Raising Guineas in Orchard

[appleacres]

I have a 2 acre, fenced orchard and I am looking for some assistance in pest control. I have been reading books for awhile that have answered a large majority of my questions about training, but I still have a few questions about guinea hens.

1. What number of Guineas would I need to make a noticeable difference per acre of land? I was hoping to have around 15 total on a 2 acre area.

2. There is a 8' deer fence around the orchard, but fox can still easily get in, so I am planning on having a secure coop. Will the guineas lay eggs in this coop if I make a simulated 'woods' environment with some grasses and leaves in nesting boxes or will they just ignore it and lay eggs wherever? If I wanted to move them into a second fenced in area, where we had some blueberries and raspberries, would they still go back to the coop if they were in this new area or if you move the coop around (like a chicken tractor), do they get confused? (planning on rewarding them with white millet for returning to coop).

3. Will they go eating in areas that I haven't mowed yet? I have heard they prefer areas with short grass, but we do not use herbicides, so we slowly mow the whole orchard and there are areas where the grass, clover and vetch can get a few feet high before mowing.

4. I already work 7 days a week on my farm, and I am happy to do some training, but I don't want them ending up a quarter of a mile away on a neighbors property or on the roof or in the tree limbs in the woods. If I clip their wings will they still be able to fly a little bit, for example, up into an apple tree where apple pests like plum curculio are crawling around? How often do you need to clip their wings? Has anyone tried pinioning, it sounds a bit extreme, but I definitely want to make sure they don't end up wandering far away.

5. Will they eat apples that we throw on the ground (we hand thin our trees to make the apples the size you would see in a grocery store, if we didn't do this they would all be tiny)--these thinned apples can have insect larvae in them--but NOT eat the apples we leave growing on the trees? I don't want them to get a taste for them, and then fly into the trees and start pecking at the actual fruit crop!

Thanks!

Molly

 

[R2elk]

1. What number of Guineas would I need to make a noticeable difference per acre of land? I was hoping to have around 15 total on a 2 acre area.

That should be fine.

2. There is a 8' deer fence around the orchard, but fox can still easily get in, so I am planning on having a secure coop. Will the guineas lay eggs in this coop if I make a simulated 'woods' environment with some grasses and leaves in nesting boxes or will they just ignore it and lay eggs wherever? If I wanted to move them into a second fenced in area, where we had some blueberries and raspberries, would they still go back to the coop if they were in this new area or if you move the coop around (like a chicken tractor), do they get confused? (planning on rewarding them with white millet for returning to coop).

You will have to train them to go into the coop at night. You can do it with treats but my method is to herd my guineas into the coop in the evening. Whether or not you will be able to get them to lay in the coop is hit and miss. Some might but their preferences are for hidden nests outside of the coop.

If you allow them access to a different area, it is best to keep the coop where it is but make sure that there are no obstacles for them to get back to the coop.

3. Will they go eating in areas that I haven't mowed yet? I have heard they prefer areas with short grass, but we do not use herbicides, so we slowly mow the whole orchard and there are areas where the grass, clover and vetch can get a few feet high before mowing.

The "grass" in my guinea pen can get as high as 4'. In the high areas, the guineas tend to have their "tunnels" that they use regularly. My guineas like having both high and short vegetation. Mine do tend to choose the higher vegetation for their hidden nests.

They quickly learned the lawnmower is their friend and follow at a respectful distance when I mow their pen.

4. I already work 7 days a week on my farm, and I am happy to do some training, but I don't want them ending up a quarter of a mile away on a neighbors property or on the roof or in the tree limbs in the woods. If I clip their wings will they still be able to fly a little bit, for example, up into an apple tree where apple pests like plum curculio are crawling around? How often do you need to clip their wings? Has anyone tried pinioning, it sounds a bit extreme, but I definitely want to make sure they don't end up wandering far away.

