mine (pekin) do okay outside foraging. sometimes i look out and can't quite see them, but it always turns out they are up against the house. i still provide duck mash but let them have crickets and other bugs since the beginning. i have never had a problem of them not coming home. my place is pretty small, though, 1/4 acre. they walk around the hens, goats and so forth. even the cat and dogs dont' bother them. i think most animals come home at night to sleep to where ever it is there fed during the day. my hens sleep in the tree at night (which scared the bejeesus out of me at first that they would just fly away) but always fly down in the morning for breakfast.

i was thinking the way i stopped watching my pekins as much was less by exact age and by how their feathers were more developed and they seemed like they could give the dog or whatever a good peck on the nose if disturbed.

I have 4 pekins that I have as pets in my fenced in backyard and they always seemed happy and like they wouldnt leave if given the oppurtunity. The other day one of my siblings left the back gate open for a while and none of them left. I dont think they are going to leave the place where they get their food and shelter. They love foraging, but they also need the mash or pellet food. The ducks love eating mud, grass, and anything green.

How are those Khaki Campbells doing? We have some chickens, and are thinking adding some guineas and a couple of Khaki Campbells to our menagerie this spring.