GUINEA FOWL THREAD

[guineapeeps]

I

I forgot to mention mine are 3 months old.

You may be able to get a bit more for them than $5 each, considering that someone doesn't have to keep them in a brooder or under a heat lamp anymore since they are older and feathered out.

 

[jasonropp]

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I noticed the old guinea thread had kind of finished so i thought I would make a new one.
Share pictures,information and ideas about guinea fowl!

I have been reading that guinea henss will help alert my chickens when danger is near, primarily birds of prey, common in my area.

My yard is not zoned to have roosters, and my chickens are in a covered run majority of the day, but I'd like to let them free range in the yard the last couple hours of the day.

Last night, a hawk was in our tree, scoping out my chickens, and my neighbors chickens.

First, do Guinea hens truly work to protect the flock in this way?

If so, can one intermingle with my chickens, will they coop all together?

 

[R2elk]

I have been reading that guinea hens will help alert my chickens when danger is near, primarily birds of prey, common in my area.

My yard is not zoned to have roosters, and my chickens are in a covered run majority of the day, but I'd like to let them free range in the yard the last couple hours of the day.

Last night, a hawk was in our tree, scoping out my chickens, and my neighbors chickens.

First, do Guinea hens truly work to protect the flock in this way?

If so, can one intermingle with my chickens, will they coop all together?

If you are not permitted to have roosters, it is very unlikely that it will be okay to have guineas since they are much louder than a rooster is.

Guineas may make an alarm because of a predator but they may also make an alarm just because you wore a different color shirt than you normally wear. Their alarms can go on for long periods of time well after they have forgotten what caused the alarm.

I had a Great Horned Owl sitting in one of my trees a few days ago and there was never a sound out of my guineas. I would not count on guineas to protect my chickens.

Guineas are a flock bird and do best in large groups. I recommend a minimum of 10 for a flock. Their mannerisms are different than any other poultry and their behavior is only understood by other guineas. I had guineas in with my other poultry. Because of their behavior and the amount of stress they caused to the other poultry, I now house my guineas separately.

 

[jasonropp]

Thank you for the feedback. I can check to see if they are allowed since roosters or not, but regardless, sounds like they might be in effective for what I am looking for.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to keep the birds of prey at bay? I do have a large Ron that is fully covered on top and sides. I also have a small chicken tractor, so I may just need to count on being outside when they are free ranging.

 

[R2elk]

Thank you for the feedback. I can check to see if they are allowed since roosters or not, but regardless, sounds like they might be in effective for what I am looking for.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to keep the birds of prey at bay? I do have a large Ron that is fully covered on top and sides. I also have a small chicken tractor, so I may just need to count on being outside when they are free ranging.

This is just one item that has been mentioned in another forum.

https://reedjoseph.com/products/pyrotechnics/

 

[jasonropp]

This is just one item that has been mentioned in another forum.

https://reedjoseph.com/products/pyrotechnics/

Seriously? I have seen loud firecrackers used on commercial vineyards in an auto loader/detonator, but I'm just a backyard chicken owner, pretty sure constant detonations would be more annoying to me and my neighbors, then a rooster or Guinea hens.
Short from installing a circus tent , I guess my chickens will free range when I can be constantly present with them... Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[guineapeeps]

Seriously? I have seen loud firecrackers used on commercial vineyards in an auto loader/detonator, but I'm just a backyard chicken owner, pretty sure constant detonations would be more annoying to me and my neighbors, then a rooster or Guinea hens.
Short from installing a circus tent , I guess my chickens will free range when I can be constantly present with them... Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

I only have Guineas, no chickens. I can say that Guineas do alarm loudly when there is a predator or others danger present. However, sometimes they stand up to predators as a big gang, thereby getting themselves eaten. The males seem to get picked off more than the hens since they try to protect the rest of the flock. I see an occasional hawk or eagle fly over my place but my main predators this year has been fox and coyote. I have started leaving a radio on outside of my coop during the day. I generally try to keep it tuned to talk radio or something with more talk than music. This seems to have helped quite a bit and I have not lost any further birds since doing this. Not sure if it will work with Hawks, but it might be worth a try!

 

[jasonropp]

I only have Guineas, no chickens. I can say that Guineas do alarm loudly when there is a predator or others danger present. However, sometimes they stand up to predators as a big gang, thereby getting themselves eaten. The males seem to get picked off more than the hens since they try to protect the rest of the flock. I see an occasional hawk or eagle fly over my place but my main predators this year has been fox and coyote. I have started leaving a radio on outside of my coop during the day. I generally try to keep it tuned to talk radio or something with more talk than music. This seems to have helped quite a bit and I have not lost any further birds since doing this. Not sure if it will work with Hawks, but it might be worth a try!

Very interesting... I will have to be careful to pick the right talk radio show so my birds don't get too opinionated one way or the other. Ha ha Ha

Is the talk radio intended for fox and coyote, or for birds of prey as well?

 

[guineapeeps]

Very interesting... I will have to be careful to pick the right talk radio show so my birds don't get too opinionated one way or the other. Ha ha Ha

Is the talk radio intended for fox and coyote, or for birds of prey as well?

It's mostly for fox and coyote. I'm am surrounded by corn on all sides and these two predators seem to hide in the corn and wait for the birds to come near and pick them off. I lost several adults and 9 baby Guineas earlier this summer so I tried putting out the radio each day and have not lost any since. I'm thinking it may work for birds of prey as well because I've not seen any Hawks or Eagles since and before this, I would see them every few days or so. One other reason I think this may work for predatory birds is that our wild rabbit population has exploded lately. Before this summer, I rarely saw any rabbits and I think the Hawks and Eagles were eating them. Now, I have a whole gang of,rabbits that hang out by the coop. I think they know that the guineas will sound the alarm if a predator is around.
As for the talk radio station, my birds are subject to my personal leanings/beliefs so they have been brainwashed and conformed to my way of thinking! I'm wondering if the predators are really just avoiding my place so they don't have to all the political commentary!

 

[jasonropp]

The radio is very interesting... And the rabbits hanging close by for security makes sense as well.
Maybe the birds of prey are not your talk radio favorable, thus avoiding the "commentary"... Better not change the station to find out.
And at least your birds see your point of view, so there should never be any revolts!