Guinea advice?

[MillersFarm]

Guineas.. I told myself I would never have those loud, annoying, wild creatures on my farm! Yet here I am now.. So long story short, I Bought 4 guineas along with some royal palm turkeys sometime in August, 3 turned out to be males. A couple months passed and I think it was late December when I found an ad on craigslist that said 'Guinea hens for sale' Went and bought 8.. One out of the 8 was a male. It's now January and they guy I bought the guineas from said he had three more hens he could sell to me and I said i'd take them.. Now my question is, What would the hen to rooster ratio for guineas be? I want to try and avoid over-breeding problems.. So after I get the three hens i'll have 11 hens for 4 roosters.. To me that doesn't sound like enough hens but what do I know? So to all of those guinea experts out there, What's a good amount of hens for 4 roosters? Also, What should I be feeding them..? Right now they're on grower/finisher feed with oyster shells out next to their feed. Is there anything else I should be asking about these guys? If you have anything else you might want to let me know go right on ahead.. All replies will be greatly appreciated~!

 

[DrFrank]

The hen to rooster ratio is never actually studied with guineafowl. 11 Hens and 4 Roosters is a good ratio, as guineafowl roosters are not rough on the hens, but good luck finding the nests as these birds are great at hiding them. I hope you enjoy them.

 

[MillersFarm]

The hen to rooster ratio is never actually studied with guineafowl. 11 Hens and 4 Roosters is a good ratio, as guineafowl roosters are not rough on the hens, but good luck finding the nests as these birds are great at hiding them. I hope you enjoy them.

Well, It's good to know i'll have a good ratio then, Thank you~ The nest part did come in mind.. They will be mostly free ranged like my originals but during part of the laying season for guineas I do plan on putting them in an enclosed run/coop so I'll be able to collect and hatch some eggs.. But after that I plan on free ranging them all to keep the tick population down.. Thank you for the great tip.

 

[R2elk]

Guineas.. I told myself I would never have those loud, annoying, wild creatures on my farm! Yet here I am now.. So long story short, I Bought 4 guineas along with some royal palm turkeys sometime in August, 3 turned out to be males. A couple months passed and I think it was late December when I found an ad on craigslist that said 'Guinea hens for sale' Went and bought 8.. One out of the 8 was a male. It's now January and they guy I bought the guineas from said he had three more hens he could sell to me and I said i'd take them.. Now my question is, What would the hen to rooster ratio for guineas be? I want to try and avoid over-breeding problems.. So after I get the three hens i'll have 11 hens for 4 roosters.. To me that doesn't sound like enough hens but what do I know? So to all of those guinea experts out there, What's a good amount of hens for 4 roosters? Also, What should I be feeding them..? Right now they're on grower/finisher feed with oyster shells out next to their feed. Is there anything else I should be asking about these guys? If you have anything else you might want to let me know go right on ahead.. All replies will be greatly appreciated~!

The normal ratio of male to female for guineas is 1 to 1. Since some guinea males are not satisfied with just one mate, I prefer to have a couple more hens than cocks. I currently have 6 cocks and 7 hens.

Guineas are not chickens and what you know about chickens does not necessarily apply to guineas. Even if you have 2 hens and 6 cocks, there will not be over breeding. The more hens that you have with fewer cocks, the more likely it is to have some infertile eggs. In my opinion 11 hens to only 4 cocks is not a good ratio. I would be trying to have about 8 to 10 cocks for 11 hens. They really do tend to pair off.

Read Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA

 

[Welshies]

Here is a great article.

 

[MillersFarm]

The normal ratio of male to female for guineas is 1 to 1. Since some guinea males are not satisfied with just one mate, I prefer to have a couple more hens than cocks. I currently have 6 cocks and 7 hens.

Guineas are not chickens and what you know about chickens does not necessarily apply to guineas. Even if you have 2 hens and 6 cocks, there will not be over breeding. The more hens that you have with fewer cocks, the more likely it is to have some infertile eggs. In my opinion 11 hens to only 4 cocks is not a good ratio. I would be trying to have about 8 to 10 cocks for 11 hens. They really do tend to pair off.

Read Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA

Really? Huh, Well I do plan on breeding the guineas so if I end up some more roosters i'll keep a couple.. Thank you for the link, i'll be reading that for sure.. Just so long as my birds are happy i'm happy. Thanks again for replying~

 

[Wickedchicken6]

The normal ratio of male to female for guineas is 1 to 1. Since some guinea males are not satisfied with just one mate, I prefer to have a couple more hens than cocks. I currently have 6 cocks and 7 hens.

Guineas are not chickens and what you know about chickens does not necessarily apply to guineas. Even if you have 2 hens and 6 cocks, there will not be over breeding. The more hens that you have with fewer cocks, the more likely it is to have some infertile eggs. In my opinion 11 hens to only 4 cocks is not a good ratio. I would be trying to have about 8 to 10 cocks for 11 hens. They really do tend to pair off.

Read Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA

I concur with R2Elk's information; my guineas tended to pair up last year exactly as mentioned. I was worried I had too many males. Not the case. 100% of the eggs were fertile.
It was rather sweet to see them perusing about in pairs.

 

[justin shrew]

i migh agree with R2elk, in somehow.

many people think guineafowls are like domestic chickens, but in thru nature, they are way too different than you think. when it comes to breeding lanes, guineas fowl have their own ways of breeding. the females are totally monogamous than males who may seek a new partner if the first hen went to broody. a ratio of 11 to 4 is not good enough. some females in the flock may lay infertile eggs. it is rare to find a male guinea parred with 3 hens. and usaully the alfa males pair with experienced adult hens than younger hens.

you may have to provide them a grower fed ut in some little amout if they free range, as that they can get all the nutrition they need in their wanderings.

 

[sillyfab]

Here is a great article.

good article thank you