guinea fowl some questions? are they worth raising?

[itsasmallfarm]

hello everyone i have a few questions about guineas.

1. how tough are guinea eggs and keets to raise and keep? i have someone who would like me to incubate some eggs for them in return they would pay me or could give me a few keets to raise, so how tough are they i have only raised chicken chicks so far and had some pretty good success raising them. next are they like turkeys? i have heard there tough to raise like turkeys.

2. could i house them with turkeys? i know i should not do mixed flocks besides ones like ducks and geese (which i am getting geese this coming fall) and i know chickens can carry black head which can be fatal to turkeys but could i raise turkeys and guinea fowl together?

3. how many eggs to they lay a year? and how do they taste?

thanks for reading and any help you can provide itsasmallfarm out

 

[PD-Riverman]

hello everyone i have a few questions about guineas.

1. how tough are guinea eggs and keets to raise and keep? i have someone who would like me to incubate some eggs for them in return they would pay me or could give me a few keets to raise, so how tough are they i have only raised chicken chicks so far and had some pretty good success raising them. next are they like turkeys? i have heard there tough to raise like turkeys.

2. could i house them with turkeys? i know i should not do mixed flocks besides ones like ducks and geese (which i am getting geese this coming fall) and i know chickens can carry black head which can be fatal to turkeys but could i raise turkeys and guinea fowl together?

3. how many eggs to they lay a year? and how do they taste?

thanks for reading and any help you can provide itsasmallfarm out

I never Mix Nothing---not even different breeds of chickens if I am going to raise/hatch chicks. I would suggest separate pens.

Raising guinea's are no harder than raising chicks. Keep them warm from hatch to feathered out. They taste great, but some say not as good as chicken, and I agree but still good.

They only lay eggs for a certain time during the year--and a lot have already started early this year because of it being warmer. I never have kept up with how many one hen lays a season, but I am sure you can search that info.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

I never Mix Nothing---not even different breeds of chickens if I am going to raise/hatch chicks. I would suggest separate pens.

Raising guinea's are no harder than raising chicks. Keep them warm from hatch to feathered out. They taste great, but some say not as good as chicken, and I agree but still good.

They only lay eggs for a certain time during the year--and a lot have already started early this year because of it being warmer. I never have kept up with how many one hen lays a season, but I am sure you can search that info.

that you, so would you say that raising guineas is worth it?

 

[PD-Riverman]

that you, so would you say that raising guineas is worth it?

For me---Very Much So!!

Once I became a breeder---raising 27 different breeds of chickens, peafowl, guinea's, pheasants, etc-----I never let my Guinea's out to free range because when I did that a few years back I lost almost 30 in a week or so. I started keeping them in pens-----I have only raised the Pearls and the powder blue. I hatched every egg they layed and sold the chicks. Wished I had of had a lot more guinea hens.

 

[KarateHorse]

Guineas and turkeys are great friends. Once our guineas and turkeys got done with their pecking order they got along great. Our two guineas follow our two turkeys around all day. We also have a friend who has guineas and a wild turkey came into his yard and was hanging out with the guineas.

 

[ludwing]

Guineas and turkeys are great friends. Once our guineas and turkeys got done with their pecking order they got along great. Our two guineas follow our two turkeys around all day. We also have a friend who has guineas and a wild turkey came into his yard and was hanging out with the guineas.

Katehorse. thats the way it appears to me,same as peafowl.
you can mix guineas with turkeys, and yes every bird has its own pecking order. once the pecking order is managed they get along each very well. i dint know, mybe it happen to everyone. we have a turkey raised guinea flock, they hang together like a one feathered birds. they follow the turkey hens all day long and roost together in trees outside.
about laying, guineas are good layers. it can be very hard to tell how many eggs they lay a year, it depend on the lattitude thru its axis. in that in some regions breeding might kick later due to the arrival of late downfall. a sungle hen usually lay a clutch of 15 or 20 and will go broody twice a year. if the nest is robbed, she may lay more eggs than usually up to 120 eggs a year ( counted from my guinea hen who i robbed her, thru the year).

best wishes

 

[KarateHorse]

[COLOR=006400]Katehorse. thats the way it appears to me,same as peafowl.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=008000]you can mix guineas with turkeys, and yes every bird has its own pecking order. once the pecking order is managed they get along each very well. i dint know, mybe it happen to everyone.  we have a turkey raised guinea flock, they hang together like a one feathered birds. they follow the turkey hens all day long and roost together in trees outside.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=008000]about laying, guineas are good layers. it can be very hard to tell how many eggs they lay a year, it depend on the lattitude thru its axis. in that in some regions breeding might kick later due to the arrival of late downfall. a sungle hen  usually lay a clutch of 15 or 20 and will go broody twice a year. if the nest is robbed, she may lay more eggs than usually up to 120 eggs a year ( counted from my guinea hen who i robbed her, thru the year).[/COLOR]

[COLOR=008000]best wishes[/COLOR]

That's cool that most turkeys and guineas stick togther I wonder why they like each other so much.

 

[ludwing]

That's cool that most turkeys and guineas stick togther I wonder why they like each other so much.

the peahens chases any guinea hen or cock that came near, but if its a turkey they get along very well. im founding my self out that turkeys are calm birds. because even ducks hang around turkeys but peafowls