Need advice on Guinea Fowl

[Anabariful]

Hello all,

I currently have Orpingtons, Silkies, Royal Palm turkeys and Runner ducks but am interested in Guinea Fowl for several reasons such as eggs, tick eating abilities, natural alarm system lol

I was just curious what the general consensus on Guinea Fowl was? Love or hate? Would you have Guineas again if you had a do over? What would you do differently?

I live out in the country surrounded by fields but do have 1 neighbor who comes and goes. Noise isn't an issue and I honestly don't think my neighbor would mind if the Guineas happened to wander on his land as he doesn't have any animals and he is just renting the house, not the surrounding field.

Anywho, wandering.. is it REALLY an issue? Are they even remotely domesticated/tame? I have read several articles but it seems hit or miss. People either hate them or love them for various reasons such as low IQ, won't return home, are a pain in the rear to catch, etc.. I would love a "smaller" flock of maybe 3 or 4 if possible. Would that be okay for them or do they need larger numbers? Would I essentially have to keep them in a tractor their whole lives? I would love to let them free range as we have few predators strangely enough. I have seen 1 juvenile red tail hawk, a few kestrels, some feral cats, and 1 garter snake the entire time I have lived here. I know that there are more predators even though I haven't seen them. :/ I'm just saying my current flock hasn't suffered any predations thankfully. Feel free to leave any info or tidbits as I have zero experience with Guineas and want to know all the details before making a decision.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I started with 13 from Cackle. Lost all but 1 over a years time (6 in one week though I can't say for certain all were killed). Those ones wandered a lot. Most I lost during nesting activities, though 2 were hit by cars. Replenished the flock via their offspring and eggs from eBay to 12 but ended up selling off half. I got tired of dealing with them ganging up on the chickens. These do not wander quite as much, and about 80% of the time they are either on their own or they interact peacefully with the chickens. But other times they like to harrass and scare the chickens for their own amusement (their motives are quite obvious). They don't mess with my top chickens, which amusingly enough includes my little Old English Game bantam head rooster. This batch does not wander as far but they do cover a bit beyond my two acres...maybe an additional acre in each direction, including across the road sometimes.

In summary, I love and hate them. I like their looks and their antics, their ability to be on alert and their insect eating capabilities. I wish they wouldn't "cry wolf" so much or get into long sessions where they just like the sound of their voices, and I wish they wouldn't beat up on the other birds, except I wouldn't mind if they interfered with the young cockerels that try to gang rape the pullets.

 

[Anabariful]

I started with 13 from Cackle. Lost all but 1 over a years time (6 in one week though I can't say for certain all were killed). Those ones wandered a lot. Most I lost during nesting activities, though 2 were hit by cars. Replenished the flock via their offspring and eggs from eBay to 12 but ended up selling off half. I got tired of dealing with them ganging up on the chickens. These do not wander quite as much, and about 80% of the time they are either on their own or they interact peacefully with the chickens. But other times they like to harrass and scare the chickens for their own amusement (their motives are quite obvious). They don't mess with my top chickens, which amusingly enough includes my little Old English Game bantam head rooster. This batch does not wander as far but they do cover a bit beyond my two acres...maybe an additional acre in each direction, including across the road sometimes.

In summary, I love and hate them. I like their looks and their antics, their ability to be on alert and their insect eating capabilities. I wish they wouldn't "cry wolf" so much or get into long sessions where they just like the sound of their voices, and I wish they wouldn't beat up on the other birds, except I wouldn't mind if they interfered with the young cockerels that try to gang rape the pullets.

Thanks for the detailed reply! I have read about them harassing other poultry and that was a valid concern of mine. :/ It seems just so hit or miss. Some are nice and some are punks.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Yes, I have one male in particular that is my biggest jerk. The other five normally laze about nicely but that one just enjoys being a punk and I've thought about having him for dinner. :/

When I had turkeys they would even run up and sideways ninja kick the turkeys. I don't know what their problem is lol. On the flipside I have witnessed them literally chase after a fox, twice. One time it was that jerk male all on his own. The fox didn't know what to think.

 

[Anabariful]

Yes, I have one male in particular that is my biggest jerk. The other five normally laze about nicely but that one just enjoys being a punk and I've thought about having him for dinner. :/

When I had turkeys they would even run up and sideways ninja kick the turkeys. I don't know what their problem is lol. On the flipside I have witnessed them literally chase after a fox, twice. One time it was that jerk male all on his own. The fox didn't know what to think.

