A friend gave me 8 Guinea Eggs, what am I in for??

[baldie]

Hi, a friend of ours sent the hubby home last night with 8 Guinea Eggs for me to put in my bator or under one of my broody's. I know nothing about these birds. At all. The one thing I heard is that they are noisy but that is it. Can anyone tell me.......
Incubator or broody bantam cochin, which should I use??
What do I feed them??
Do they hatch in 28 like ducks, etc??
How do I house them?? Can they go in with my chickens??
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Chrissie

 

[rooster0209]

With my luck on bators, I would put them under the broody hen. Mine are hatched and raised with the chickens and I haven't had any problems. The Guineas are seasonal layers and are just beginning to lay here. They have paired off in groups of 6 or more and have left the chickens. I feed them the same as my chickens.

Guinea keets cannot tolerate cold. They must stay at 95F until they start to feather out, then reduce the heat slowly. They hatch in 28 days, where chickens hatch at 21. Alot of people here have lots of luck with bators!

Guineas are great for ridding your yard of bugs and ticks. They are a bit noisy but quieten down after the first year. They are also good at sounding an alarm when a large bird flies overhead, causing the chickens to run for cover. They also sound alarm at anything "new" in the yard, great "watchdogs". In the summer months the guineas eat almost totally what they find, great for my feed bill. In the summer they may want to roost in the trees, and I let mine.

They are pretty and funny to watch, but not too smart.

 

[baldie]

Great, thanks for your response!! The only thing I knew was that they can be noisy. Thanks for all your help!! I am just hatching them because they were free. This friend of mine is trying to expand my horizons!! He already gave me duck eggs and a pheasant egg (which didn't develop) The duck eggs are due in 5 days!! I will let the guineas be free to do as they please.

 

[rooster0209]

I will let the guineas be free to do as they please.

That is the best way. You will enjoying watching them. They are so comical (and stupid) I had entirely stopped using tick prevention for my dogs/cats. The guinea's have done a great job. Come to think of it, I haven't seen any signs of fleas either.​

 

[WriterofWords]

Quote:
Weeks lol??? I knew they took longer!

 

[rooster0209]

Quote:
Weeks lol??? I knew they took longer!

OOPPPSS. DAYS not weeks

 

[baldie]

We know what she meant!!

 

[sred98]

I started with 4 guineas about two months ago, and while I had them outside for some playtime, two just disappeared into thin air! I moved the remaining two into the chicken pen, with some chickens of similar size. The guineas immediately bonded to the chickens, and they follow them everywhere, roost with them, eat with them, etc. I am hoping that it will help keep the guineas home, because I have heard that they have a tendency to run off into the woods and stay. I am not wanting that to happen!

I went ahead and got 4 more babies, that will go in with my younger batch of chickens when they are fully feathered. That way I should at least get one pair out of them! I do think I have a pair with the older two...one's head seems to be developing a larger "helmet" than the other.

Good luck with yours!

Shelly

 

[WriterofWords]

Must be the season, right after I posted the above I was given 19 Guinea eggs!