It won't be for a few years though as we will definitely need a seperate coop for them and we are still trying to build and the chicken coop to way we and the chickens are happy with it. She has grown up herwhole life living in the 'otherwise' way at the old mans house. All 10 hens and 2 roosters were trapped in this tiny coop with an itty bitty run only 2 ft high. She has never really spread her wings so to speak. She is 4-5 years old now and since we got them in May she has shown that she is part of the flock and generally stays with them most of the day. Once and a awhile she will wonder off on her own But she always stay close. When she disappeared a few nights ago we were devastated!! Then she suddenly returned and after reading and watching her we figured she had a nest somewhere....must be her first ever in her life. And last night was the first time she has ever flown up into a tree!!!! so i think her guinea instincts are coming back lol As for putting a cover over the big run, it would be a bit hard because it is completely under shade and tree's. We used the trunks of the tree's to attach the hardware cloth to. Once its complete the walls will be about 6-7 ft high. It will have to do until we can build a whole seperate coop for more guinea's. Since she is so trained to stay around and be in the flock we are hoping this will stick with her now that she has some freedom. I have started using a bell when calling the flock back to the coop for a treat. Hopefully that becomes the norm soon. Thanks so much for all the insights into guinea's. We will most definitley be getting more one day.

 

[JLeigh]

I hate to burst your bubble,

but she'll keep coming back to the pen at night - until she doesn't. Guineas like routine for sure, but they're notorious for suddenly getting a different idea and acting on it. Also, she'll be MUCH MUCH happier if you get her a guinea companion. Even just one will make a difference to her. A male would be nice for her. You can eat the eggs or use them for cooking until you want to hatch. I forget - are you putting her in the coop at night? Lots of people let their guineas free-range during the day and then coop them at night, skipping the pen construction. That'll work!

But it's great to hear that she's getting to be a guinea after so many years of being restrained. Congratulations on that. She's a lucky bird - so are the chickens!