At what age do Guineas begin to talk.

[turtlemh]

Hello,

I have 3 Guineas that are almost a week old now. They make funny sounds but when will they make their calls that distinguish if they are male or female?

 

[pattyhen]

Right now they are probably making their little chirping noises. At about 6-8 weeks old mine started with their adult voices. The female makes like a buck wheat noise and the male has the single word noise. Then they have what I call a machine gun noise. You will know it when they start. My male has always been more talkative then the female. He makes noises all the time. His waddles are much bigger then the females and they hang down on the side of his beak. The females are small and more attached looking. The male walks in more upright position then the female and he has always looked bigger then her. She now weighs more then he does but he appears to be larger then her.

 

[Waldomtnman]

The females will start making a sound that sounds like potrack, potrack or some people call it buckwheat, buckwheat when they are about six weeks old and soon this will fill the air, they all make a lot of noise anytime something out of the ordinary disturbs their normal routine or when they are fighting among themselves.
You can sometimes distinguish the females from the males by the smaller helmet on top of their heads and smaller waddles on their cheeks. The females are usually smaller than the males but I have one female that breaks all these rules and is larger than most of the boys.

 

[redsoxs]

Thanks for the guinea talk tutorial, waldomtman. I have been at a total loss as to why mine are seemingly constantly chattering. They don't seem to be agitated and there is nothing new in the environment - they just make nonstop racket. I do have them mingling with chickens and geese but they don't really seem to pay attention to them so I don't understand the racket. Sometimes it's like a hoarse scolding sound - like when I close their coop at night. But mostly its that 'potrack' sound you describe. But like I said, I can drive my noisy riding lawnmower three feet from them and they don't even scare so when things are "normal" in the yard I have no clue why they are so vocal. I have six only. If I had 20 or more guineas I am sure I would have at least 75% hearing loss by now! This is my first go with them and I am really enjoying them so far. They stick close to home (they are about 4 months old) and are a blast to watch chasing insects.

 

[Waldomtnman]

When they are young (first year to two) the noise will be more noticeable as any young they are finding their voices, it is good there is a lot of Potracking which means you have multiple hens and not all boys. They will mellow out some but their nature is a noisy one most of the time.
They also will learn that the exhaust chute of the lawn mower is full of good things especially bugs and will follow you all over the yard chasing those bugs. Just trying not to run over them may at times be a challenge once they really get used to the machine. You will really have to be cognoscente of your surroundings when mowing with them out of the pen.
They are wild birds so they are not going to act like the chickens, they are just hyper animals all their waking moments.
I think you will really enjoy them and be thankful for the lack of bugs especially ticks in the area of the homestead.

 

[Waldomtnman]

P.S. I collect my hens eggs and incubate them to sell the young every summer, right now I have about two hundred from baby keets to 12/14 weeks old in addition to the orginal twenty so I get to hear a lot of noise around here. There is about three incubators still going and the hens are just now starting to slow laying so by the time they quit and they all hatch the count will probably be around 250. At this point it becomes a full time part time hobby until I sell some, it normally takes until early spring to sell them all but it is a lot of fun.

 

[GlennLee]

P.S. I collect my hens eggs and incubate them to sell the young every summer, right now I have about two hundred from baby keets to 12/14 weeks old in addition to the orginal twenty so I get to hear a lot of noise around here. There is about three incubators still going and the hens are just now starting to slow laying so by the time they quit and they all hatch the count will probably be around 250. At this point it becomes a full time part time hobby until I sell some, it normally takes until early spring to sell them all but it is a lot of fun.

Oh my gosh! I can't even imagine having that many. I have 14 (French Guineas) and am in the process of adding a few female Pearls to the mix. I recently bought 6 total and am pulling out the males and re-homing them to my neighbor down the road. I know I have at least 3 females, possibly 4. My "straight run" of French Guineas that I purchased as mail order keets ended up very male heavy about 2/3 of the flock and I'm trying to even things out a bit. That's why my flock was so quiet! Only 1/3 females... that will change, but they range on 10 acres and the noise usually isn't a problem for us, thank goodness. Enjoy! They are an entertaining bunch!