Guinea Newbie Here - Need Advice!

[akf93]

I’m about 6 months into backyard birds. I have three 9 week old guineas being raised with 14 chicks. They are doing well in a temporary run beside the coop during the day (3.5 weeks) and in the coop at night (2.5 weeks). Hoping to free range them with my older flock from dawn to dusk in the next couple weeks.

I thought I did my research before getting them but now I’m reading conflicting things and I’m not sure what would be best for my situation. I want to be a responsible Guinea owner so looking for advice to make the best of my situation.

I’m thinking based on sound that I have two females and one male. But I could be very wrong. I also will have probably two roosters (a total of about 20+ hens). I don’t want drama on my little homestead. I’m busy and have lots of littles. I got guineas for their alert system abilities after we had a fox attack. But now I’m worried about what male to female ratio I should have. Also concerned about having a female or two without a male if I need to rehome him for being aggressive with my chickens.

Help! Because I feel like I’ve gotten myself into a mess and I’m feeling so bad about it!

 

[R2elk]

I’m about 6 months into backyard birds. I have three 9 week old guineas being raised with 14 chicks. They are doing well in a temporary run beside the coop during the day (3.5 weeks) and in the coop at night (2.5 weeks). Hoping to free range them with my older flock from dawn to dusk in the next couple weeks.

I thought I did my research before getting them but now I’m reading conflicting things and I’m not sure what would be best for my situation. I want to be a responsible Guinea owner so looking for advice to make the best of my situation.

I’m thinking based on sound that I have two females and one male. But I could be very wrong. I also will have probably two roosters (a total of about 20+ hens). I don’t want drama on my little homestead. I’m busy and have lots of littles. I got guineas for their alert system abilities after we had a fox attack. But now I’m worried about what male to female ratio I should have. Also concerned about having a female or two without a male if I need to rehome him for being aggressive with my chickens.

Help! Because I feel like I’ve gotten myself into a mess and I’m feeling so bad about it!

Guineas are flock birds and do best in large groups. It is best not to brood or raise or house guineas with chickens. Everything can seem fine until the first breeding season comes around.

Guineas need a lot more room than chickens need also.

Guineas do best when hen to cock ration is close to 1:1. It doesn't always work out that way though since you can only buy sexed guineas as adults. At one time I hatched a batch the 7 cocks and one hen. For a time I had 4 cocks and one hen.

I believe geese are a much better alarm system than guineas are. My geese only alarmed for real threats and it did not matter to them that what time of day or night it was.

My guineas will go off for reasons known only to them and keep alarming long after whatever caused it was over and done with it.

 

[akf93]

Guineas are flock birds and do best in large groups. It is best not to brood or raise or house guineas with chickens. Everything can seem fine until the first breeding season comes around.

Guineas need a lot more room than chickens need also.

Guineas do best when hen to cock ration is close to 1:1. It doesn't always work out that way though since you can only buy sexed guineas as adults. At one time I hatched a batch the 7 cocks and one hen. For a time I had 4 cocks and one hen.

I believe geese are a much better alarm system than guineas are. My geese only alarmed for real threats and it did not matter to them that what time of day or night it was.

My guineas will go off for reasons known only to them and keep alarming long after whatever caused it was over and done with it.

This is where I feel bad. I was told a few would be fine, that they’re monogamous, and that raising them with chicks IS best because they would learn to coop at night and teach the chicks to be better foragers. And now the more I read, the more I find out while some of this may be true, it’s NOT usually the best idea to do it this way. I don’t do sad birds. I want to do my best to make sure my ENTIRE flock is as happy as they can be. Oof. We do have a few acres though and no neighbors terribly close. With our set up, unnecessary noise *shouldnt* be a bother to us. I guess we will just take it day by day and see how things play out. Think I can convince my husband that we need to get a goose too?

 

[R2elk]

This is where I feel bad. I was told a few would be fine, that they’re monogamous, and that raising them with chicks IS best because they would learn to coop at night and teach the chicks to be better foragers. And now the more I read, the more I find out while some of this may be true, it’s NOT usually the best idea to do it this way. I don’t do sad birds. I want to do my best to make sure my ENTIRE flock is as happy as they can be. Oof. We do have a few acres though and no neighbors terribly close. With our set up, unnecessary noise *shouldnt* be a bother to us. I guess we will just take it day by day and see how things play out. Think I can convince my husband that we need to get a goose too?

