Lost one today

[Reyort]

It is apparently mating season in my area so my guineas paired up and went their separate ways (I own 4). One of the boys got hit by a raptor and had his neck broken bringing me to 3 (poor girl kept calling for her mate). I got these birds to help with alerting my chickens to dangers in the area (they have done well so far). My concern is that there are not enough eyes watching the skies now. So how big do I need to build up my flock for guard duty?

 

[PeepsCA]

6 is my minimum suggested flock size for Guineas, but preferably 10-12, (if not more) because they do much better in large flocks.
Depends on how much land you have tho.

 

[tomingreeneco]

I always heard you should have at least 10. With this many you should not have any fighting with the chickens and plenty of eyes to keep watch. Plus the added treat of hearing more of the beautiful music they make!

 

[Reyort]

4 acres

 

[PeepsCA]

I'd go for increasing your flock to 12 then (if you have coop/pen space for that many)... especially since you may end up losing some of these as well. Plus IMO, it's easier to integrate a larger number all at once, rather than just adding a few new birds (there are more "targets", which helps spreads out the severity of aggression that they will all have to endure until the existing flock accepts them).

 

[Reyort]

Thanks for the info.