A few questions

[Finge]

I have 18 chickens, a goat that has overstayed his welcome, and 4 bird aggressive miniature dachshunds.
After doing research, im now looking into getting some guinea fowl, I have a few questions that the almighty Google cannot answer.

Question 1, how high can Guinea fly, and can I clip their wings? I know Guinea are roaming creatures, but I don't live far enough from the road to let the run amuck. My backyard is fenced in with 5-6ft tall chain length fence that has small chicken wire on the bottom because of pesky runaway chicks, it has kept my flock contained for months with no issues of them getting over.

Question 2, will a Guinea hen hatch out chicks? Ive heard that Guinea mothers are horrible, and that keets are very weak compared to a chick. If they can/will, would a chick have a better chance at surviving a Guinea raising it better than a keet?

Question 3, what amount of Guinea is a good start, including genders.? I plan on buying a variety of breeds this coming summer like polish, barred rock, ee, jersey giants, and maybe a few bantams. So why not add a few Guinea to the mix?

Question 4, how often do Guinea hens lay and brood keets? Ive heard they lay 100 a year, but it doesn't say how often or how much each brood.

 

[R2elk]

I have 18 chickens, a goat that has overstayed his welcome, and 4 bird aggressive miniature dachshunds.
After doing research, im now looking into getting some guinea fowl, I have a few questions that the almighty Google cannot answer.

Question 1, how high can Guinea fly, and can I clip their wings? I know Guinea are roaming creatures, but I don't live far enough from the road to let the run amuck. My backyard is fenced in with 5-6ft tall chain length fence that has small chicken wire on the bottom because of pesky runaway chicks, it has kept my flock contained for months with no issues of them getting over.

Question 2, will a Guinea hen hatch out chicks? Ive heard that Guinea mothers are horrible, and that keets are very weak compared to a chick. If they can/will, would a chick have a better chance at surviving a Guinea raising it better than a keet?

Question 3, what amount of Guinea is a good start, including genders.? I plan on buying a variety of breeds this coming summer like polish, barred rock, ee, jersey giants, and maybe a few bantams. So why not add a few Guinea to the mix?

Question 4, how often do Guinea hens lay and brood keets? Ive heard they lay 100 a year, but it doesn't say how often or how much each brood.

1 - Guineas can fly as high as they want. Typically they don't do much flying at heights of more than ten feet but can fly sixty feet up into a tall tree. If your chain link fence has a top rail, it will not serve as a deterrent to guineas. They will land on the top rail and invariably get down on the wrong side of the fence.

Guineas can be trained to stay inside a fenced area but it requires you to be there almost all the time during the training period. The training consists of making the guineas uncomfortable whenever they escape their pen. Tactics such as flapping a towel while running towards the escapees (Be sure to have them headed in the proper direction.) while chasing them in through an opening.

2 - A guinea can hatch out chicks. Guinea hens can be the most caring of mothers and if contained in an area that eliminates threats such as wet surroundings can do an excellent job raising keets. Most keet losses are due to being dragged through wet grass or failure of the keets to keep up with the mother. I would not say that keets are weaker than chicks but they can be more fragile because of their tiny size. Chicks would not likely fare any better than keets if raised by a guinea hen.

3 - I never recommend starting with less than 10 guineas. Guinea keets are not available sexed. They are only sold straight run. If you want sexed guineas, you will have to buy guineas that are a minimum of 4 weeks old and up. It is easier to teach keets where there new home is than it is to acclimate adult guineas to a new home. Having a 1:1 ratio of hens to cocks is a good mix for guineas although you will just get what you get if starting with keets. Some people have been successful withe one cock to 5 hens but not all cocks will breed that many hens.

It is best to raise the keets separate from the chickens so that they don't imprint on the chickens. Guineas have different mannerisms than do chickens and the chickens don't understand why the guineas do what they do. Everything can seem fine until the guineas reach their first breeding season at which time they can start treating the chickens the same as they would treat other guineas. If the guineas were not imprinted by the chickens they are likely not to include the chickens in their "games".

4 - Guinea hens are seasonal layers usually starting in late spring and continuing into the fall if not allowed to go broody. Here my guineas started laying around the middle of April and are just now tapering off. Most guinea hens in their prime will lay one egg each day once they get going in the spring. Most guinea hens will go broody but not all will. If allowed to incubate, hatch and brood a clutch they may only go broody once or twice a laying season. If not allowed to hatch the broody guinea hens may continue to be broody pretty much the whole laying season.

It is not uncommon for guinea hens to have communal nests which can contain in excess of 50 eggs. Having too many eggs often ends in low hatch rates due to the inability of a hen to properly cover all of the eggs. Due to all the different circumstances that can go wrong there is no way to predict how many keets will be hatched. If everything goes right it is not unheard of for a guinea hen to come home from her hidden nest with 20+ keets. It is more common though for a hen to return with just a few keets.

Good luck.

 

[BantyChooks]

It is best to raise the keets separate from the chickens so that they don't imprint on the chickens. Guineas have different mannerisms than do chickens and the chickens don't understand why the guineas do what they do. Everything can seem fine until the guineas reach their first breeding season at which time they can start treating the chickens the same as they would treat other guineas. If the guineas were not imprinted by the chickens they are likely not to include the chickens in their "games".

I made this mistake.

 

[Finge]

Thanks for the information! And yeah I fugred that I couldn't get them sexed while looking on the hatchery's wesbite. And if its not good to raise them with chickens, ill get my chickens in the spring, and my keets in June when the hatchery has them available.

Hmm, as for the escaping thing I can probably keep them in the brooder and brooder coop for a while, or I can work a deal with my grandpa who has farmlands for miles to let them be pest control.

 

[Finge]

Also, why get so many at the start?

 

[Chickiemom25]

Also, why get so many at the start?

I started with 6 this spring... one died because ????? predator got one, dog killed 2. No idea how the remaining 2 have survived as they are STUPID. they get on the roof then go into the dog's yard.. The bird killer is rehomed but I still have a shepherd who thinks they are fun to spook. I generally have to go out and open the gate as they can not figure out how to fly over the fence again...... I have 6 new keets I just put outside and 9 eggs which should hatch in a week.. I am HOPING I have a dozen by spring, they they just aren't as smart as the ducks or chickens and do not AWAYS go to their run at night. out of 13 chickens I still have 12.

 

[R2elk]

Also, why get so many at the start?

It isn't for just at the start although there are lots of things that can go wrong once you start with keets. Guineas are a flock bird. They will cause fewer problems if their own flock is big enough that they can take out their habits on their own kind. I currently have 13 guineas and they do not bother any of the other poultry. They do work each other over and there are none that do not have broken feathers from their habits of attacking from behind and grabbing feathers.

 

[Finge]

Oh, okay! As for my fence issue, my chain link has spikes on top, would they djscourage them?

 

[R2elk]

Oh, okay! As for my fence issue, my chain link has spikes on top, would they discourage them?

As long as there is not a top bar it is okay. The problem with a top bar is that they inevitably will use it as a landing place. Once on the top bar they get down on the wrong side of the fence at least 90% of the time and then forget how to get back in as they run back and forth along the outside of the fence.

 

[Finge]

Okay, though I might wait until next year to start, since I have a smaller hog panel dividing my fowl from my dogs, which the chickens and guinea could probably use to escape.