How Many Guineas

[Logan99]

I was just wondering how many guineas is too much. How much space do they need.. feed.. water.. etc.
I was thinking about ordering from Murray McMurrray (min. order of 30).. good quality?

thanks-
Logan99

 

[redstar14]

Thirty is probably to much they'll need at least 3 feet per bird which would be a huge pen and with the cost of feed they'll be expensive to feed

 

[Logan99]

Ok thanks

 

[PeepsCA]

30 keets will most likely be too many for you to deal with... if you can split an order with someone that might work out better for you. 10-15 Guineas make for a happy, content flock if they have plenty of pen space and free range time. I don't like less than 4 sq ft per Guinea in the coop and at least twice that much in the covered attached pen, with plenty of roosting space in the coop and pen. You never know when you might have to confine your flock for some reason.

Guineas can start free ranging for the bulk of their diet once they are 10-12 weeks old, so food costs don't have to be a constant wallet breaker... you do need sufficient acreage for the flock to forage on tho, and I would suggest no less than 5 acres for a flock of 10-15 Guineas. You will also want to make sure your neighbors don't mind the Guineas visiting or the noise they will make. They are roamers by nature, cover a lot of ground during the day and can be pretty noisy sounding off with their alarm call, especially up until a yr or so old when they start to mellow out some about sounding off at every little thing.

If you are going to keep the birds penned full-time I suggest keeping only one male and 4-5 Hens to keep things on the mellow side as far as aggression and fertility issues go. They can't be sexed until the little Hens start making the 2 syllable buck-wheat call at 6 or so weeks old tho, and you kind of have to guess on the males at that age... if they don't buck-wheat they may just be a late bloomer Hen. By 12 weeks old the males are usually pretty obvious by their behavior and posture... along with still not buck-wheating, but even all of this isn't always a sure-fire way to know if you have a male or not until they get a little older.

 

[Logan99]

Thanks!