Guineas a good fit for our place?

[EternalHeritage]

I've been doing some reading on guineas and read the thread on Guineas 101. I definitely want guineas here but my partner isn't convinced yet.

We have 20 acres of land. Beyond that, it's old logging property and national forest. According to FWP, we have every single predator that lives in Montana, living in our area. We haven't seen any of them though - the only predators we see are bears. We have coyotes, opossums, raccoons, skunks, weasels, foxes, mountain lions, bears, and supposedly wolves too.

Would the guineas be "smart" enough to stay alive if they free range during the day outside the confines of our electric fence? We do have an English Shepherd that helps with predator control / alerts us to predators (and everything else he thinks shouldn't be on the property, including deer

).

Last year we had tons of grasshoppers and they went after our rhubarb plants so we set the chickens after them and they ate the grasshoppers but then completely ate our rhubarb plants! (Aren't these supposed to be poisonous?) We also have way too many stink bugs/west conifer beetles.

If the guineas will go after the stink bugs, that alone will probably sell my partner.

Last fall when they started to come inside for the winter, it wasn't uncommon to find over 50 stink bugs on the windows and walls in just one room, in a day. The next day, there'd be more. And so on.

If the guineas generally are smart enough to stay alive when free ranging during the day, how many would be suffice for 20 acres? There is no pasture, it all is wooded.

 

[PeepsCA]

All woods, and a long list of predators... not the most optimal conditions for Guineas.

I'd start with twice as many as you want ranging your land, then expect to replenish your flock next season... because you may end up with only a few left over. Guineas can be pretty alert to predators, but as long as the predators have the cover of forest to lurk around in while the birds are out you can expect to lose a lot of them, especially the first year until there's a few birds in the flock that gain their "street smarts" and are wiser about getting taken by predators and better at sounding the alarm for the remainder of the flock.

Keeping 24-28 free ranging full time here on my 10 acres of brush rock trees and pasture did a pretty good job on the ticks and snakes over the course of a few years. Now years later I only have 8 left in my free range flock and they are starting to fall behind on the tick control on land that was picked clean not that long ago. For 20 acres, I personally would start with no less than 50 for pest control... but that's a lot of unruly birds to condition/train to go back the coop each evening if his is your first adventure with Guineas. So start with as many as you think you can raise... and still maintain your sanity, lol. Maybe 2 dozen will work for you... but you really won't know for sure until you try it. IMO it's easier to start with more that are all the same age and grow up together, rather than adding in new birds after there's an established flock (unless you can get a Hen to hatch and raise her own keets in a controlled environment, and then do the integrating for you once they are old enough). Established flocks aren't always welcoming to newbies (understatement).

Some Guineas will eat stink bugs, some won't. If you introduce your keets to the stink bugs when they are still in the brooder then they may seek them out once they are free ranged. But that may only work if they develop a taste for them... big if there tho.

 

[EternalHeritage]

Ah, I don't know if Lindsay will want to go for guineas then if we'll have to replenish our flock next season. We started out with 36 chickens last year and by November, we were down to 4. All because of one single bear. No other predators come close to the house or onto the property, bears are the only ones gutsy/brave enough to come this close. At least during daytime. At night, predators will come close. I think that the most common predators we have here are bears, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, opossums, foxes, and bobcats. Nothing else comes onto our property, that we know of.

I'm pretty sure we definitely don't want 50!

Right now we only have 9 chicks, 1 week old. If necessary, we'll build a separate housing for the guineas. If we build a separate housing, can we build it to accommodate guineas and turkeys? Or do guineas NEED their own space if not raised with chicks?

And in distance, how far would you say that guineas roam? Our closest neighbor is half a mile away. Will the guineas walk that far to his place?

And thank you for answering my questions!

 

[tcmstalcup]

I love mine. They do so well with garden pests in general. I'm not sure about stink bugs. The problem is if they wander off and sit on a nest-they seem in a trance. Easy pickins for predators.

 

[PeepsCA]

Ah, I don't know if Lindsay will want to go for guineas then if we'll have to replenish our flock next season. We started out with 36 chickens last year and by November, we were down to 4. All because of one single bear. No other predators come close to the house or onto the property, bears are the only ones gutsy/brave enough to come this close. At least during daytime. At night, predators will come close. I think that the most common predators we have here are bears, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, opossums, foxes, and bobcats. Nothing else comes onto our property, that we know of.

I'm pretty sure we definitely don't want 50!

Right now we only have 9 chicks, 1 week old. If necessary, we'll build a separate housing for the guineas. If we build a separate housing, can we build it to accommodate guineas and turkeys? Or do guineas NEED their own space if not raised with chicks?

And in distance, how far would you say that guineas roam? Our closest neighbor is half a mile away. Will the guineas walk that far to his place?

And thank you for answering my questions!

Guineas definitely need space, but I think building separate housing for the Guineas is definitely a good idea, one you won't regret. Keeping them confined for at least 6 weeks to their coop/pen (once they are old enough to be out in the coop) before you start free ranging them so they are conditioned to/imprinted on their coop/pen as home/safety makes a huge difference in them sticking close to home. Getting Turkey poults at the same time (if you can) and raising them together is a better idea than raising the keets with chicks, IMO. Guineas aren't always kind to chickens once they all mature, even if they were raised together. Plus Turkeys and Guineas require the same protein levels while growing. Chickens require significantly less protein so you either have to starve your keets for protein, or OD your chicks. This can be bad for your chicks, but way worse for the Guineas. Guineas need high protein.

If you start off with just a small batch of keets, you may be down to 2-4 Guineas in no time too once you start free ranging them. They roam farther than chickens so once they get brave and wander farther into your trees/woods they may start disappearing at an alarming rate. And predators will keep coming back for a free meal as long as it's made available to them. So if possible, try to get at least 12-18 Guineas... they need all those extra sets of eyes and ears watching out for the flock, plus if they don't have enough of their own kind to be what they consider an adequate sized flock you may have more aggression direct at your chickens than you want to deal with. My Turkeys put my Guineas in their place when they need to, otherwise they get along fine. Chickens being able to hold their own can be another story tho, (mainly for people that didn't start off with enough Guineas to keep them pre-occupied as their own flock and not part of their flock of chickens). That being said there are just as many people that have mixed flocks that do fine tho. It all depends on the situation. Like Zazouse (a BYC member.. look her up), she has a bazzilion birds of several kinds/breeds all doing their own thing on her acreage (I think she has 50 acres or more tho).

My Guineas stay home (except for one time my free rangers decided to start walking to town and got about 1/4 mile up the road before one of my neighbor called me, lol), but my property is fenced now and I check on them a lot while they are out, herd them back in and call them to the coop for treats off and on... so mine do not wander out of my fence line any more. Others say that 1/4 mile is about as far as their Guineas go... but we are talking Guineas here, and if they get spooked by a predator scare and get lost/scattered in the process of fleeing they are going to keep going. Your best bet is to keep track of them on and off and herd them/call them back for a treat at the coop when they go too far. They learn where home is eventually and mine all establish a regular free range route covering the areas around their coop/pen. They make their rounds so to speak, almost always on a schedule. If your neighbors have poultry and your Guineas can hear them... they may try to find them. Every situation is different tho and nothing is set in stone with Guineas...