Is it worth it to keep guinea fowl?

[Cuttlefishherder]

What do you use them for? are they good as meat birds? or layers? are they fussy to raise?

We need some thoughts and opinions on keeping them and possibly breeding them for meat or so.

 

[damselfish]

You'll see pros and cons in the various posts here. They are significantly louder than chickens, so if you don't have much space between you and neighbors I think they would not be a good idea.

They are great for cleaning up bugs & ticks in your yard.

They will need to be cooped for long enough to understand where home is (around six weeks), and you can expect to spend more time persuading them back into the coop at night before they "get it" (and even then they will sometimes backslide).

They will sometimes go walkabout on you, so invest some time in making them like you so they'll be happy to follow you home.

We haven't eaten any, but they're supposed to be very tasty.

They are tough birds once past the first week or so. If they die, it will not be from fragility but from curiosity.

Well, I made it sound pretty hard, but we love our guineas.

 

[robin416]

Quote:
What she said.

Having a fence helps stop walk abouts. The only time I ever have to go retrieve my birds is when they are under a year old and think flying up on the gate and over in to the road is a great adventure. Until they realize they can't just walk back and flip out.

Having ten is a good flock dynamic. They pretty much ignore the chickens and just pound on each other.

 

[tcmstalcup]

We love ours. We no longer have baby rattlesnakes anywhere near our propert. They eat bugs and yucky critters out of the garden without scratching and tearing up my plants. NOBODY comes on our property without their announcements. I have 4 and they mostly live with the chickens but are more roamy and can fly over my yard fence so they truly have free run.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have had them before, but in ignorance. All they were was some funny looking chickens that hid their eggs and eventually disappeared alltogether. \\
Well now I have read up on them and I'm very interested to see if they really can do all the things the books say they will do. I'm into it X 2 days.
I recommend you order a book on the subject. You can raise them like I did, or you can do it by the book and maybe get something out of it. I am hoping for a success story this go round.

 

[PineappleMama]

Googled Guinea Fowl Recipe... this one looks interesting...

http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/archive/guinea_fowl.htm

I didn't realize you could eat them (duh) maybe that's why my Grampa had them... though more went into the road than the roaster.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Will they stay inside a yard with a solid 6 foot wood fence? Or will they just fly over if the mood takes them?

 

[weimarmama]

My mother has 2 guineas. She's had them for about 6 or 7 years; she had 5 originally, but over time & because of predators they dwindled down to the 2 remaining. They're very sweet, though kind of skittish of everything. They definately let us know when anyone pulls into the yard or if something else startles them. They're extremely loud, but if you live in the country it shouldn't be a problem. Between them, the goats, & the cats we hardly ever see a snake in our yard even though we have a pond & are surrounded by woods. Most of our closest neighbors see rattlesnakes & moccasins in their yards & on their porches several times a month. They're definately not the prettiest birds, but they've gotten better looking to me over time

Ours do like to ramble a little bit. They always go to our neighbors', spend about 15-20 minutes there, & come right back. Luckily, they love them & actually wish the guineas would spend more time at their place. To me & my mother it's definately worth it, & I have a feeling she's planning on getting a couple more to keep the other two company one of these days.

 

[ColbyNTX]

I enjoy watching my guineas more than I do my chickens. They are such funny little critters. I kept them cooped until they were about 8 months because of a dog near by. They became very use to me going into the coop and taking care of them. They free range now and are so fun to watch. They go back to their coop they were raised in every night but now they fly up to the top on the outside. About a month ago I went into the barn to feed everybody and my male guinea was the the other end of the barn about 50 yards away, He saw me and went nuts! Ran to me and then back down to were he started. I figured there was a snake or something. I kept feeding and he did it again so I grabbed my snake killer and followed him. When I got down to the other end, there was a dog sniffing around the brush and then I noticed his hen was on a nest. I know people call them stupid but he knew I could help them and he could not take on the dog himself.

 

[jesskelweb]

Hello.

We have a pest beetle that decends on us each spring called a Rose Chafer Beetle. They eat our raspberries, grapes, flowers (Iris, Peonies, etc). We don't like to spray because of the bees that are trying to pollinate our raspberry blossoms. They also go after our apples on the trees which are immature. I have read that the Rose Chafer is toxic to poultry. Does anyone know if Guinea Hens are affected by eating this beetle? Or if they even eat this beetle? I live in Michigan and we have sandy soil that encourages the beetles to lay eggs, etc.
Would like a natural "control" for them such as a guinea. Have chickens and ducks so why not add a guinea or two?