can i put guinea hens and chickens together?

[monster1]

i am thinking of raising some guineas for meat and eco- bug control. can i raise chickens and guineas together?

thanks

 

[ChristmasKathy]

Yes.
When we had a flock years ago we did.
However the guineas usually got out and roamed around the yard which was fine too.
Until they kept chasing us; but they were more or less a guard dog type.
They keep snakes away too.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Mine all free range together. The guineas kind of turn into bullies in the evening, when it is time to go to roost, but for the most part, they get along fine. I do have one guinea roo that likes to pull my banty roosters' tail feathers out on occasion though.

 

[feathersgalore]

Mine get along as long as they get out everyday. Sometimes when they must be penned up the guineas will chase the chickens.

 

[cmom]

I have never had guineas but my neighbor did with his chickens and geese. The guineas roosted in the trees, the chickens in the coop, and I don't remember what the geese did, but we live in Florida.

 

[SterlingAcres]

I have guineas in with my chickens at the moment, with no problems at all. Once they bulk up a bit, I'll let them out to free range. I don't trust them right now. They aren't very bright.

 

[okiechick57]

I had them in with my flock for a long time,then all of the sudden they started beating the snot (for lack of a better word lol) out of my hens.........I got rid of them.....but.......I miss them bad........I had more boys than girl guineas though so thought maybe that was why? hope it works well for you, I would go for it and just wait and see, some have no problems !

 

[monster1]

well, i guess i'll try it. if they don't get along with the chickens i guess i'll be eating lots of guinea hen! do they have a strong instinct to stay at home like chickens or will they flee if left to their own device? last question how do they do with geese in the yard if they are out too?

 

[shelleyd2008]

I don't know about geese and guineas, but a friend of mine has geese ducks guineas and chickens all running around, and I don't think there are any problems there. Guineas will usually stay home, as far as I know. once they learn where home is. I have 5 adults that I bought about a month ago, and they have stayed around so far. I have been told that they need to be confined for 6 weeks, where you want them to roost, before they learn where to go.

 

[Akane]

Guineas can be trained to return to a coop but it isn't as natural to them as to chickens. If they are just turned loose immediately they may disapear to never return. You should keep them confined until they decide your place is home. After that they will return every night but they have a tendency to roost in trees or on the roof instead of in the coop. It may take gathering them up and shoving them inside a few nights along with locking them up in the coop as needed to get them to go in the coop every night.