hey

[teresa42299]

im thinking about raising some guineas and was wondering if anybody can share their knowledge about them.

 

[Sandshaven]

Wow.. That is a vast question...
What exactly are you curious about?

You either like them or you don't... I love them.
You can coop or free range... I do both
You can eat their eggs or hatch them... I am a hatchoholic
You can tame them or not... I have therapy flocks
This could be endless... But that is a start..

 

[teresa42299]

what feed do you give them as keets? do the females go broody? what are the requirements to hatch the eggs? how can you tell which one is a male and which one is a female?

 

[JLeigh]

teresa, Congrats that you're doing your homework before you get guineas. Doing your general research/homework before you get them is important. It will prevent a lot of problems for you and the guineas down the road. The best thing to do when you're just starting out is to do an internet search and read websites that are full of all kinds of information. You can get tons of info in a few minutes that would take days to get a little at a time on this forum. You can also go to the search function on this site and put in keywords for different topics, then you can come back here for discussions.

The most important questions I have for you are:

1) are you planning on getting adult guineas or keets (babies). Getting them started at your home is the hardest part. Keets under six weeks require heat lamps and a high protein food, then about six weeks in their coop/pen to learn where home is. Adults require at least six weeks of confinement in their coop/pen so they learn where home is.

2) how do you plan to house your guineas for the first six weeks?

3) do you plan to free-range them 24/7, pen them up 24/7 or a combo of penning/free-ranging?

4) what is your goal in having guineas? Insect control, amusement...?

5) how much land do you have

6) how many guineas do you want (minimum of 10 is strongly recommended).

7) do you have any plans to hatch keets?

Do a search on the calls that guineas make. Only females make the two-syllable call, but they all squeak, chirp, whistle and make the alarm call. You can hear the difference on the internet. Turn your volume all the way up though, and then multiply that by 100 LOL. Guineas are loud.

So you see, there is a ton of info we need from you before we could even begin to advise you, but we'll be here to help as you go!

 

[teresa42299]

were most likely going to get whatever we find. keets, young adolescence, or adults. my dad wants to get some to keep the insects down. we're probably going to try to hatch some. were also going to free range them put coop them up at night.