Do guineas NEED a coop?

[wordgirl]

Maybe this is a really silly question, but I was wondering if guineas need a coop in MN. Can they just live like the wild pheasants do around us? Would they be okay if we just provided them with food and water (no shelter – there are TONS of trees around)? They're from Africa, so I was wondering if maybe it would be too cold for them.

Any help would be great!

 

[houndit]

In Missouri they do not have to have a coop. They do fine in the trees. In the winter they like coming in. I try and make mine come in all the time because otherwise it is really hard to catch them when I want to sell some.

 

[nissa_loves_cats]

I've heard that if you let them roost in trees you will lose some to predators. I live in upper Michigan. Over the last winter my guineas were in a chain-link pen that had a calf hutch for a shelter. The guineas flew out of the six-foot tall chain link pen during the day and flew back at night, but two were lost in a blizzard. I found one dead in a melting snow pile.

I'd say what you decide to do would depend on whether you have many predators in your area, and what kind of predators they are. By all accounts guineas can do without coops in a low-predator area. If you are planning on hatching out eggs, predators often get hens that have made a nest somewhere.

 

[rooster0209]

I think they need some type of shelter in areas where the winters get cold. I have a 4' fence around my run, the guineas fly in/out. I do lock them up during the coldest months. I don't think either the chickens or guineas need to be out when its below zero.

 

[pacetruckguy]

I had 3 guineas that just showed up a couple years ago. They would just roost in the trees at night. The problem was what they left under where ever they decided to roost. It can be pretty messy. The predator thing is true. First there were three, then two, then gone. It took a while, but I think the cyotes got them.

 

[wordgirl]

How big of a coop would you suggest? Would they spend the whole winter in them, or will they come out on the snow?

 

[Akane]

They handle cold fine but eventually they will get eaten. The great horned owl is staked outside my coop now every evening just waiting for those guineas to roost outside. They are also more likely to wander off and never return. They may decide the trees a quarter mile away are better... then another quarter mile.... then another quarter mile.... Any of my guineas who decided to switch to roosting in the trees on the other side of the field instead of near the coop never returned. The only ones I have still alive are the ones that for the most part decided to sleep in the coop every night. Every now and then the male pearl decides to stay out but I'm not sure where. He's not on the ground or a coon would find him and he's not in the trees in the yard or the owl would eat him. I'm guess he's stuck back in the short trees surrounded by brush so he's just high enough from ground predators and protected from the owl by the bushes.