a few guinea questions ?

[Aj1911]

Quote:
foxes and owls are both nighttime predators 98% of the time.

as for hawks full grown guineas can and will attack one and more then likely kill it.

anything dog size they will sound the alert and if it pounces after they charge it they will fly up in a tree.

and for weasels and minks? you just dont have enough guineas or there not as mean as they should be

my 4 would out right wound if not kill a cat or any cat size critter if they got a hold of it in the day time.

heck they'll even out right attack me if i egg them on a bit and trust me they're toe nails and beaks do draw blood.

for all you guinea people do let this miss lead you if you handle them they will be much nicer and tamer but if you just let them be next year you'll know what i'm talking about.

but then again you might get a batch of all nice ones too

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
foxes and owls are both nighttime predators 98% of the time.

as for hawks full grown guineas can and will attack one and more then likely kill it.

anything dog size they will sound the alert and if it pounces after they charge it they will fly up in a tree.

and for weasels and minks? you just dont have enough guineas or there not as mean as they should be

my 4 would out right wound if not kill a cat or any cat size critter if they got a hold of it in the day time.

heck they'll even out right attack me if i egg them on a bit and trust me they're toe nails and beaks do draw blood.

for all you guinea people do let this miss lead you if you handle them they will be much nicer and tamer but if you just let them be next year you'll know what i'm talking about.

but then again you might get a batch of all nice ones too

do not believe everything you read in a book.. foxes here where I live hunt even at 11:30 AM.. Owls hunt during the daytime also.. I have witnessed both .. In fact it was during the daytime a few weeks ago when my wife saw an owl snatch one of our guineas. I think my flock of 60 guineas should be able to ward off an owl, by your standards.. I have free ranging guineas and "tame" ones also.. they all get eaten the same by predators.. maybe our predators are just meaner than those around you..

call me in a couple of months and I might have some eggs to ship to you to replace your flock..

 

[greathorse]

I really really enjoy my guineas but for all their fuss if a predator comes around they seem to be very susecptible to them. I lost my last two females when they went on a nest and I could not find them until I found the remnants of a hit from what I beleive was a fox. Mine did lay in a box in my pen but they seemed so worried about being out and about that I finally let them out. They did come to the same pen at night but when they began to lay they stopped coming in and layed in their hidden areas and were taken.

I am not sure what I will do next year. I have about 40 keets now and I think I am going to try to grow them out to a reasonable size let them free range for the winter and hope that there are a few that know how to survive next year.

They certainly are a gourmet meal. I butcherd about 20 of them late last fall and I can tell you I had more than one very fine dinner with the guinea and so forth. They pair extremely well with a nice Willamette vally Pinot noir.

they are most susceptible to predators when they begin to lay. Prior that they are pretty easy. I beleive the best strategy may be to butcher most of them just before laying season.

Great birds just dumb as a rock.

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
foxes and owls are both nighttime predators 98% of the time.

as for hawks full grown guineas can and will attack one and more then likely kill it.

anything dog size they will sound the alert and if it pounces after they charge it they will fly up in a tree.

and for weasels and minks? you just dont have enough guineas or there not as mean as they should be

my 4 would out right wound if not kill a cat or any cat size critter if they got a hold of it in the day time.

heck they'll even out right attack me if i egg them on a bit and trust me they're toe nails and beaks do draw blood.

for all you guinea people do let this miss lead you if you handle them they will be much nicer and tamer but if you just let them be next year you'll know what i'm talking about.

but then again you might get a batch of all nice ones too

do not believe everything you read in a book.. foxes here where I live hunt even at 11:30 AM.. Owls hunt during the daytime also.. I have witnessed both .. In fact it was during the daytime a few weeks ago when my wife saw an owl snatch one of our guineas. I think my flock of 60 guineas should be able to ward off an owl, by your standards.. I have free ranging guineas and "tame" ones also.. they all get eaten the same by predators.. maybe our predators are just meaner than those around you..

call me in a couple of months and I might have some eggs to ship to you to replace your flock..

maybe yours just havent hit there first mating season yet?

or let me guess you dont pen them at night like you should?

its that or your guineas are wusses that dont know how to be a guinea?

read from a book? i've seen my guineas nearly kill a cat before and run after hawks, i didnt read that from a book.

trust me my flock wont need any replacing anytime soon.

thanks anyway though,

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
i have mine trained to lay in the pen and only in the pen, the trick is make sure there's at least 2 eggs at all times in the pen with them in a built up straw nest.

