Info needed on guineas, please!

[Sweettreat1037]

So, will guineas nest with the chickens? I have 90 acres, so i assume I'll rarely find hidden nests!
Also, you think getting two females or two males, to go with my 40+ chickens, would be okay? Not sure I'm ready for ginea babies....
Lastly, would they really help deter night time predators if they are asleep with the chickens?
Anything else I need to know when considering getting guineas would be appreciated, please.

Thanks!

 

[R2elk]

So, will guineas nest with the chickens? I have 90 acres, so i assume I'll rarely find hidden nests!
Also, you think getting two females or two males, to go with my 40+ chickens, would be okay? Not sure I'm ready for guinea babies....
Lastly, would they really help deter night time predators if they are asleep with the chickens?
Anything else I need to know when considering getting guineas would be appreciated, please.

Thanks!

Read Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA

Guineas are a flock bird and do best in large groups. I never recommend keeping fewer than 10 guineas so they have enough of their own kind to interact with. Unless starting with adults, you cannot buy sexed guineas. It is much easier to start with keets than adults. Starting with adults requires much longer to acclimate the guineas to their new home. It can take 6 to 8 weeks of confinement to get them to understand that it is home.

I also do not recommend housing guineas with chickens. I have done it both ways and do not need the stress that guineas can cause chickens. Everything seems fine right up until the first breeding season and then the guineas go crazy as far as other kinds of fowl are concerned. Guinea habits are not the same as the habits of other poultry and can cause other poultry extreme stress.

Guineas do not deter predators whether it is daytime or nighttime. Guineas may alarm and therefore cause an awareness of predators in the daytime. I have never had my guineas alarm about anything during the night including when Great Horned Owls were killing and eating them.

Guineas will alarm for reasons that may only be known to them such as if you wear different colored clothing than what they are normally accustomed or if you approach them from a different direction than normal. I have personally witnessed guineas standing silently beside a live trap containing a skunk or raccoon. I have also witnessed mine walking along the fence of their pen screaming at a cat that walking by.

A large flock of guineas may go after a daytime predator and scare it off with the alarm sounds but don't expect a couple of guineas to scare anything off. They are far more likely to become dinner for the predator.

 

[CPT]

Get your guineas as keets; that way, they can slowly adapt along with your flock. Guineas are wild birds, they pretty much do their own thing. They get along great with my chickens and turkeys, although I have never seen them all nest together. I used to have 10 guineas, but most of them were wiped out by a raccoon attack, so, I have 2 left. So now, my 2 guineas, chickens and turkeys all sleep together in the coop at night. Guineas will sound an alarm during the day to alert the flock of hawks, cats, etc. Not to much at night, though.

 

[Sweettreat1037]

GREAT info! Thank you!

Read Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA

Guineas are a flock bird and do best in large groups. I never recommend keeping fewer than 10 guineas so they have enough of their own kind to interact with. Unless starting with adults, you cannot buy sexed guineas. It is much easier to start with keets than adults. Starting with adults requires much longer to acclimate the guineas to their new home. It can take 6 to 8 weeks of confinement to get them to understand that it is home.

I also do not recommend housing guineas with chickens. I have done it both ways and do not need the stress that guineas can cause chickens. Everything seems fine right up until the first breeding season and then the guineas go crazy as far as other kinds of fowl are concerned. Guinea habits are not the same as the habits of other poultry and can cause other poultry extreme stress.

Guineas do not deter predators whether it is daytime or nighttime. Guineas may alarm and therefore cause an awareness of predators in the daytime. I have never had my guineas alarm about anything during the night including when Great Horned Owls were killing and eating them.

Guineas will alarm for reasons that may only be known to them such as if you wear different colored clothing than what they are normally accustomed or if you approach them from a different direction than normal. I have personally witnessed guineas standing silently beside a live trap containing a skunk or raccoon. I have also witnessed mine walking along the fence of their pen screaming at a cat that walking by.

A large flock of guineas may go after a daytime predator and scare it off with the alarm sounds but don't expect a couple of guineas to scare anything off. They are far more likely to become dinner for the predator.