What age to butcher?

Chickhick · Oct 11, 2012

I got 35 beautiful little guinea keets this morning. (I ordered 30, got 5 extras, and all made through the mail perfectly healthy!)
What age should they be for butchering? (I have mostly the regular size, but several Jumbos.)

Thanks!

PeepsCA · Oct 11, 2012

Speaking from experience with processing my own birds... if you are planning on feeding them a high protein starter feed and then a high protein grower feed until processing so they grow quickly (like they should) then they should be ready at around 14 wks. Some of them may be ready at 12 wks, some may be ready at 16 wks tho, depends on the individual bird and how hearty it is, where it is in the pecking order and how well it eats. I don't know about Jumbos, but with regular Helmeted Guinea Fowl there's typically not much growth/meat weight gain after the 14th wk (at least not enough to justify another bag of feed in hopes of them gaining another 1/2 lb or so). There's really not much meat on regular Guineas, and they are lean by nature, so my advice is to feel their breast prior to processing them... start with the heavier/meatier birds first, and give the others another week or 2 longer to grow a little more if they need it.

Chickhick · Oct 11, 2012

Thanks! Exactly the info I needed! My daughters are going to be here for Christmas break before heading 1000 miles away for college, and one of them REALLY wants to eat some Guineas. Happy to hear that I should have some ready for butchering in early January.

What age to butcher?

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