Meat Guineas?

[BettyR]

Quote:
The frame is large enough for the mother as well as the babies...the sides are high enough that it takes them several weeks to grow large enough to fly over the top of the brooder. By the time they are large enough to make it out of the brooder they are large enough to get in and out of the hen house on their own.

I raised the guineas I have now in the same way...I have lost one to a predator this year and that particular guinea decided that she didn't want to roost in the hen house that night. When I couldn't get her to come inside I knew she was as good as gone...we have way too many coons for her to last very long outside at night.

 

[greathorse]

I butchered 15 of them last year at about 16 weeks of age. They are delicious and make a great gourmet meal. They tast a lot like pheasant but are larger and a bit more tender and not quite as dry. I did a nice meal for a large group of people and did a wild cherry sauce and lots of root vegetables. I served nice Willamette Valley pinot noir that went with the dinner very nicely.

Looking for some eggs now to hatch so I can do it again. I may not be as generous with the fruits of my labor this time. I wish I still had some in the freezer.

 

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

Yes, guineas are excellent eating. They are about the right size by 16 weeks, but we recently did one that was almost a year old. It was still very good and tender after aging a couple of days in the frig and brining. I am getting mores guinea eggs this year to hatch out just so we can eat some. Like chicken, but denser, finer grained meat and better flavor.

 

[brandywine]

I culled three extra cock birds at the age of seven months. I've only eaten one so far -- made coq a vin. Delicious -- like very flavorful chicken. Not tough, but nice firm texture. The bones were very hard -- probably more due to the age of the bird than the species.

Mine dressed out at about 2 1/2 pounds. The ones I culled were much smaller than my largest cock bird, who is my only natural pearl. I suspect they were a bit inbred for color.

Very good eating, no gaminess, and not as scrawny as I expected.

In the future, I'll cull extra males as soon as I can ID them -- maybe about four months.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Sounds like what I want to do. How high are the sides of the frame?

 

[Mini Meat]

I know this is an old thread but i would like to know if anyone has made stock with guineas. I have heard they make excellent stock. My one female usually hatches out about 20-30 a year.

I only have 3 Guineas and have found it is the young ones that are really noisy. My mature birds are settled in and only alarm at a real threat. I just give the keets away and am glad to be rid of them. Maybe I'll grow some out this year.

 

[ijon]

Has anyone ever let them free range? If you don't have to many predators. Like a pheasant.

 

[ewohl]

I'm trying guineas for the first time this year, for meat and insect control. What do you mean by stock? Like broth? I'm planning to put them in the freezer in the fall, and would like to know any tricks of the trade I can find. I grew up eating wild partridge and we would make great partridge gravy pies from those and I imagine guineas are similar.

I know this is an old thread but i would like to know if anyone has made stock with guineas. I have heard they make excellent stock. My one female usually hatches out about 20-30 a year.

I only have 3 Guineas and have found it is the young ones that are really noisy. My mature birds are settled in and only alarm at a real threat. I just give the keets away and am glad to be rid of them. Maybe I'll grow some out this year. 

 

[Mini Meat]

I'm trying guineas for the first time this year, for meat and insect control. What do you mean by stock? Like broth? I'm planning to put them in the freezer in the fall, and would like to know any tricks of the trade I can find. I grew up eating wild partridge and we would make great partridge gravy pies from those and I imagine guineas are similar.
Quote: By stock I do mean broth.

I bought ten guineas, and turned them loose when they were old enough. Ten way too many for me so I gave away seven. They are pretty much on their own and get only the waste from the other animals. To me they are tools for insect, snake, and varmint control and they do a good job since they have to (mine are 4 years old now). I had not thought about growing any out, but since my main source for fobbing off keets has gotten out of birds all together I thought I might try growing this years keets for my own freezer.

I don't have any tricks for you, other then you just have to learn not to let their obnoxious ways bother you, they are what they are.

 

[ewohl]

I went out to check on my five jeers this morning and two are gone. No blood. No feathers. It's a mystery. They are in a closed off stall with poultry netting as a ceiling. So I guess I'm down to three.