I do not clip wings and definitely do not recommend pinioning. The key for me in the training was to always be consistent. When I first got this flock, they visited the neighbor on the west a couple of times. I immediately herded them back. The more uncomfortable you make them about doing certain things, the quicker they learn to avoid doing those things. My guineas have not visited the neighbor since the first couple of months that they were allowed out. This is currently their 8th year.

I also chased them out of the trees that summer. The only time they take to the trees now is when an individual is getting harassed by the others.

5. Will they eat apples that we throw on the ground (we hand thin our trees to make the apples the size you would see in a grocery store, if we didn't do this they would all be tiny)--these thinned apples can have insect larvae in them--but NOT eat the apples we leave growing on the trees? I don't want them to get a taste for them, and then fly into the trees and start pecking at the actual fruit crop!

Guineas can be very finicky eaters. If they have not learned to eat a certain food while very young, they may never eat that food. If you want guineas to be in the garden without bothering the vegetables, do not feed them treats from the garden when they are young.

They may or may not eat the apples that you toss on the ground. They do not forage for food in trees. About the only thing they will do in trees is roost or hide to get away from harassment. They forage for their food on the ground and that is mostly insects, seeds and small vermin.

 

[appleacres]

Thank you! I had one further question. Going off question 5--If I want them to mostly eat insects, do I need to be training them to eat insects when they are keets in addition to providing a high protein starter, or will this just happen naturally? In addition to coaxing them indoors with the white millet, how much additional food should I be offering them at night if they are out all day and able to eat whatever they find in the orchard?

 

[R2elk]

Thank you! I had one further question. Going off question 5--If I want them to mostly eat insects, do I need to be training them to eat insects when they are keets in addition to providing a high protein starter, or will this just happen naturally? In addition to coaxing them indoors with the white millet, how much additional food should I be offering them at night if they are out all day and able to eat whatever they find in the orchard?

It happened naturally with mine. I have seen a couple of others that complained that their guineas weren't eating bugs but it is the Internet and you can find anything posted. I have seen posts that live where ants are a problem and that they will introduce ants to their keets in the brooder. You have to be very careful with this practice because too many big ants at too early an age can result in the ants eating the keets instead of the other way around.

I keep the food, oyster shell and water available in the coop at all times. The difference in feed consumption from summertime to wintertime is very noticeable.

 

[R2elk]

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thank you! I had one further question. Going off question 5--If I want them to mostly eat insects, do I need to be training them to eat insects when they are keets in addition to providing a high protein starter, or will this just happen naturally? In addition to coaxing them indoors with the white millet, how much additional food should I be offering them at night if they are out all day and able to eat whatever they find in the orchard?

Second R2elk’s comments about coop training and perimeter fencing training. My other technique has been to pen them when they get adventurous. They are creatures of habit so if they develop a habit of wanting to wander, then they need that habit broken ASAP. If you have perimeter fencing and are outside often in that 2 acres, plus you securely coop at night, my guess is that you won’t have too much of a predator problem, though hawks could still be problematic. It would be a bold fox or bobcat to climb a 2 acre fence while you are there, and they are creatures of habit too. We grow fruits and veggies so we only gave the keets grasses and clovers as snacks. As adults, ours get millet and sunflower as snacks, but they much prefer millet. I did try to find insects for our keets to eat to get them used to the idea. Our flock-raised keets get used to insects and ticks in their diet from the adults.

The results of this are mostly good: our only crop that the guineas eat are blueberries; too tempting to resist even thought they didn’t get them their first year. They don’t eat tomatoes or even the greens we grow. I would guess that yours would ignore apples if they don’t receive fruits as keets. Ours are also not fans of large insects, which surprises me. They will eat some grasshoppers, but we still have plenty all summer. Maybe I should have introduced those earlier or as smaller grasshoppers to start? I can’t see ours eat ticks, which was our main propose for getting them, but they glean long grasses often, and I suspect they pick up ticks plus disrupt chiggers when that happens. To my surprise, ours also don’t seem to eat many bees or butterflies, which is great since my hubby is trying to attract those!