- Mar 3, 2010
- 6
- 0
- 7
Hello from Grass Valley, California! Years ago a neighbor had Guinea Hens and they were eaten one by one by coyotes or foxes. I was so sad to see them go. So another neighbor and I decided to raise some ourselves and keep them safely in a coop at night instead of letting them roost in trees like the others who sadly met their demise. We started with 13 keets, 3 days old. They lived in a box in my dining room and then graduated to an abandoned cat pen. As they got too big for that pen we took an unused chain-link dog run and put inside a fenced compound 25'x25'. Kind of a pen within a pen so as to foil the predators! The kennel has a steel roof and bamboo fencing covering the walls. They have a roosting board and chicken ladder. I keep fresh shavings on the floor. We live in a very open and wild environment and one of our birds did get eaten since they roam freely during the day and wander about 200 yards away from the houses. Everyone here is on 2 to 5 acres and there's a greenbelt of 400+acres beyond our fences. Anyway, our Guineas are good about coming in at night, except when a few cop an attitude and have to be shoed in! They are nearly a year old and the hens have begun to lay about 4 eggs a day. We don't know how many are hens out of the 12. Only their call differentiates them and they run around so much we can't tell them apart. They keep us busy and they are characters. They love to eat ticks and they keep rattlesnakes away. I saw them chase a coyote away from the fence once as they ran all together loudly calling. He looked puzzled. I have been using their eggs but my neighbors are wary and won't use them. I wash them, write the date on them and refrigerate them right away. I gather them every day. I don't see any reason not to eat them.
I think my Guinea Fowl are great!
I think my Guinea Fowl are great!
