Question about guinea hen and her baby

[gottsegnet]

We had a guinea hen show up after I thought she was long gone. We had a run of attacks and I thought I lost four guineas, however one showed up three weeks later and a week after that this one showed up wtih a baby behind her.

She seems to be doing a good job. It's been wet and nighttime temperatures have been in the forties, but she comes out of the field every morning with her baby for food and to visit with the rest of the flock, but she runs off as soon as I open the coop. When will she rejoin the flock and start going in at night? Or is there something I should do to encourage her to come in? Food only works to draw her out of the field when there aren't any other birds around, but she doesn't hang around long even then.

 

[PeepsCA]

I would try catching the keet (the Momma may attack you, so be on guard and be ready to dodge a charging Hen) and put the keet in a box or cage inside the coop, then close the door when the crying keet lures her in. You will need to keep her and her baby confined for a while (maybe even for a couple weeks), or she'll just run off to the field again. And after a couple weeks you may want to cage the keet and let the Momma come and go for the day... and see if she returns to the coop when the flock comes in (she may not leave without the keet tho). If that plan works, keep doing that for a while to get her back in the routine of going in/cooping up each night. Otherwise she may not rejoin the flock until her baby is older and can fend for itself, or even next breeding season... if they both live that long.

 

[gottsegnet]

Oh wonderful. Not sure I can get that close, but I'll try. Thanks for the ideas! Too bad these little buggers are so fast! I felt better when she moved to the garden. At least that is in a fence and patrolled on the outside by the dogs, but she moved out again.

I've never been able to get closer than 100 yards since she showed up with the baby, though. I was really hoping food would draw her closer, but it hasn't really. She'll come in for it if I leave it, but not while I'm there.

 

[PeepsCA]

Good luck, if you want the keet to survive IMO then catching it is the best plan... it's not exactly safe for you (and hopefully you have a helper) but the keet more than likely will not make it unless it's confined to the coop with Momma, or raised in a brooder set up.

 

[gottsegnet]

Well, I barely had time to try to think how I would go about catching her and finally decided on baiting her into a bit of a trap I could close off so that hopefully the keet couldn't get out while we chased it around.

I hadn't actually figured out what to use, though, and guess what! She went into the henhouse with the others last night. And in and out of the henhouse several times today. I am so relieved!