At what point....

[Czech's_chicks]

Do they start to grow on you? This is by far the ugliest bird I have ever seen! I got one to try and it's wild, noisy, ugly and I'm just not finding the aww moment I do with my other birds. What am I missing? Why can't I seem to find anything endearing about it? It's a lavender and not sure if it's a hen or not and currently with my poults.

 

[perchie.girl]

Czech's_chicks :

Do they start to grow on you? This is by far the ugliest bird I have ever seen! I got one to try and it's wild, noisy, ugly and I'm just not finding the aww moment I do with my other birds. What am I missing? Why can't I seem to find anything endearing about it? It's a lavender and not sure if it's a hen or not and currently with my poults.

Does it say Buck Wheat Buck Wheat all the time? If so its a female. If it is just a Chi Chi Chi noise thats a male. They are very wild in nature but eventually he/she will calm down some. but they aren't the friendly sort. Best you can do is get em curious and offer a treat they love white millet. They love mirrors too it sort of calms them as well.

I have 40 right now youngsters still molting that last bit of fluff on their necks. As Keets they are absolutely cutest little chipmunk striped fluffs on speed..... LOL. I call it Jack booting. Stomping and running all over. Much much more active than Chickens.

Hope you grow to like them for their good qualities.... Burglar alarm, bugging, Small snake wrangling.....The bare necks kind of got me at first but then I got turkeys and that took care of that.... LOL.​

 

[SassyKat6181]

They are quite ugly. Mine are just starting to get the color on their faces and wattles. I have 11 and they definitely do better in a big group. They are a hoot to watch while free ranging though. They will go through the fence and then wonder how to get back.

Or when the majority of the group decide to wander around the back of the barn and one dumb boy will get left behind and sit on the fence screaching until the others come back to "save him" Ok, I'm not helping here

Give it time, but Guineas are not for everyone.

 

[PeepsCA]

When I got my very first 7 16 week olds years and years ago I too thought they were absolutely FUGLY! YUck, who's dirty trick was it to stick such an ugly head and neck onto such pretty plumage! And the noise when I let them out of their pen the very first time.... OMG, they were CHI-CHI-CHI-CHI-CHI squawking at everything, made my dogs howl and my horses run, lol. My neighbors WAY up the hill even called and asked what all the racket was, lol.

I'd say it took a year or so for them to grow on me... I think about the time a couple Hens hatched out some adorable clutches of keets for me... that was it, I was hooked. Not to mention the tick and snake population on my acreage was significantly reduced, bigtime, and rather quickly. So yah, I was hooked. From then on I have not had less than 30 of them running around on my land ( and right now I'm close to 100, lol). I'll never not have Guineas, ugly or not, you get used to it (especially if you have turkeys like deb mentioned, lol) and they really do earn their keep!

 

[Cindy in PA]

I fell in love when Gilbert my stray male showed up. I now have my other 6 adults 5 weeks and I am fascinated by them. They are really getting to go wild over their evening millet, just like my little Gilbie. Gilbert will stand right by me now & not run, since he is constantly at the guinea pen. I can't wait to let them loose in a few weeks, but I am very afraid that I will lose them! I have been a chicken owner for over 18 years, but I really think I like guineas better! I have not found them to be too noisy as of yet, they let loose a couple times a day, but usually it's only for a minute or so. I am definitely planning more for next year. I have been getting 3 eggs a day from 3 females for about 3 weeks also. They are really neat birds & I can't wait to raise keets next year. I just hope I have some of my 7 until then.

 

[PeepsCA]

3 eggs a day saved up for 10 days is almost a full incubator load! Or at least enough to stick under a couple broodies! Why wait until next year? I'd start hatching some keets now so they are ready to be turned out to free range by early spring

 

[jcatblum]

My husband is not into birds at all & he says guinea keets are cuter than chicks. Maybe you should have started with a dozen keets?
On a side note, keets act nothing like chicks!

 

[TarheelBirdy]

I love them ever since I got my first two pairs. If you are only going to have a small number, maybe you would enjoy a M-F pair. They stay together all the time and mine are very calm - they only get loud if something alarms them, and it has to be something pretty serious and persistent. Contrary to what I had heard, they do not "sound the alarm" when someone drives up, or when the dog gets close, etc.

The keets are adorable but mine are wild (eight weeks old) and I doubt will ever let a person close to them since they only see me twice a day.

I just adore the way Guineas are funny and beautiful and ugly and quirky and unique.

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote:
LOL... pull in thru my ranch gates and you'll hear a different tune

I have 100+ birds right now, one goes off, they all go off