Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[tjogowin]

If I place nest boxes in my Guiane's house, will they nest inside where it's safe. They will be free to roam during the day,and if I do it right they will return to there coop at night.

 

[guineapeeps]

If I place nest boxes in my Guiane's house, will they nest inside where it's safe. They will be free to roam during the day,and if I do it right they will return to there coop at night.

I found that my guineas didn't really like traditional nesting boxes. Most of my hens ended up laying in communal nests in wheelbarrows filled with straw inside the coop. I stumbled on this solution by accident when I left a wheelbarrow in the coop for a few days during nesting season and they started laying eggs in it. Every year I still had a few young hens that would try and lay outside the coop in a remote hidden area but I was usually able to find and move the nest. There were a few times where I couldn't find the nest and the hens got picked off by a predator before I could find them. I would suggest making several different secluded nesting areas in your coop to encourage them to lay inside and keep a careful watch for signs of where they may be laying outside, as they are easy prey for predators outside on a nest at night.

 

[Diannastarr]

my guineas as chicks had there own coop in a giant pen, but they didn't seem to like that much, they never seemed to like being inside at all & always loved sleeping hi up & living wild in their giant tree home. i would love it if they did come in at night but maybe the next ones will..?

 

[tjogowin]

Thank you, I think I will try the wheelbarrow idea and perhaps try to figure out some creative safe ground nests like you advised. I have 20 hens and 1 Roo, they are easy. I'm new to guineas, this is my first flock of 17. I want them to be safe. I have not introduced the 2 flocks. Not sure how to do that. My guineas have never been out of their coop but my chicken free range all day. Any ideas on introducing them?

 

[guineapeeps]

my guineas as chicks had there own coop in a giant pen, but they didn't seem to like that much, they never seemed to like being inside at all & always loved sleeping hi up & living wild in their giant tree home. i would love it if they did come in at night but maybe the next ones will..?

They definitely like roosting up high at night...the higher the better, so it's not surprising that they choose to roost in the trees. It took quite a bit of time to get ours to come in to the coop at night. I kept them penned up for about 4 weeks then made sure that their roosting bars were as high as I could get them in our coop, which was about 7 feet...not as good as the trees outside, but they seemed to like it ok. I also trained (bribed) them to come when called with white millet. (I would call them and shake the millet bag, which they associated with a treat).This way, I could get them inside for any reason if I needed to and made getting them into the coop at night easier as well.

 

[guineapeeps]

Thank you, I think I will try the wheelbarrow idea and perhaps try to figure out some creative safe ground nests like you advised. I have 20 hens and 1 Roo, they are easy. I'm new to guineas, this is my first flock of 17. I want them to be safe. I have not introduced the 2 flocks. Not sure how to do that. My guineas have never been out of their coop but my chicken free range all day. Any ideas on introducing them?

Do you have 2 flocks of guineas or are you wanting to introduce a flock of guineas with a flock of chickens? Also, how long have your guineas been penned up for and how old are they?

 

[Diannastarr]

They definitely like roosting up high at night...the higher the better, so it's not surprising that they choose to roost in the trees. It took quite a bit of time to get ours to come in to the coop at night. I kept them penned up for about 4 weeks then made sure that their roosting bars were as high as I could get them in our coop, which was about 7 feet...not as good as the trees outside, but they seemed to like it ok. I also trained (bribed) them to come when called with white millet. (I would call them and shake the millet bag, which they associated with a treat).This way, I could get them inside for any reason if I needed to and made getting them into the coop at night easier as well.

 

[tjogowin]

Do you have 2 flocks of guineas or are you wanting to introduce a flock of guineas with a flock of chickens? Also, how long have your guineas been penned up for and how old are they?

Yes, I'd like to introduce my chickens to my guineas. My hens are 20 weeks and my genies are only 10 weeks.

 

[tjogowin]

Yes, I'd like to introduce my chickens to my guineas. My hens are 20 weeks and my guenies are only 10 weeks. My guenies have only been in the Permanente home for about 3 weeks.

 

[Diannastarr]

sounds like a great plan i should try that , but one thing about having my guineas up in the tree over my porch & front door , they are a great alarm system , they yell at strangers who come to our front gates and usually that's how i know i have visitors HA, so its a good feeling some one is paying attention at night since i dont have a watch dog & im here alone living on the Mexican border, so my guineas are my eyes in the sky seeing every thing going on down under their tree