and that is the most common way to lose a guinea is when they're setting on a nest.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
do not believe everything you read in a book.. foxes here where I live hunt even at 11:30 AM.. Owls hunt during the daytime also.. I have witnessed both .. In fact it was during the daytime a few weeks ago when my wife saw an owl snatch one of our guineas. I think my flock of 60 guineas should be able to ward off an owl, by your standards.. I have free ranging guineas and "tame" ones also.. they all get eaten the same by predators.. maybe our predators are just meaner than those around you..

call me in a couple of months and I might have some eggs to ship to you to replace your flock..

maybe yours just havent hit there first mating season yet?

or let me guess you dont pen them at night like you should?

its that or your guineas are wusses that dont know how to be a guinea?

read from a book? i've seen my guineas nearly kill a cat before and run after hawks, i didnt read that from a book.

trust me my flock wont need any replacing anytime soon.

thanks anyway though,

read my previous posts. My guineas go in with the chickens every night. they lay their in the chicken nests.. a guinea is a guinea.

If you really believe your guineas can ward off foxes and hawks, You will need replacements within a year. sorry, but that is how it is..

do you have fishers where you are?
wait until your guineas run into a cat-sized fisher. replacement time..

 

[damselfish]

Re the OP's question about slaughtering age, I found this:

Young birdsare usually marketed when they reach 1.5 to two pounds live weight. At this stage the meatis tender and resembles the flesh of quail or partridge. At six to ten months the flesh closely resembles that of pheasant and is slightly gamey.

It's from here: http://www.familyhomesnetwork.com/homeandgardens/guineafowlraising.html

I thought that was interesting, didn't realize they could be slaughtered so young.

We haven't eaten any yet but would if the population got too high.​

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
maybe yours just havent hit there first mating season yet?

or let me guess you dont pen them at night like you should?

its that or your guineas are wusses that dont know how to be a guinea?

read from a book? i've seen my guineas nearly kill a cat before and run after hawks, i didnt read that from a book.

trust me my flock wont need any replacing anytime soon.

thanks anyway though,

read my previous posts. My guineas go in with the chickens every night. they lay their in the chicken nests.. a guinea is a guinea.

If you really believe your guineas can ward off foxes and hawks, You will need replacements within a year. sorry, but that is how it is..

do you have fishers where you are?
wait until your guineas run into a cat-sized fisher. replacement time..

i never said they would ward off/attack foxes but i have seen a guinea almost kill a hawk heck they almost kill the ravens that are the size of turkeys.

and mine have actually came at my 170lb wolf more then once and have out right attacked me and my dad.

and they have almost killed the feral cats here more then once (just like everyone told me they would

)

as for fishers nope dont have them around.


also i have seen more then 1 fox but all the times i have were at night.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
read my previous posts. My guineas go in with the chickens every night. they lay their in the chicken nests.. a guinea is a guinea.

If you really believe your guineas can ward off foxes and hawks, You will need replacements within a year. sorry, but that is how it is..

do you have fishers where you are?
wait until your guineas run into a cat-sized fisher. replacement time..

i never said they would ward off/attack foxes but i have seen a guinea almost kill a hawk heck they almost kill the ravens that are the size of turkeys.

and mine have actually came at my 170lb wolf more then once and have out right attacked me and my dad.

and they have almost killed the feral cats here more then once (just like everyone told me they would

)

as for fishers nope dont have them around.


also i have seen more then 1 fox but all the times i have were at night.

OK OK , you win.. I give up..

BTW
Mine are way beyond their first mating season..
last year I hatched just under 300 eggs from them and this year my goal is 500.. I guess mine are lovers, and yours are fighters..

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
i never said they would ward off/attack foxes but i have seen a guinea almost kill a hawk heck they almost kill the ravens that are the size of turkeys.

and mine have actually came at my 170lb wolf more then once and have out right attacked me and my dad.

and they have almost killed the feral cats here more then once (just like everyone told me they would

)

as for fishers nope dont have them around.


also i have seen more then 1 fox but all the times i have were at night.

OK OK , you win.. I give up..

BTW
Mine are way beyond their first mating season..
last year I hatched just under 300 eggs from them and this year my goal is 500.. I guess mine are lovers, and yours are fighters..

i think so.

now if mine would just stop attacking me

i also just found out it depends how they were bread and how many generations they've been domesticated as well, as the more wild they are the meaner they are