Geese should not be raised as singles, They too need the company of their own kind but having just a pair of them is fine.

There is a lot of bad information about guineas on the Internet.

 

[SmiYa0126]

My guineas were great free rangers however they led the chickens into terrible situations, near the main road, into woods and deep shrubbery. Once I rehomed them and got a rooster my flock behaves much better. Ive never had greese so can't say anything to that, but guineas are very loud, even with three it will sound like machine guns going off, lol. I do LOVE them, they were so quirky and they loved me too. They ran towards me and let me hold them. I handled them alot. I lost all the girls to a fox and then got hens, but they didn't understand each other, and that's when I had to re-home them. I still miss them.

 

[akf93]

My guineas were great free rangers however they led the chickens into terrible situations, near the main road, into woods and deep shrubbery. Once I rehomed them and got a rooster my flock behaves much better. Ive never had greese so can't say anything to that, but guineas are very loud, even with three it will sound like machine guns going off, lol. I do LOVE them, they were so quirky and they loved me too. They ran towards me and let me hold them. I handled them alot. I lost all the girls to a fox and then got hens, but they didn't understand each other, and that's when I had to re-home them. I still miss them.

Does Guinea to chicken ratio matter? Since I have 14 chicks being raised with 3 guineas, are the chickens more likely to wear off on the guineas than the other way around? Or is a guineas influence still pretty strong over the chickens? We also have a state highway along our property. And we live in the woods which my chickens LOVE but I don’t want them going deep into them.

And personal opinions: would I be better to start finding them homes now before they start free ranging? Or do you think I’m good to play it out? I understand it’s hard to say but just getting a feel. I’m really excited to raise guineas but chickens are my priority and happy birds all around is a MUST.

 

[R2elk]

Does Guinea to chicken ratio matter? Since I have 14 chicks being raised with 3 guineas, are the chickens more likely to wear off on the guineas than the other way around? Or is a guineas influence still pretty strong over the chickens? We also have a state highway along our property. And we live in the woods which my chickens LOVE but I don’t want them going deep into them.

And personal opinions: would I be better to start finding them homes now before they start free ranging? Or do you think I’m good to play it out? I understand it’s hard to say but just getting a feel. I’m really excited to raise guineas but chickens are my priority and happy birds all around is a MUST.

Guineas are not and never will behave like chickens. They have entirely different instincts than any other poultry have. Three guineas aren't enough for them to have proper flock dynamics.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I heard that chickens do make the guineas more tame when raised together, however mine weren't raised together.

 

[R2elk]

I heard that chickens do make the guineas more tame when raised together, however mine weren't raised together.

Lots of people make that false claim. Raising keets with chicks causes the keets to lose the ability to understand that there is a difference between chickens and guineas. The chickens pay for it when breeding season kicks in along with the primal instincts the guineas have. The chickens do not understand the races and chases along with the attacks from behind with the feather pulling and feather breaking.

The chickens have no idea how to show submission the way guineas understand it. This can cause great stress to the chickens or other non guinea fowl. Without the ability to show submission in a way a guinea can understand it, the attacks can get worse including to the point where chickens get killed.

 

[akf93]

Lots of people make that false claim. Raising keets with chicks causes the keets to lose the ability to understand that there is a difference between chickens and guineas. The chickens pay for it when breeding season kicks in along with the primal instincts the guineas have. The chickens do not understand the races and chases along with the attacks from behind with the feather pulling and feather breaking.

The chickens have no idea how to show submission the way guineas understand it. This can cause great stress to the chickens or other non guinea fowl. Without the ability to show submission in a way a guinea can understand it, the attacks can get worse including to the point where chickens get killed.

So would you vote to start looking to rehome now? With my second rooster (a surprise!), I knew it was going to be a problem but I waited until I could see the start of problems arising. Can I do the same with guineas in hopes everything ends up hunky-dory? Or do I do something now before they (probably) inevitably negatively effect my chickens? Either way, it sounds as though I’ll have to at least get rid of the male if I intend to keep a rooster. And if I get rid of the male, I shouldn’t have females. Is this correct based on your experience and knowledge?