To Guinea or not to Guinea - That is the question!

[Chicabeaka]

I have been reading through a bunch of threads and I even more confused than when I started as to whether or not I should get Guineas....... I would appreciate any advice.

I originally had a mixed bread flock of 6 pullets. 2 bantams and 4 standards. They mostly free range but we do keep them in their run/coop at night and during bad weather. Last week 5 out of the 6 went missing. We are assuming that something got ahold of them. Of course we were devastated.

My one remaining girls seemed so sad and confused so we went ahead and picked up five new chickens. One bantam and the rest are standard. They are all 2 - 4 months old and getting along fairly well.

Everyone has told me that I should get a Guinea to help protect my flock. I am seriously considering this but have concerns. Both people that I know only have 1 or two Guinea. They Guineas seem to get along well with the chickens and aren't mean. However, after reading all of the posts, most people say that you need a whole bunch of Guineas for them to be happy.

1. Can you get by with just getting one or two?
2. Is it best to get them young as you can or closer to the chickens age?
3. Do you keep them in the same run and coop or let them always free range?
4. Any thing else that I need to know before I make my decision?

Thanks!

 

[MakeshiftAcre]

I've had flocks of between two and six guineas, and I think two is too few, but three works. If you have the time to spend socializing them as they grow, younger is better so that they grow up more tame. You should keep them penned where they will live for six weeks so they know where home is, and after that can let them range during the day. They will not actually protect your flock except by raising an alarm at predators during the day. They will also raise alarms periodically for no visible reason. I would not be without guineas.

 

[R2elk]

I have been reading through a bunch of threads and I even more confused than when I started as to whether or not I should get Guineas....... I would appreciate any advice.

I originally had a mixed bread flock of 6 pullets. 2 bantams and 4 standards. They mostly free range but we do keep them in their run/coop at night and during bad weather. Last week 5 out of the 6 went missing. We are assuming that something got ahold of them. Of course we were devastated.

My one remaining girls seemed so sad and confused so we went ahead and picked up five new chickens. One bantam and the rest are standard. They are all 2 - 4 months old and getting along fairly well.

Everyone has told me that I should get a Guinea to help protect my flock. I am seriously considering this but have concerns. Both people that I know only have 1 or two Guinea. They Guineas seem to get along well with the chickens and aren't mean. However, after reading all of the posts, most people say that you need a whole bunch of Guineas for them to be happy.

1. Can you get by with just getting one or two?
2. Is it best to get them young as you can or closer to the chickens age?
3. Do you keep them in the same run and coop or let them always free range?
4. Any thing else that I need to know before I make my decision?

Thanks!

Guineas will not protect your chickens especially if you only get a couple. They may or may not serve as an alarm but all too often only the guineas know what imaginary thing set them off.

1. Yes you can get by with just getting one or two but it is not optimal. They are not chickens and do not exhibit the same traits as chickens. They are a flock bird and do best as a flock where they have each other to pick on.

2. It is best to get the guineas young. The earliest age that you start trying to tame them is the best.

3. If you don't coop them at night, you won't have them for long as there are many predators that will gladly eat them. I lost an entire flock of guineas to Big Horned Owls before I realized what was happening.

4. Guineas raised with chickens normally do fine and get along well until the next spring when breeding season happens. During breeding season those sweet guineas from the year before can turn into little holy terrors.

I have kept guineas with chickens and turkeys and I now keep them separate. It is my opinion that if you want to keep the guineas with your chickens that it might be better to get pearl gray guineas. My experience is that the pearl gray guineas are more mild mannered than some other colors. Of the guineas that I have had the coral blues are by far the most aggressive and the pearl grays were the least aggressive. My chocolate male is right up there a step lower than the coral blues. Of my current group the powder blue and the white are less aggressive than the rest.

Good luck.

 

[Chicabeaka]

Thank you all for the advice!

 

[speckledhen]

Have you ever heard guinea fowl? Everyone should listen b4 getting them. I had them but there were 4 of them (2 male, 2 female) and 11 chickens and as they approached laying age, they started beating up on the red chickens and the rooster. I had to choose between them. I loved guineas and want them again but they will absolutely not live with the chickens and I will have a larger number of them. You love them or hate them, not much in-between, LOL. Mine were very tame, but my DH tames everything.

Check out this link and there is a short clip of their noise.
http://eight-acres.blogspot.com/2013/07/free-range-guinea-fowl.html

 

[GandalfGoose]

I have a flock of 18 guineas and I was thinking of getting chickens to go with them, so I'm glad that you asked your questions! I can say from my experience that guineas are not for everyone. You really do love them or hate them. I find that they are little punks. Mine will keep the geese out of their own food. Guineas do not have any concern for anyone else on our farm but themselves. I have found that they are very territorial, which might be why it was suggested that you get them to help protect the chickens. I have personally seen mine fence fight with our nine dogs, attack a family of full grown groundhogs, and chase a deer. They are great at spotting flying predators and alert like crazy and run for cover. The problem with this is they make their alert call for a variety of reasons and sometimes none at all, I think they just like to hear themselves, so it can be hard to tell if there is a real reason to take cover or not. Also, they are loud!! and not just sometimes, but most of the time they are loud. I have also found that they are relatively uncooperative with anything that you may want them to do unless they came up with the idea first.

 

[speckledhen]

I have a flock of 18 guineas and I was thinking of getting chickens to go with them, so I'm glad that you asked your questions! I can say from my experience that guineas are not for everyone. You really do love them or hate them. I find that they are little punks. Mine will keep the geese out of their own food. Guineas do not have any concern for anyone else on our farm but themselves. I have found that they are very territorial, which might be why it was suggested that you get them to help protect the chickens. I have personally seen mine fence fight with our nine dogs, attack a family of full grown groundhogs, and chase a deer. They are great at spotting flying predators and alert like crazy and run for cover. The problem with this is they make their alert call for a variety of reasons and sometimes none at all, I think they just like to hear themselves, so it can be hard to tell if there is a real reason to take cover or not. Also, they are loud!! and not just sometimes, but most of the time they are loud. I have also found that they are relatively uncooperative with anything that you may want them to do unless they came up with the idea first.

Hahaha, ain't that the truth! I seriously love them, but they are super loud and persistent with their noise once they get started.

 

[copper2]

I have two

 

[hyelaw]

I think two would be fine, with your other birds.

But in the meantime, put a mirror in their coop and run and hopefully they won't be so sad and lonely.

 

[loribischof]

I have two pearl grey guinea living with my flock of 20 chickens and I love/hate them. I had ordered three from the feed mill at the same time that I ordered 3 silkies. I lost 2 of the silkies and 1 keat (some older birds attacked them, lesson learned) Anyway, the two remaining are oddly bonded with my silkie and the other chicks that I got a week or two later. When they go out to free range they call the other birds and wait until they all come out of the run. They pick a spot to forage and literally chorale and herd the others to the chosen spot. If a few lag behind, they round them up and guide them to the right spot. One time the silkie got locked in the run and they were on the outside. The male WOULD NOT leave her. He paced out side that run frantically trying to get to her for over 15 minutes until I figured out what was wrong. Likewise my silkie was trying to get to him! This is why I love them.

Why I hate them? They are so FREAKING loud! A rooster crow is nothing compared to the constant alarm calls! Also, I got an EE rooster, so that I can raise my own chicks and they are harassing him. I have a feeling that it will only get worse next spring.

All in all, I do not believe that I would get them again. A good rooster should help care for his flock the way the guineas do, and I am more interested in chicken egg production and breeding.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Lori