posted 8 years ago
I'll further elaborate on our method, in light of other folks' negative outcomes.
Last year we started a batch of 100 keets. We brooded them for about 4 weeks, then moved the 93 survivors into a coop in the back of our barn. They were kept confined to this coop for 7 to 10 days or so, to re-home them. After this period, we would let them out in the morning, let them roam all day, and shut them up come nightfall. We encouraged them to return by feeding them in the evening, and only in the evening. They wouldn't all always go back into the coop, but they did all return to the back of the barn; all that was left for us was to usher them in.
After about a week of free-ranging we were down to 85 guineas. I suspect most of the losses were to predation (I know at least one was NOT eaten), though it's hard to say for sure. Ten weeks later, when it was time for processing, we still had 85 guineas.
I would consider this a success. Here's why I think it worked.
One, the guineas were all the same age, which I imagine means they operate as a group much more readily. The hierarchy was presumably less pronounced than it would have been if there were mixed ages, making group dynamics operate more smoothly.
Two, this was a relatively large group. As a flock of guineas acts more as a unit than as a collection of individuals, this was in essence a relatively large organism. I suspect this makes predation less likely. (Think of this as trying to take down a cow versus trying to take down a lamb.) Added to that is the simple mathematical fact that more guineas means more eyes means more chance of spotting potential dangers.
Three, the coop in which they were housed has a high ceiling (10' or more, I'd guess), meaning they could roost high off the ground as is their wont. Thus, less desire to roost in trees, etc.--though I did have to shoot one off the barn roof in their last week, when he refused to come down; better for him to be food in my belly than food in an owl's belly.