Do guinea fowl and chickens go together?

[Catykin]

I have two chickens, thinking about getting more, but do you know if guinea fowl can be housed with chickens?

(I think they are beautiful.)
Do they have any different special needs to chooks (chickens) or are they similar enough?

I only have hens. Thanks.

 

[hikerchick]

I keep mine together. They get along just fine - they roost together.

 

[ixnay]

My guinea fowl were about 8 weeks old when i got them, and they were raised by a hen. They seem to think they are chickens. My chickens, however, are a bit skeptical. Not mean, just not entirely convinced. The first night that the guineas went to roost in with the chickens, there was much consternation. Now (a week later) everything is fine. The guineas have learned that there may be treats when I go out in the yard, and that the Barred Rock is NOT "one of them" (you should have seen her horror at being pursued by 5 guineas!).

Shorter answer: yes, chickens and guineas go together just fine, at least in my brief experience.

 

[damselfish]

Ours don't really run together, but they weren't raised together either. The guineas were mean to the young chickens who came after them, but it was never to the point of blood or feather-pulling. The hens who were before the guineas maintained their dominance with no problem.

At this point we have two chickens who roost peacefully in the guinea coop, but no vice versa.

Some guineas (and chickens) are just jerks, so do keep an eye on them.

Have fun!

 

[shelleyd2008]

My guineas do all right with birds that have been here a while, but any new birds (or my dad's RIR, when let out to free range) get bullied quite a bit. But the guineas just kind of run them off, they don't really hurt them.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I have one guinea hen. She thinks she is a chicken. She came from a place where there were lots of other guineas and lots of chickens. She always hung with the chickens, ate and slept with them too. She is my EE roos hen now LOL He tries to mate her.

 

[Catykin]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[hikerchick]

BTW we have 17 guineas and we are sort of thinking that is just not enough.

 

[Pit Bull Farm]

I have 9 guineas and 11 chicken and they all get along well. They were not raised together but get along just fine

 

[keatonskeets]

I have 9 barred rocks and 10 guineas (both still young).
I think it would depend on:

1. chicken breed.............(a barred rock wouldn't hurt a fly, a RIR might)
2. size
3. chicken to guinea ratio......(GUINEAS ARE STRONGER IN NUMBERS!)
4. Give them room to separate

My guineas are dominant over the chickens. But might not be the same story if you put 1 keet in a flock of aggressive chickens. And vise versa