[greengumbo]

Our keets are now about 3 weeks old. They are very skittish !

We move them out of the brooder onto a big cage on the lawn during sunny days but I was wondering advice to get them to hang around once we let them out for real. Have heard stories of them just disappearing and never coming back.

Any advice or pointers appreciated.

[adamhfc]

Never found them to be taken they will ether keep there distance or vanish sorry to say

[Dave C]

Keep the roof on or they will be off.

They will hang around a food source but will be very aloof and stand off ish.

[Blondie]

Once worked at a dairy farm that had had guinea fowl many many years before. Off they went and became wild BUT self populated and didn't stray too far (okay we are taking several acres) so there was always a flock of guineas somewhere on the farm.

[Marches Farmer]

We kept our keets in an old pig sty with wire mesh door for three months - quite roomy with about 2 square metres per keet.  We trained them to come to call for grain, just as we do with the hens and turkeys.  Then we let the males out just before dusk for a couple of evenings and they were running up and down outside the door, wanting to get back to roost with the females.  After that we let them all out in the morning and they always went back to roost in the evening and rarely went more than 100 metres from their pen.  Only thing I would do differently if I kept them again is to keep only one male - they fought fiercely all through the breeding season and endd up looking like ragged feather dusters.

[Charlie1234]

Bred my first Guinea fowl last year, made an enclosed run for them until they got big enough to free range,the night before I opened the run to let them out I clipped their wings as you do with chickens (just one side) they were never as calm as chickens but never went far away and always went in their shed to roost at night.

And they tasted delicious 

[greengumbo]

Excellent. How old were yours when you decided to free range them ? We have 8 but no idea of the sexes yet !

[bj_cardiff]

I have 2. I hatched them with some hen eggs as 'somthing different'.

Mine were in a brooder with the chickens, then an enclosed run with them until they were old enough to go out without worry of preditors. Once I let them all out they followed the adult chickens around and roosted with them.

They free range together during the day over a couple of acres and the male gets quite upset if he looses his female. They can fly suprisingly well and unlike the chickens usually need to be 'put to bed'. The female uses the nesting boxes like the hens. I was suprised after what I'd read about them at how easy they were.

[Charlie1234]

Excellent. How old were yours when you decided to free range them ? We have 8 but no idea of the sexes yet !

Just looked through my old diary and they were 6 weeks when we let them out into the paddock + they were processed at 15 weeks and weighed 1.4 - 1.7 kg

[Marches Farmer]

Our guinea fowl were raised with only their own kind and eggs were laid wherever the females happened to be at the time.  The chicken training is a good idea.

[greengumbo]

They are actually in the brooder at night with a few similar aged turkeys at the moment.

I intend on moving the keets outside next week with a small run then they can freerange after another few !

The turkeys I'll keep in a bit longer.

[greengumbo]

Update !

The keets have been allowed to freerange now after a while in a large caged area. They are returning to the reconditioned IBC in the evening so it seems like they are happy ! Great to see them on the perches all lined up.

Still waiting to sex them as no noises as yet.

[Marches Farmer]

You may notice a slightly larger helmet and wattles on the males quite early on.  The females will start to call "Wee-chuck" around the same time.