8 to 9 week old Guinea fowl not eating live bugs?

[southwind00]

HI BackYard Chicken Guinea people i'm in western New York with a bunch of 8 to 9 week old guineas that are healthy in all respects and will eat anythin put in their feeder but when throw on the ground don't seem to see it or they ignore it. And ants and Japanese beetles they see they don't eat, is that normal. I've read a bunch of these posts here before joining and learned a lot but have not

seen any questions like this.

 

[AudieWarren]

Mine are that age and will try to eat anything that moves. Grasshoppers are their favorite. I guess because they give a good chase. Mine don't peck crumbles off the ground, but love a good bug chase

 

[sylviethecochin]

Welcome to BYC!

I've never had guineas, but with chickens, if the head hen ignores it, they all tend to do so. I've had a few different flocks over the years, and some will go wild over earthworms and some won't touch them. I've had girls that will swallow acorns whole, and flocks that scratch them out of the way looking for ants. I bought mealworms once, and not a single girl would touch them.

Usually, I find the easiest way to get mine interested in all sorts of food is to introduce a variety of it while they're in the brooder (in the "let's peck everything!" stage) or let them be raised by a broody hen. Since you don't have those options anymore, you might try skipping a feeding and then seeing if they're interested in an alternative food source.

 

[southwind00]

I've tried skipping a meal ,no luck.They eat grass and use to love clove when I threw it in the pen but now ignore it pretty much on the outside. I think these birds are gonna be a challenge.My son says I should get a big guinea costume and pretend to be their mother.

 

[red horse ranch]

None of my guineas or chickens will eat ants. Only a couple of the chickens will eat beetles. The guineas will eat white millet on the ground but if food is spilled out of the feeder they won't eat it off the ground. Picky eaters I guess!

Welcome to BYC! glad you joined us

 

[Edw@rd]

My Guineas are 10-12 weeks old and are pretty much the same. Grasshoppers entice them for a chase, but other bugs like ants are ignored. I’m tempted to get a dozen crickets at the pet store and see what happens.

 

[R2elk]

None of my guineas or chickens will eat ants. Only a couple of the chickens will eat beetles. The guineas will eat white millet on the ground but if food is spilled out of the feeder they won't eat it off the ground. Picky eaters I guess!

Welcome to BYC! glad you joined us

Those who have been successful getting their guineas to eat ants introduce the ants when the keets are still in the brooder. Guineas form their food likes at an early age. A person has to be careful when introducing ants to keets in a brooder as too many ants and its the keets that get eaten.

My guineas like to spill food from their feeder but normally clean it up by the end of the day.

 

[southwind00]

I only mentioned ants because a few big red ants move through there run and tempt them and my garden is nearby and over run with Japanese beetles have put them in the feeder and they eat them there but not on the outside.Thanks for the good replies, I'm not alone trying to get these crazy birds to be independent.

 

[Chrisnotdebourg]

My, similar, situation:
Last fall i got one pair of guineas through a friend of my dad's, mainly for stinck bug control (that destroyed all my tomatoes that season). After conditioning with their new home, they were allowed to free range al day. They were free but they had no interest in insect eating. Just convenient grain feeds (from my part) or whatever they could find. Tried starving them: they just continued the same way and laying down all day long, with the male staring obsesively at my neibghbor' s flock of chickens, across the fence. All day long. They had at their disposal 2000 sqmt of yard but just rush to one corner and stare at the chickens.
I aquired one more pair, for the guineas to function as a natural flock. The now four of them started roaming the yard all day (due to the original male developing a passion for the new lady who appearently had the habbit of roaming) and peck on SOME bugs (due to the habits of the newcomers). But still, they are focused mainly on (weed) seeds.
Anticipating (foolishly, I admit) a real "succes" with the newcomers, i hurried and purchased 10, day-old keets. They are now 12 weeks old and where fed with turkey feed to make them viable, strong birds, which they are.
This morning I acknowledged that the four adults don't even touch the colorado beetle (adults or juveniles) even when put under their beaks. Not even taste them, out of curiosity. As you assume, the same situation is with the youngsters.
My conclusion: Guinea fowl aren't natural born insect eaters/bug control agents, as they are advertised. Maybe perhaps in Africa but NOT Everywhere. They are conditioned to be so, by their environement (including humans who take care of them).
Starting today and for the rest of the summer, I decided to stop feeding the four adults (which I did only in the evening, as part of my "free range" scheme) though, I'm afraid that not feeding the two hanes will cripple their bodies with all their daily egg production.
Apart from the four adults (which are manageable as a number), I m stuck with 10 more nearly adult guineas that I don t want to slaughter but need to feed, with money from my pocket.
All in all, don t get your hopes (really) high with guineas making a formidable insect eating army, because it ain t necesarily so.