Guinea Keets Coming Soon...Have Arrived!

[DeAnzaJig]

So the past two nights I have had to get one or a few guineas out of the trees near the coop. This has never been an issue. I think the coop light needs to come on earlier since it is getting darker sooner here. It's set to go on at 5:30 pm and hopefully that will fix this problem.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

No guineas were roosting in the trees tonight when I went out to shut the coop up around 7:30 pm.

I think setting the coop light timer to come on at 5:30 pm worked!

 

[farmguy5]

I will be getting a dozen pearl grays and a dozen lavenders I won't to know what age I should put them into the coop to start the process of learning were home is. If you have any tips on how to raise,feed,coops,runs please tell me. I am also looking for other fowl that mix good with Guineas. If you know of a place to buy these birds tell me...that would be great

Thanks
Ethan

 

[djohnese]

Have enjoyed reading all your posts on the guineas, I too am interested in getting some guineas, however not sure 15 is what I want "thats the minimum you can buy from hatcheries". I would love to have half a dozen, how do they do around predators such as birds of prey and coyotes. Will they roost in the trees at night if you let them? Thanks and keep up the great posts!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I will be getting a dozen pearl grays and a dozen lavenders I won't to know what age I should put them into the coop to start the process of learning were home is. If you have any tips on how to raise,feed,coops,runs please tell me. I am also looking for other fowl that mix good with Guineas. If you know of a place to buy these birds tell me...that would be great

Thanks
Ethan

Have enjoyed reading all your posts on the guineas, I too am interested in getting some guineas, however not sure 15 is what I want "thats the minimum you can buy from hatcheries". I would love to have half a dozen, how do they do around predators such as birds of prey and coyotes. Will they roost in the trees at night if you let them? Thanks and keep up the great posts!

Hi Ethan and John-

At lot of what you are asking can be answered by reading through past threads here in the Guinea Fowl section of the forum. Check out the 101 thread for starts. If you don't find the answers you are looking for, the best thing to do is start a new thread or add onto a thread that is relevant to your question. This prevents you from taking a threads topic to the wayside, in which case it detracts from the purpose of the thread (which is sometimes, like this one, a personal diary of sorts) and also ensures that your question will get read by more forum users. Many people will not visit a thread that they have no interest in or the topic line does not catch their eye, so your question may never be seen.

Good luck!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

No guineas were roosting in the trees tonight when I went out to shut the coop up around 7:30 pm.

I think setting the coop light timer to come on at 5:30 pm worked!

Yet another thing for me to be jealous of- the fact that you have power at your coop! I am hoping once we get our garage wired up I can run power out to my coop one way or another. I just got a solar powered light to use in my coop to help get everyone in at night. At $13 it wasn't a huge investment, and it works great, but when the days get shorter I would like to be able to have a bit of extended light on both ends of the day. What time is it getting dark where you are? I usually round everyone up into the run about 45 minutes before dark and then go out and shut the coop up around 730.

 

[red horse ranch]

Have enjoyed reading all your posts on the guineas, I too am interested in getting some guineas, however not sure 15 is what I want "thats the minimum you can buy from hatcheries". I would love to have half a dozen, how do they do around predators such as birds of prey and coyotes. Will they roost in the trees at night if you let them? Thanks and keep up the great posts!

It's true that 15 to 30 is the minimum number of guineas you can buy from hatcheries. Guinea keets are very tiny and it takes that many for them to keep warm during shipment. Even then a few of them may not survive. A better option is to buy them locally. Most people who have guineas will soon have more than they need. Since I have 8 female guineas I usually have more than 100 babies a year to sell. I usually like to sell a minimum of 5 or 6. I also will sell them as fully feathered young birds which is a better option for those who don't want to fool with heat lamps. No, I am not saying this to advertise. But it should be fairly easy to find guineas in your area during the summer hatching months.

As for predators, we have a lot of them in our area including eagles and coyotes. I have only lost one male over the years that I assume a predator has gotten. My birds are ALWAYS enclosed in their coop at night. They should never be allowed to roost in trees at night. It's just an invitation to owls and coons to come get an easy supper. Guineas are pretty much blind at night. Thru the day the guineas are always watching for predators and will sound very loud warnings when something unusual is in the area. That's one reason that larger groups are better. I have watched as a group of my guineas have chased off a fox. Two or three birds by themselves may not be as lucky.

I hope you are able to find some guineas. They are such interesting characters to have around.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

I will be getting a dozen pearl grays and a dozen lavenders I won't to know what age I should put them into the coop to start the process of learning were home is. If you have any tips on how to raise,feed,coops,runs please tell me. I am also looking for other fowl that mix good with Guineas. If you know of a place to buy these birds tell me...that would be great

Thanks
Ethan

I think the age depends on how cold it is and if you can provide a heat lamp for extra heat out in the coop. I moved mine out at 5 weeks, which was way too long inside the brooder in my house, but my coop wasn't ready. If I do babies again I will be moving them out at 2 weeks with a heat lamp if needed.

Keeping them locked up in their coop for the full six weeks seemed to work for me. I have had no major issues getting them to go in at night. Having the auto light come on in the evening helps too.

I read the book Gardening with Guineas and read a lot on this message board to try to learn as much beforehand.

Good luck!

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Have enjoyed reading all your posts on the guineas, I too am interested in getting some guineas, however not sure 15 is what I want "thats the minimum you can buy from hatcheries". I would love to have half a dozen, how do they do around predators such as birds of prey and coyotes. Will they roost in the trees at night if you let them? Thanks and keep up the great posts!

Thank you!

I started with an order of 18 from the hatchery and 5 were DOA. They tried to reship and still DOA. I figured I would lose some to shrinkage, but didn't think it would be so soon. I read that 8-12 is a good minimum number to have since to maintain good group dynamics in their flock. I don't have any personal experience to back it up, just what I have read.

Keeping them locked up at night after they free range all day keeps them safe from evening predators. I had to chase a few out of the tree next to the coop because I didn't want their roosting to get them eaten by owls.

I hope you enjoy your Guineas!

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Yet another thing for me to be jealous of- the fact that you have power at your coop! I am hoping once we get our garage wired up I can run power out to my coop one way or another. I just got a solar powered light to use in my coop to help get everyone in at night. At $13 it wasn't a huge investment, and it works great, but when the days get shorter I would like to be able to have a bit of extended light on both ends of the day. What time is it getting dark where you are? I usually round everyone up into the run about 45 minutes before dark and then go out and shut the coop up around 730.

My coop power is nothing to be jealous of! It's just three extension cords plugged together running through my yard from the outside garage outlet, through the coop window and duct taped to the coop ceiling. Lol!

It starts getting dark here around 5:30 pm. I can see the birds starting to congregate around the coop, flying up and sitting on the run fence around that time. By 6 pm it is dark and they are inside. I usually make it out by 7:30 pm to do a head count and shut the door.