do i have all of the right information on guineafowl

[shanezoobuild]

Guinea fowl
I’m designing a community farm and I was wondering if you could do both or one of the following for me and either answer a few questions I have and or read over my care sheet and tell me if there’s any wrong information or things you would do differently.

Questions
When is too old to breed
Male to female hatch rate
Hours to assist
Brooder height
Website or book that lists treatment and diseases
Write up


Guinea fowl

Special care

Temperament
Temperamental. Aggressive during breeding season
Disease symptoms

Cost
Egg cost 3.50
Chick cost 3.60
Chick to grower feed amount 670g
Grower to butcher feed amount 4090g
Maintenance feed amount 635g
Enclosure

Size
4 sf
Height
3f
Fence type
Chicken wire
Shelter
Barn with opening
Equipment
Food,water,grit and calcium dish
Terrain
Grass and wire
Diet

Feed type
Game bird or chicken maintainer 18%
Amount
Constant
Minerals/other
Grit
Breeding

Sexing
Vent check. Males will make a sound that sounds like there saying buck wheat buckwheat.
Ratio
1-6. (males can breed with chickens but there is a low fertility )
Age
8 months
Season
Spring
Diet
Maintainer feed 18% and added calcium dish
Eggs

Clutch size and numbers per year
12-15. 7 clutches
Collecting time
Morning
Hatch time
28
Incubation temp
100
Humidity
60-55%
Candling
6 days
Stop turning
25
Lock down
75
When to assist

Move to brooder
Dry
Brooder
Size
1.5 sf
Height

Temperature decreasing
6 weeks
Feed type length
Turkey chick starter 6 weeks
Water dishes
No marbles
Special nutrients
Grit
Grow out pen

Size
4 sf
Feed type length
Turkey chick starter until 6 weeks then grower.
Butcher

Butcher age
14 ​

 

[R2elk]

Guinea fowl
I’m designing a community farm and I was wondering if you could do both or one of the following for me and either answer a few questions I have and or read over my care sheet and tell me if there’s any wrong information or things you would do differently.

Questions
When is too old to breed
Male to female hatch rate
Hours to assist
Brooder height
Website or book that lists treatment and diseases
Write up


Guinea fowl

Special care

Temperament
Temperamental. Aggressive during breeding season
Disease symptoms

Cost
Egg cost 3.50
Chick cost 3.60
Chick to grower feed amount 670g
Grower to butcher feed amount 4090g
Maintenance feed amount 635g
Enclosure

Size
4 sf
Height
3f
Fence type
Chicken wire
Shelter
Barn with opening
Equipment
Food,water,grit and calcium dish
Terrain
Grass and wire
Diet

Feed type
Game bird or chicken maintainer 18%
Amount
Constant
Minerals/other
Grit
Breeding

Sexing
Vent check. Males will make a sound that sounds like there saying buck wheat buckwheat.
Ratio
1-6. (males can breed with chickens but there is a low fertility )
Age
8 months
Season
Spring
Diet
Maintainer feed 18% and added calcium dish
Eggs

Clutch size and numbers per year
12-15. 7 clutches
Collecting time
Morning
Hatch time
28
Incubation temp
100
Humidity
60-55%
Candling
6 days
Stop turning
25
Lock down
75
When to assist

Move to brooder
Dry
Brooder
Size
1.5 sf
Height

Temperature decreasing
6 weeks
Feed type length
Turkey chick starter 6 weeks
Water dishes
No marbles
Special nutrients
Grit
Grow out pen

Size
4 sf
Feed type length
Turkey chick starter until 6 weeks then grower.
Butcher

Butcher age
14 ​

Lots of misinformation. Read the Raising Guinea Fowl 101 thread and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/312682/raising-guinea-fowl-101

Only females make the buckwheat sound. Males make the chi sound. If seeking guinea/chicken hybrids it is more likely that a rooster will breed with a guinea hen than having a guinea cock breed with a chicken hen. Best ratio of cocks to hens is 1 to 1.

Guineas are a flock bird and do best when there are at least 10 or more in the flock. They also do best when housed separately. They have a completely different set of mannerisms than do other poultry. Failure to provide them with a coop at night that they are trained to use can lead to massive losses from predators such as raccoons and owls. Failure to get the hens to use safe nesting areas often leads to predators taking the hens from their hidden nests.

 

[Trefoil]

Don't recommend using poultry wire except as use inside a predator proof enclosure.

 

[shanezoobuild]

bumblefoot?

 

[R2elk]

bumblefoot?

I haven't run into bumblefoot in any of my poultry.

 

[guineapeeps]

You have a lot of good info, but I noticed under your sexting section, you had that the males make the "buckwheat" sound. The females are actually the ones that make the 2 syllable "buckwheat "sound and the males have a 1 syllable "squawk".

 

[perchie.girl]

Guinea fowl
I’m designing a community farm and I was wondering if you could do both or one of the following for me and either answer a few questions I have and or read over my care sheet and tell me if there’s any wrong information or things you would do differently.
​

Questions
1. When is too old to breed. I dont know this I havent had a flock long enough to determine this.
2. Male to female hatch rate. As far as I know 50 50.
3. Hours to assist. Assisted hatching is for experts. I personally woudnt do it.
4. Brooder height Same as Chickens
5. Website or book that lists treatment and diseases. I dont know one. They stay pretty healthy.

Write up. OF what? Oh this is what you have found out so far? your info is pretty off.

Special care.
It really depends on your circumstances If you are hobby farming or commercially raising them...

