When age to they start to fly?

[happyhllfarm]

Second year raising guinea fowl - Hen hatched 14 keets and they were all gathered up and put in coop with parents. l did the same last year but only keep them in coop for a few weeks before letting them out - I lost many to predators (hawks and eagles) so I would like to coop them a bit longer but let the parents out. I wondering at what age they can fly, I didn't note it last year.

 

[redsoxs]

I found this after I did a search. Just one opinion offered but here is the link to the thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/815030/what-age-do-guinea-keets-start-to-fly

 

[Waldomtnman]

The keets can start flying at around four weeks but not get really good at it until eight. You should keep new keets in pen for at least six weeks so they will learn where home is otherwise they will go wild and start roosting in nearby trees. This is when they become venerable to predators especially Owls who love snatching them off the roost.
I raise several hundred keets every year to sell and have learned to start letting them out at six weeks but make sure you heard them back in before dusk or they want to roost in trees. If they start getting into the trees throw a stick their way or my favorite is a childs BB gun, they do not like getting popped in the butt. The BB gun does not hurt them as long as you keep your distance (if they are close just get a stick) and you make sure you do not hit them in the head. Their feathers are so thick at this age the BB's wont hurt them.
Once you get them into a regular routine of going back into the pen at night they will do it automatically and all you have to do is close the door.

 

[happyhllfarm]

Okay, I am going to open top of run they are in to let out parents, of course the hen will not go far. For the first few days after born I keep them in pen with hardware cloth covering bottom half of front opening and the parents flew (jumped) in and out. Once the keets were big enough to not squeeze through poultry netting around coop/run I let them out and had to secure all of them inside. Maybe this will help with learning to go to coop too - last year they only seemed to go to coop in poor weather otherwise they roosted in nearby tree - not a problem but I would like to be able to sell a few in the spring and need to be able to gather them up. I plan on building a larger coop/run with plenty of access doors/dividers to make rearing keets easier next time.

 

[old biddy]

I am not raising keets but I do let my peafowl free range and roost in trees when it is not breeding season. However I always give them breakfast and treats inside the pen every day so they are used to going in and out. This makes it easy for me to "gather them up" whenever I need to. Perhaps that would work with keets as well.