Guinea Ranging Question

apolishluck

In the Brooder
6 Years
May 2, 2013
12
0
22
I am days away from possibly owning a pair of guinea's and im going into "responsibility mode." Whether they will be male or female or both [really would just prefer JUST hens or JUST males], i will take what i can get. Before i do though, i wanted to be positive that my yard was suitable for them or if i was making the wrong decision for the future pair. I've read a lot and feel relatively prepared but the only thing i have not found is how far they tend to range.

I have just under two acres and my yard is 'fieldish' with only trees and some fencing around the borders of the property. My backyard neighbors are very invested in farming animals [shetland ponies, chickens, a rooster, and goats etc.]

Good or bad idea? Any insight would be grateful!
 
Guineas are not the typical home bodies or yard birds, and are flock birds by nature so they may not be content with just 2 in their "flock". They will most likely eventually wander to where they hear other animals, especially other poultry. Keep them penned for 6-8 wks so they ave plenty of time to acclimate to a new home/coop and try to make "nice" with them while they are penned. Lots of treats and lots of exposure to you that is on the mellow side. They don't like to be held or touched, but they do appreciate treats like millet, fresh greens/veggies and meal worms.
 
We already have a good handful of chickens. Three which will be a little older now since we had to kind of start over, and 7 3-4month old hens. We started with 8 all together but one died from developing a crossed beak and the others we were scammed on. We found someone willing to sell us chickens in January and said he was sure the americana ones were all female but not sure about the other 3. Long story short, he sold us a bunch of meat hens and two roosters. Needles to say, those people fell off the face of the planet so...starting over with some month old chickens from a guy who is a little more settled in raising poultry and has quiet the lot!

So assuming they get acclimated and dont mind being around our group of chickens. I am hoping they dont mind staying within our fence line [im okay with them venturing to the neighbors next door who also have big yards and the like...its them going half a mile up the road is what im scared of.]

So would i then be okay with two birds? And how loud would two birds be compared to a flock? I just want to be sure i am ready!
 
Guineas are flock birds by nature... they prefer and do better with more of their own kind (10 or more). They stay better focused on each other, and are more secure and content in larger numbers. Sometimes just a pair, or small number of Guineas in a mixed flock can lead to chicken aggression, especially during Guinea breeding season.

They are not yard birds, and do not stick as close to home as the typical backyard chicken does. They have no respect for fences and tend to get stuck on the wrong side, forgetting how they flew over in the first place, Suddenly a 4 foot tall fence becomes 50 feet tall to them. They cover a lot of ground when they range, so they really do need acreage... not a 1/2 mile of it, but most likely more than your yard and your neighbor's yard combined.

2 Guineas would of course be less noisy (on the decibel scale) than a flock of Guineas, but with only 2 Guineas they can sound the alarm calls more often since they do not have the security a larger flock looking out for each other.
 
This was the information i was looking for. This has swayed me enough to know not get the Guineas. Just to be on the safer side for them. Thank you all for the information! :)
 
Glad you did your homework first! (Not many do). But sorry that keeping Guineas won't work out in your situation.
 

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