Differences between regular Guinea and Jumbo Guinea

[hesshatcreek]

I've gotten some Jumbo Guinea and have noticed they are different from my other guineas in the respect that they don't eat Mealworms (just give them a hairy eyeball) and they don't seem to care for white millet. As they are just a couple of months old I still have them penned but I'm wondering now if I made a mistake in getting them. I let my guinea free range for their bug eating abilities. My flock even killed a rattle snake! Do the Jumbo's not eat bugs? Thanks!

 

[GlennLee]

Welcome hesshatcreek to the Backyard Chicken Forum!

I have a flock of 15 Jumbo Guineas - I'm new to all of this, but have learned a lot in the past 3 months! Mine do eat meal worms and white millet, but I have to say, they prefer their food. Oh, one thing I have noticed is that they get really upset if the meal worms are in their feeder - they prefer to peck at them from the floor. I have seem them eat bugs, so I think you're going to be okay with them eventually. I only feed them in the evening to get them to come back into the coop - about an hour before sunset. They come into the ringing of a cow bell. Very comical to watch....

How old are yours? How many do you have?

You will find the French Guineas (Jumbo) tend to hop and glide more than fly. I have hop benches to help them get up to their perches. I think it's because of their extra weight. One of our neighbors who has had both - Jumbos and Pearls - thought the Jumbos didn't seem to wander as far from the house and stayed around better than their Pearls. I can't say that I've had that experience to share yet, but I am going to be adding some female Pearls to my flock soon. I'm 2/3 male and 1/3 female at this point and want to try to even things out a bit. I'll have more comparisons after I have had the Pearls mixed in for a while.

Good luck and enjoy!