Temperament
Temperamental. Aggressive during breeding season.... Yeah but aggression amongst Guinea fowl is a non issue. They sort themselves out every year. The older they get the more mellow they get. They are NOT chickens so dont expect them to behave that way. they will attack a threat with the whole flock. No matter the season.
Disease symptoms
No info
Cost
Egg cost 3.50
IT really depends on where you are getting your eggs. Breeder or Commercial hatchery.
Chick cost 3.60
They are KEETS not chicks and again it depens on where you are getting your Keets.
Chick to grower feed amount 670g
Dont forget to factor in how much feed they waste. its Keets not chicks
Grower to butcher feed amount 4090g
I havent brought them to butcher weight yet Again Find a way so they dont waste feed.
Maintenance feed amount 635g
I didnt quantify this when I was raising them.

Enclosure
Size 4 sf
I actually doubled that for my Guinea fowl. They are runners and can even run along perches. Again environment and weather are big considerations for housing.
Height 3f
Um no My perches were set at six feet up...
Fence type Chicken wire
Use chicken wire on interior partitions for poultry ONLY. Chicken wire is only good for keeping poultry contained. All external wire should be Hardware cloth or heavier gauge wire. Because I have mountain lions and feral dogs My wire of choice is Aviary wire strong enough to contain Hook bills such as parrots. which is 12.5 gauge. Yep I will go overboard the next time but I am tired of loosing WHOLE flocks to predators. For construction materials and ideas I suggest you visit the Coop building section.
Shelter Barn with opening
Well thats kind of Waiving a vague wand at it. Again it depends on your environment and what you have available. They Need shelter from Weather. Here in the desert that means a wind break on the two sides that have prevailing winds and a roof. Yep I had snow in the coop but where they roosted was protected from the elements. Access to the outside needs to be controlled or you will have them roosting in the trees.
Equipment Food,water,grit and calcium dish
yep
Terrain Grass and wire
Depends on your environment really. I have no grass.

Diet
Feed type Game bird or chicken maintainer 18%
I used Flock Raiser. Becxause I wasnt able to free range so they could get bugs I supplemented with 5 percent Cat fish chow.
Amount Constant
i free fed as well but expect to feed all sorts of other critters too.
Minerals/other Grit

Breeding

Sexing Vent check. Males will make a sound that sounds like there saying buck wheat buckwheat.
Vent sexing is not done on Guinea Fowl. Guinea Hens are the ones that make the Buck Wheat noise. IF you are careful when they are Keets they do make a different noise. What you will hear is a constant peep out of them all but by two or three weeks you will hear individual voices that Go Peep Peep in rapid succession Identifying that keet is next to impossible... LOL. But I was very grateful to know I had at least a few in my mob.
Ratio 1-6. (males can breed with chickens but there is a low fertility )
In a natural flock the ratio is around 1-1. Unless you are breeding for SOP or color then 1-6 or there abouts. Males CANNOT mate with Chickens naturally. Their equipment isnt sufficient. Roosters though have been known to mate with Guinea fowl on occasion. Firtility is an issue true. The offspring from what I have read are Sterile like mules.
There have been crosses between: chickens, Peacocks, Pheasants, and other species of Guinea Fowl.
Age 8 months

Season Spring
Diet Maintainer feed 18% and added calcium dish
Eggs

Clutch size and numbers per year 12-15. 7 clutches
Laying season starts in spring and ends in fall. it really depends on your climate. My laying season started in February and ended in November. Good luck on getting them to lay in a nest of any kind.
Collecting time Morning
PeepsCA kept her Guineas locked in the coop till all eggs were laid. which was around 2 pm
Hatch time 28
Incubation temp 100
Humidity 60-55%
Candling 6 days
make sure you have a Bright Candler. Those eggs are dense.
Stop turning 25
Lock down 75
When to assist

Move to brooder Dry
Brooder Size 1.5 sf
Height
By the time Guinea Keets are two weeks old they can Fly Have a lid on the brooder and enough room because they are a thundering herd.... I had forty i was brooding up.
Temperature decreasing 6 weeks
Feed type length Turkey chick starter 6 weeks
Water dishes No marbles
Marbles are necessary to give them something shiny to peck at for water. And to keep them from falling in. Guinea Keets are very small like Bantam chicks.


Thats about it for my input.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
X2 I think we can attribute it to the lighter weight and the good ability to fly.

 

[Tikkijane]

Lots of misinformation.  Read the Raising Guinea Fowl 101 thread and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/312682/raising-guinea-fowl-101

Only females make the buckwheat sound.  Males make the chi sound.  If seeking guinea/chicken hybrids it is more likely that a rooster will breed with a guinea hen than having a guinea cock breed with a chicken hen.  Best ratio of cocks to hens is 1 to 1. 

Guineas are a flock bird and do best when there are at least 10 or more in the flock.  They also do best when housed separately.  They have a completely different set of mannerisms than do other poultry.  Failure to provide them with a coop at night that they are trained to use can lead to massive losses from predators such as raccoons and owls.  Failure to get the hens to use safe nesting areas often leads to predators taking the hens from their hidden nests.

Females also make the chi chi chi alarm sound, but yes, they only buckwheat.

Guineas are basically night blind. Having a low light in the coop helps get them in. They can fly to roost in trees, but so do owls.

My guineas coop with my chickens, fwiw.

 

[Tikkijane]

Don't  recommend using poultry wire except as use inside a predator proof enclosure.

X500