Male to female ratio

[kristen2678]

Hi Folks. With a little luck we hope to move this spring. Guineas are on my short list. I've been doing some reading, but I'm still wondering about flock dynamics. If we decide to hatch some ourselves, do we need to worry about having too many boys like with chickens? Fertility isn't a big concern. I just want everyone to get along as well as possible.

Thanks

 

[rhoda_bruce]

There are some stories on this section about people ordering 15 keets and only 2 or 3 being female. That is not good. Some of the BYC members want a 1:1 ratio. If given no choice a male will mate with a handful (4 to 6) hens, but guineas do want their own mate....not that I understand the mind of a bird. I plan on only having 1 male myself. I ordered 15 keets. I will eat what I don't want.......unless someone locally wants to buy some from me. I do plan on having about 3 to 5 females, but less is Okay too.

 

[purelypoultry]

Having too many males with guineas generally is not a problem.

 

[annaserv]

I ended up with 8 males out of 12 guineas. A couple went in the freezer and one for the wildlife

. There seemed to be a lot of fighting in the beginning, probably when their hormones were kicking in but by fall all the males knew their places and seemed to get along fine. Besides, I think having a few extra males help when one has to take one for the team. (predators)

 

[toejam]

I have all males and I have no problems.

 

[CDennis]

I have mostly females, they seems to be much louder than the males. But other than that not much difference.

 

[Cacklin" Hens]

Quote:
Not really because male guineas rarely fight like chicken roosters.

 

[Praxxus]

I've been raising free-range guineas since 1996. They are absolutely amazing birds. I've never had a problem with fighting. They do fight of course and chase each other a bit but it's more of a sparring and practice thing to keep them sharp. Nobody ever gets hurt. When danger presents itself, they are 100% united in confronting it like an army. The more males you have, the better protection for the females. More eyes for predator scouting.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Realizing that the original post just wanted everyone to get along fine and fertility wasn't an issue......but as far as ratios go, I still won't go 1:1, but 1:4, because it will cost me less feed and fertility will still be achieved......not completely free range the first year. They are each capable of completely replacing themselves many times over and filling up a freezer with birds. I think some of us have birds for pets, some have guineas for bug control, some because they are different and some because they are delicious. Kristen might just not ever concern herself with who is a male and who is a female, considering the lack of fighting and fertility issues. As of now, she would be content with what she has, but later she may decide to change plans and expectations on her flock. I sure did.