Guinea help for Dummies (ME!)

[speckledhen]

Margaret, what color guineas do you have?

 

[mergmet]

I have pearl, white, lavendar, I think purple but they obviously have some pearl in them and some various pied.

I hope to recapture enough for some hatching eggs in the spring.

the pearls are really the only ones free ranging, and of course there are more of those than any other!!!

M

 

[speckledhen]

I'll definitely consider putting some guinea eggs under a broody this spring, providing I get several to go broody. I miss my goonie-birds alot, especially when I see pictures of them. I like the lavenders and the purples and the pearls are probably best for camouflage in my woods.

 

[chickenlisa]

This is all so interesting to read. I think I'll go the route of buying eggs and putting them under some of my broodies....when that happens. So if any of you Guinea owners can let me know what kinds you have and what your prices and shipping costs would be, I'll start thinking about that. I'm in 08865 BTW. and I will probably be thinking about April/May timeframe. But nothing is written in stone yet, as the hens will dictate when they go broody.

Thanks
Lisa

 

[mergmet]

mine haven't started laying yet, but please keep me in mind

I will update my web site when they do, around here its usually april when the guineas start.

Margaret

 

[chickenannie]

I bought 6 guinea keets from a local farm and kept them in a cage on grass till they were 6 weeks old (moving them inside to a heated place at night). At 6 weeks I moved them to a bigger cage until they were 3 months. After that they've been left to free-range. After a few days of me trying to "get" them to roost high on trees or fence, etc., they started roosting in the henhouse with the hens. I couldn't really stop them from that although I worry that their loud chirping keeps the hens up at night.

Mine never fly high, and I've wondered if somehow I "taught" them not to fly since their cage wasn't very tall - 2-3 feet high for the first 3 months of life. They seem to get along fine with the chickens, although they keep to themselves when they free range, and yes, they behave very differently. Very group-oriented. They don't range any farther than my chickens though. I had wanted them to sleep in the trees as friendly "watchdogs" but they chose to be in the henhouse so they're not exactly the watchdogs I wanted! Their noise DOES get annoying, just a warning!

One of mine was attacked by a dog last fall and I thought he was a goner, but I kept him in a hospital pen for 3 days and after that he recuperated 100% and is out with the rest.

Best of luck with yours!

 

[Katy]

Quote:
One of my grandsons used to call them goonies when he was just 4 or 5. He spent hours trying to trap some in an empty dog kennel!!

 

[chickenlisa]

Thanks Margaret, I will keep you in mind. I have a Turken hen and a few Black Australorps, and some EE's who should make good broody hens for me. Do any of you recommend any one of them over the others?
I really will try to separate one or two of them when they go broody and put chicken, duck, and guinea eggs under her (them.) Not sure if my Swedish and Cayuga ducks will sit long enough to hatch any of their eggs. We're making nesting boxes right now for our Mandarins, so hopefully later this summer we'll have mixed chicks, Blue Swedish ducklings, Cayuga ducklings, and Mandarin ducklings to sell and guinea keets to raise.....

Lisa (who is getting impatient for Spring!)

 

[razorfamilyfarms]

We have six guinea fowl (4 male, 2 female) which we raised from keets and are now free ranging. Five (4 male, 1 female) of them stick together and try to run off the other female. The loner female constanly calls to them and acts stressed, which in turn makes the other 5 call out and act stressed as well. They do more screaming at each other than grazing. I don't know if it is because we just started free ranging them or if they are truly trying to run her off. Has anyone seen this sort of behavior before?
What can we do?

 

[chickenannie]

Razorfamily,
I am no expert, but my 5 guineas are 3 males and 2 females, and they tend to all pick on one of the smallest guineas, but then I guess they forget about it and the rest of the time they hang together. I only see them having occassional fights like you mention.