#1 what do they taste like? if i do get them, the males are going to be supper. what age do i butcher them and is it true they taste like pheasant?
#2 can they be raised with chickens? in my book it says you can only not during breeding season. i plan on only raising females (more for fun and some eggs) would this affect them during there breeding season?
#3 how cold is too cold for them? i live in Canada more exactly the prairie provinces, so are summers are +30C and winter are -40C i have a heated chickens coop (where they would live) in the winter it would stay above freezing all year.
#4 and how many eggs does the hen lay a year? i read that some say less then 100 others say up to 250 eggs a year, what would the rough number (or guess) if i collected the eggs every day?
#1 In my opinion, properly processed and prepared guinea fowl are really delicious. My experience is that they taste like chicken but with a whole lot more flavor. My father told me to never chop the head off of a guinea but to shoot them in the head with a .22. He claimed that if you chopped the head off that the meat would turn black & blue and not be fit to eat.
I have regular guineas rather than the jumbos and find their dressed weight to be approximately 2.5 lbs.
Your plan to eat the males will not lead to a productive flock but will cause it to be a very noisy flock as the hens will buck-wheat non stop calling for a mate. The preferred ratio of males to hens in a flock is 1:1. I have heard of people keeping 1 male for up to 5 hens but my experience is that 1:1 with an extra hen or two works very well.
#2 My experience is that it is much better to house the guineas separately from the chickens and do not imprint the guineas on the chickens. I house and raise my guineas separately and now have no problems when I allow the guineas, chickens and turkeys to free range in the same area. It is also best to keep a large number of guineas as they are a flock bird and do best in large groups. It also helps to limit their attacks on other poultry when they have sufficient numbers to allow them to pick on each other. They understand their ways while no other poultry that I know have the same type of mannerisms and become confused and frustrated when picked on by guineas. I always recommend keeping a minimum of 10 guineas in a flock.
As stated before, keeping only hens will cause a very loud (frustrated) flock. Raising guineas solely for egg production is not very effective. Their egg size is about half of a chicken eggs size but with a higher yolk to white percentage. When they get started, they will lay every day until they go broody or it is the end of the laying season. In your location they would probably start laying around May and stop around October.
#3 I live in Wyoming and it is not uncommon to have temperatures down to -30°F in the winter (-34.4°C). I do not use a heated coop and have not had any problems with the guineas through the winter or summer.
#4 I would estimate that the number of eggs each guinea hen produces to be less than 150 per year. While they can and do lay every day during the laying season, going broody really cut into their production.
Guineas like to hide their nests outside and can make finding their egg very difficult. It can be really difficult when they are young birds and drop their eggs where ever they happen to be when the urge hits them. Have fun finding all the eggs.
#5 If you want to raise the guineas for meat, get the Jumbo guineas. There are lots of good reasons to have guineas but if you want egg production, get chickens.