[HappyHippy]

Help !
I took on 4 guinea fowl for a friend who was moving (they're gorgeous and I love 'em  ) and after a week of being kept in - in a huge enclosure in our pig shed - we let them out to free range along with the chickens 
My next door neighbour has complained that they are going on to his land (same neighbour who threated our 9 year old daughter with his car  just to give you his measure  ) and told us to keep them off..... or else ! (or else he's going to phone someone apparently  )

We like to keep all our animals in a high welfare system, mimicking their natural environments as closely as possible and while the chickens happilly scratch about in the fields and come back in to roost in their part of the shed (where we can drop the pop hole to contain them) the guinea fowl seem to be much more independant, they patrol the whole area and they haven't come back in to the shed - not even for feed 

Obviously I don't want upset him further, but am struggling to figure out 1) How to catch them and 2) Whether it's fair to keep them permanently penned ? 
Does anyone keep guinea fowl ? Do you keep them penned ?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated 
Thanks folks 

[Clarebelle]

From what I've read they do seem to behave a bit differently to chickens in that they like to roost in trees rather than in a shed etc. And I believe they do forage a lot more of their diet than chickens, hence the greater ranging?

I'm not really sure how you could contain them, is it a fence they are flying over to get into your neighbours? Maybe you could try wing clipping?

[bloomer]

tough call


good news is he's moving soon remember!!!


i think you need to establish a breeding colony of guinea fowl in the woods above the house they'd be great!!!


as for catching them, good luck 

[HappyHippy]

I'm not really sure how you could contain them, is it a fence they are flying over to get into your neighbours? Maybe you could try wing clipping?

I'd consider wing clipping Clarebelle (although they hop through gates and wander down the road as well !) but I'd have to catch them first - that's half the problem  Think I might need to look out the BIG landing net and go fishing for them 

good news is he's moving soon remember!!!

I know, but I'm seriously worried about what he might do before he moves - my pigs' field borders his land and I've got pregnant mama's and babies down there  so I want to aviod further upset/aggro if at all possible. 

[bloomer]

Seriously ihave a 30 inch net and a 3m pole if required

[HappyHippy]

 
I got them in 
Wasn't the easiest job  but I think they might have been quite hungry after their free ranging antics  so it wasn't as bad as I'd expected.

I'm looking for advice now about penning them - 4 female guinea fowl, what would you suggest ?

[sokel]

We  had Guinea Fowl and they where a living nightmare ! They freeranged accross acres and acres of fields and even crossed the river into the woods. Finding eggs became a battle standing in fields for hours at a time watching for a GF to move 
They hardly ever came in during the summer months and when they started shouting you could hear them a good mile away
3 years and we came to the end of our tethers and rehomed them.

[Pipsa]

I have Guinea Fowl and I have to admit I keep them penned. I prefer having them in safety - otherwise the
foxes would catch them.

[chrismahon]

I have been considering Guinea Fowl. So far I have been told the eggs are not very good anyway and they must free range and go about 70 yards in all directions from their coop. If  they are older than 4 weeks when you get them their home cannot be imprinted on them and they could go anywhere. They shed feathers as a defence action so must not be handled. Clipping their wings can kill them. Can't verify any of this from experience, but over here they are bred as meat birds and are a seasonal thing -Pintarde.

[Cluckinggoodpoultry]

I have guinea fowl, they choose where they want to roost, usually on top of the pens or in trees (never lost one to a fox and they make good guards), but quite frequently they are in them, I have big enclosures to seperate my breeding stock with coops in, a couple of these are used to lock in the free rangers on a night they have netting roofs and stand alone perches as well which the guineas seem to love, think the only way you would be able to do it without upsetting your neighbour would be to pen them in a large enclosure, you could even do it with heras fencing with a netting top, I use the pheasant netting that the gamekeepers use.


Their eggs are fabulous for baking if you aren't hatching them.


Love them and wouldn't be without them they are such characters

[HappyHippy]

Thanks for all your feedback folks 

I have been considering Guinea Fowl. So far I have been told the eggs are not very good anyway and they must free range and go about 70 yards in all directions from their coop. If  they are older than 4 weeks when you get them their home cannot be imprinted on them and they could go anywhere. They shed feathers as a defence action so must not be handled. Clipping their wings can kill them. Can't verify any of this from experience, but over here they are bred as meat birds and are a seasonal thing -Pintarde.

The eggs are good Chris (but you'd need to keep them penned to be in with a chance of finding them  )
They go way more than 70 yards from their coop  but after keeping them in for a week they do seem to know where 'home' is, or at least the food supply 
Didn't know about the feather shedding (and I'm not sure how true that is either  ) our kids have been in the pen with them, caught them, cuddled them and have handled them a bit - they don't seem to have lost any 

Oooh, it's a tough one  I like having them (nay, LOVE having them - they're just so different) but I don't want to upset the neighbour & cause myself unneccesary aggro BUT I don't think it's fair on them to keep them penned up all the time