How to Coop Train Guinea Fowl

Did you even know you needed to coop train guinea fowl? Guineas are wild birds, with minds of their own. They take a long time to feel like a place is home, and like to roam. This makes keeping them around a bit of a challenge if you don’t take the right steps to ensure they know where home is.

Here are the exact methods we have used in successfully training our guineas to return to our coop each and every night.

It’s Much Easier to Coop Train Keets

Starting off with guinea keets is one of the best ways to ensure they stick around. Adult birds have just been moved from their previous home and will have no attachment to their new digs. It takes a long time for them to feel at home in a new place. Plan to keep them cooped up for 6 weeks to acclimate themselves to their new surroundings.

When you start with keets they don’t know anything different than your farm or homestead. They have an easier time making themselves at home. Not to mention that they should spend the first few weeks of life in a brooder box anyway. They need to stay under a heat lamp until they are fully feathered. And once they do have access to the whole coop and the great outdoors, they are too small to fly. This naturally keeps them close to home. By the time they are able to spread those wings, they have already formed their attachment to the area.

Raise Guinea Fowl with Chickens

If you plan to keep your guinea fowl with your flock of chickens, it’s a good idea to raise them together. Keep your brooder box in the coop with them if you can. This will greatly help them get used to the space and the sounds of your flock.

Better yet, get a few baby chicks to add to their tank. Growing up together helps them to develop sort of a bond. Not only will they sound the alarm and look out for your chickens, but they also tend to stick close to the flock and sleep with them in the coop.

I’ve heard of some aggression between guineas and chickens, but by raising them together I have never witnessed it firsthand.

Keep Guineas in for 6 Weeks to Coop Train

As stated before, when starting with adult birds it’s best to keep them cooped up for 6 weeks before allowing them to roam free. This helps them to get used to where home is.

When starting with keets, keep their brooder box inside the coop whenever possible. We usually start ours in a galvanized stock tank for a week or two (because it stays a bit warmer) before moving them to a brooder we have built inside the coop. There they are protected from being pecked by the adult chickens, while still being close to them.

Let Your Guineas Out One at a Time

This is probably my favorite and most unique trick! Guineas are a flocking bird, and monogamous to semi-monogamous. Why is this relevant? They develop strong bonds with their flock-mates and don’t want to be alone.

Once fully feathered, you can start to let your guinea keets into the coop. We started by letting one guinea out of the brooder into the large section of the coop. He could still be close to his flock and see and hear them. We let him decide when he was ready to go outside. By day two he ventured out a bit. He didn’t go too far as he wanted to stay close to his family.

Day three, I let one more guinea into the coop. The two of them stayed close to each other as they ventured out to forage. When night fell, they came back inside and slept snuggled with some chicken pullets near the brooder box.

We started with 14 guinea keets, so on day four I let 2 more into the coop to speed it up a bit. As they continued to return each night, I continued to let a few more out of the brooder every morning until all the guineas had joined the coop.

By using these methods, I feel very confident that our guineas know exactly where home is. I’m excited to have them continue to grow and become an integrated part of our homestead.

Not sure if you want guinea fowl or not?? Read my post: 9 Reasons You Need Guinea Fowl