How many guinea fowl can I get?

[Flutterbee]

My coop is 14x14 feet. Currently it houses a rooster, two hens, and four baby chicks. Tomorrow is a chicken show and my family wants to get more guinea fowl . How many guineas can I get without overcrowding the coop? The guineas will be released in a week to free range with our other birds.

 

[thomasboyle]

Guineas grow to be the same size as a large chicken, so you have plenty of space. Using the 4 sq ft rule, in a 14x14 coop, you can house up to 49 birds. This assumes the birds have access to an outside run of 10 sq ft per bird. Guineas are great for tick control, but as someone who used to have them, I will let you know they can be very loud, and I had issues of the males picking on my chickens, to the point that I would have to go in and rescue the chicken. If you can get females and maybe one male, you should be OK. But good luck in telling males from females. Its nearly impossible unless they are adults. But they are a very interesting bird, and are very interesting to watch.