my guineas are coming tomorrow

[northernchic]

I have 10 six month old guineas arriving tomorrow. I'm so nervous. Have a coop ready for them and hoping they are trained by may when I have 4 chickens arriving and I don't want to house the guineas with the chickens. Would love any advice or tips.

If I have any girls will they start laying soon? So they use nest boxes? Can I eat their eggs like I would chicken eggs?

 

[Odelia]

Not to ask a silly question, but what do you do with guineas? I know that people often add 1 to their chicken flocks for predator protection. But what do you do with a flock of them? Do you eat them or their eggs? If not are they just pets? Thanks for the information.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Hello:

Do not worry. Guinea fowl and Chkckens usually get along just fine.
Chickens, in my humble oprionion are MUCH worse at pecking and picking on others.
Chickens like to run with their own kine. Color, type and such.
Guinea Fowl usually accept their brothern.
Oh, there may be one in the crowd that is a jerk, but the others learn to stay, roost and run with out them
or avoid them.
Guiena Fowl usually do not pick out a hen or roo to fight with.
Male Guineas can be intolerant and aggresive, but usually only during mating.
Hope this helps.
I do like to seperate my Guineas and chickens. It makes the turn out MUCH, MUCH easier
becuase I only turn out my layer hens and their roos every once in a while outside their run.
Free range is for the jungle fowl and wild hens.
I value my layers and their roos.
The guineas tend to take care of theim selves and their own.
They can fly a good distance and they are ALWAYS on the watch
for predetors.
Guinea G.

 

[KAZROB]

Hi,

In answer to your question can you eat their eggs..YES they are really nice, two eggs are about the same as having one chicken egg. I had 3 guineas and recently one died due to our family dog this one that I lost I think just died of shock as she had been sitting for almost a month on eggs, I was lucky to have a clucky chicken whom was given some eggs and she hatched 8, with one dying not long after hatching. it is 5 weeks on and I have a lovely bunch of seven keets, in which will just become part of my mixed family. My teo adult guineas share housing with my 12 ducks, they get along just fine with all...I am yet to introduce my keets, but I will when they are a bit bigger and have had time with their foster mum whom takes them out on expeditions! They have a complete hut and a large fenced off yard for their free roaming, whilst all my other chickens, ducks and guineas are in a large fenced off paddock. they all go to their huts each night and are locked away safely and then let out to free range in the day. My male Guinea at the moment is enjoying roosting high up in a tree that is within my paddock and over looks their hut and the chickens hut, he comes down each morning when I let the ducks and his female companion out.

I suppose if you have your guineas confined and not free roaming they might use nesting boxes, but from my little experience they tend to make their nests in an area that they think is safe....My female at on 30m plus eggs the first time and she created a nest in a secluded area of the paddock, as I said we have a complete paddock that is fenced with six foot fencing all around, so she was relatively safe, nothing eventuated from those first batch of eggs, we built a small frame with a roof on it and placed it over her, so as she was protected from rain, heat etc. I live in Australia and we can have 4 seasons in one day!

The second time she collected just as many eggs and once again not in her hut where there are nesting boxes, she made yet another nest out in the paddock, so once again we built a roof over her...As I said I lost her sadly, but now have seven keets and they are doing well, once they are older, I will integrate them to my paddock and fingers crossed things go smoothly. I have a plan on how I will do this and I am sure it will work out.

All I can say is yes eat the eggs, and yes they should get along fine with your chickens, they tend to hang with their own and just wander around, as for what Guinea Goonie says, I agree, chickens can be the worst offenders of bossing their own around...I suppose that is why they have their pecking order and call it a pecking order!

Good luck with your newbies, I just loveeeee guineas..........

 

[northernchic]

Thank you for the replies.

We have mainly purchased the guineas to fight the ticks (and praying mice) population once it actually warms up here. Last year on this farm the ticks were really bad. I'd like to be able to call the guineas into the barn at night, but they don't have to be in the same coop as the chickens. Luckily I have about a 6 week window before the chickens arrived and I'm seriously looking forward to getting eggs from them.

I'm getting 3 Wyandotte hens and 1 rooster I believe they will be about a year old.

 

[northernchic]

My guineas arrived today. No idea of sexes. What happens if I have a majority of males? Specially when the time comes to free range?

 

[Percheron chick]

The 3 that you can see their heads are all males. They will have the long handlebar waddles.

 

[RIRedMama]

Anyone have success getting the guineas to fight off ticks? Our house is set back in the woods and the ticks are awful. I just ordered 7 guinea eggs to hatch, hoping it will help fight the ticks this year.

 

[The Farm]

Yes they are wonderful! I love them mainly for that.

 

[Hotcookie]

Yes, that was the original reason we got our guineas, too. Before we built a house out here in the country, I had never even seen a tick, let along have one on me!!! We currently have 30 guineas....my females have turned out to be excellent mothers!!

and managed to not only lay their eggs inside the coop, but hatch them out. Afterwards, they have patiently shown the keets the in's and out's of the flock. Every spring when the ticks emerge from hibernation, I still find some around, but after the guineas get eating, there's none to be found anywhere. Here's a "gentle" suggestion, RiRed Mama....if it's not too late, I'd up that amount to at least 10 guinea eggs. Experts agree that guineas need at least 10 in their flock to make them happy! And a happy guinea will be a hungry guinea and gobble up those pesky ticks!! Good luck hatching those eggs!