Guinea coop different than a chicken coop?

[Turkeyrun]

Hi,

We are thinking of 10 or 12 guineas. We will provide a coop for night and cold weather protection. They will share a 24 x24 run with 15 pullets. The guineas will be free range during the day so will not have too much time in the run unless we are away.

Question
Our current coop 4 x 8 is not large enough to accommodate the guineas so we will need to start fresh for them. Do guineas need nest boxes like chickens? I know they will need roosts. What do we need to provide in a guinea coop?


We recently lost our flock to raccoons so we are starting again, the keets and chicks will be brooded together.

I am really looking forward to the arrival of all those little fluff balls!

 

[ChickenCop]

Guinea are funny, at least mine are. They want to lay eggs in woods, under bushes, every where but the nest boxes. Plus if you have trees around you wont have to worry about them roosting in the chicken house. I appreciate what they do about eating the ticks and bugs but I would think about long term if your planning breeding them in the future you might want to coop them up in a covered run and not run the yard...my 2 cents. Good Luck!

 

[robin416]

Put their roost where the roost is highest. They prefer to roost as high as possible.

Guineas will lay in the coop but they have to be trained to do it. I use plywood leaned up against the side of the walls with straw for bedding. In the run I also have plywood and some thick areas of vegetation. That way if one wants to lay outside in the run she can.

 

[rosawoodsii]

My (limited) experience--once you let them out, they don't want to come back in. I now have a pair in a covered coop and the hen is laying inside. No nest boxes, as they like to lay on the ground. I put a board against the wall to afford her some privacy, but she's now laying under a water bucket that was left hanging in there. I guess she likes that better. She thinks she's hidden, but I get to see what she's laying every day.

 

[birdicus7]

It's been several years since I raised guineas but my experience was like these other posters...once out they don't like to come back in. Eggs are found in every hiding place imaginable. Although I did have one hen who went broody on 30 eggs and hatched 26! My little coop was over run in no time. All other things aside they make great watch dogs!
They like very high roosts....like tree tops! If you plan on keeping them inside all the time I'd suggest giving as much space as possible-exceed the recommended 4 sq ft per bird for chickens. I had no luck getting them to use nest boxes for laying mine used any corner they found...Good luck!

 

[TiaView]

I was wondering if my guinea hens could winter over with my chickens. They seem to get along, but everyone is still pretty young, under a year. Do GH need the same shelter that chickens need in the cold?

 

[robin416]

I have very little trouble getting my flock in. The incentive is knowing they will receive millet when they arrive.

Guineas should have the same housing as chickens to protect them from the elements and predators.

 

[racuda]

All 30 of mine roost in the coops at night, with the exception of 2 hard heads. They were all raised by chicken mothers, and I think that helps.

 

[chseeads]

I just have 4 adult guineas, but they roost in the coop with the chickens and turkeys all the time.

If you clip their wings so they can't fly up on everything that might keep them toned down to where they will stick with the coop rather than roosting elsewhere also....

One of my hens typically lays in the chicken nests all the time and one of them has a few different spots right along the edge of their pasture fence that she lays in (though both have also laid in another outdoor spot in the past as well.)

 

[Akane]

We're keeping all wings clipped this time around. Otherwise it's just too tempting for the guineas to roost in trees. The entire year went roost in trees, get one eaten by an owl, roost in the coop for about a week, roost in trees, get eaten by the owl, roost in the coop for about a week, and so on until we had no guineas. We are left with a great horned owl who stares at the coop every evening looking for more guineas. The last guinea to survive had one wing clipped. I have 18 keets in with my bantam chickens and they are all getting clipped so they will stay in the 4' high fenced pen for as long as possible before they can escape. Then they are still going to be clipped regularly so they will be more likely to return to the coop instead of flying up on building roofs and in to trees. The breeder I got my first guineas from kept some in a large pen in the barn for egg collection and a few others in a small shed and attached run so the free rangers would hear them and stay nearby. The second batch I got from the big guinea hatchery here in Iowa who keep all their birds in enclosed runs with both wire roofs and floors.