It's nice to know that they have some redeeming qualities haha! All my poultry except for one hen that just hit the 1yr mark is very young at 6 months or less. I'm worried the Guineas will have a field day harassing all of my juvie poultry. :/

 

[R2elk]

Hello all,

I currently have Orpingtons, Silkies, Royal Palm turkeys and Runner ducks but am interested in Guinea Fowl for several reasons such as eggs, tick eating abilities, natural alarm system lol

I was just curious what the general consensus on Guinea Fowl was? Love or hate? Would you have Guineas again if you had a do over? What would you do differently?

I live out in the country surrounded by fields but do have 1 neighbor who comes and goes. Noise isn't an issue and I honestly don't think my neighbor would mind if the Guineas happened to wander on his land as he doesn't have any animals and he is just renting the house, not the surrounding field.

Anywho, wandering.. is it REALLY an issue? Are they even remotely domesticated/tame? I have read several articles but it seems hit or miss. People either hate them or love them for various reasons such as low IQ, won't return home, are a pain in the rear to catch, etc.. I would love a "smaller" flock of maybe 3 or 4 if possible. Would that be okay for them or do they need larger numbers? Would I essentially have to keep them in a tractor their whole lives? I would love to let them free range as we have few predators strangely enough. I have seen 1 juvenile red tail hawk, a few kestrels, some feral cats, and 1 garter snake the entire time I have lived here. I know that there are more predators even though I haven't seen them. :/ I'm just saying my current flock hasn't suffered any predations thankfully. Feel free to leave any info or tidbits as I have zero experience with Guineas and want to know all the details before making a decision.

I have raised guineas both ways, with and without chickens. The ones that were raised with chicks and poults began terrorizing the other poultry when they reached their first breeding season. I only had four in that group (3 males, 1 hen).

My current guineas number 13 (6 males and 7 hens) and were raised apart from the chicks and poults. During breeding season they terrorize each other and leave the other poultry alone. The only contact they have with the other poultry is when they are allowed to free roam in the same area as the other poultry. Each group leaves the other groups alone.

You do no want to imprint the guineas with the chickens and other poultry. Imprinting them causes them to be unable to see that there is a difference between them and other poultry. Guineas have different mannerisms than other poultry and only they can understand and tolerate their behavior especially during breeding season.

Guineas can be trained to come to a call, bell, etc. through the use of treats. They do best in large groups so I never recommend that a person get less than 10 to start.

Guinea hens like hidden nests and become extremely vulnerable to predators when they are broody unless you manage to get them to go broody in a secure area such as a coop. I lost my whole first flock of guineas to Big Horned Owls so my current flock gets to spend their nights in a secure coop.

My recommendations are a minimum of 10 guineas raised by themselves and housed separately with a secure coop for their nights. Following these recommendations should produce guineas that are capable of free ranging with other poultry in harmony.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I'll add that my first batch of guineas I got before I had chickens, and the current batch was brooded with chickens. I can't really see a difference in their behavior toward to the chickens, but I have other factors that could be affecting it, such as a smaller flock of them this time. They used to have their own coop but I had to take it over to use for more chickens so now they sleep in the run on a roost 6' up. If they sleep in the trees then the owls and foxes pick them off. I had a harder time with that first flock, as far as getting them to consistently roost where I wanted them to. In the past year this bunch has only gotten it in their heads to roost in the trees less than a handful of times. The other thing I've noticed is that these are more inclined to want to lay in or near the coop and run.

 

[chickfilletNOT]

After two wild male guineas started hanging around my property (because of my penned chickens, I assume) - I thought they were pretty neat, so I picked up some baby guinea at Atwoods. Big mistake! While my chickens are so content in confinement, and docile, the guineas always want to free range, roost in the trees at night, lay eggs on the ground out in the yard, and so they get variously killed in the trees at night or laying eggs out in the yard in the daytime! The two wily old males I had are still the best part of it. Too many of my females have gotten killed off this summer and so now I have a surplus of males and they fight all day long.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I never leave my guineas penned up with the chickens. If I go out of town they have to sleep in the trees, that's just the way it is and I hate it when I lose one but I know I can't trust them to act decent towards the chickens. Every day I let the guineas out of the run first thing in the morning and then I close the run up and let the chickens out of their coops. When my husband gets home from work he lets the chickens out to free range. Sometimes I kick roosters out, too, .

 

[Anabariful]

Ahhh..it's a shame but I think I'm going to pass on Guinea. :/ They are so neat with some quirky traits but it's too risky with the toss ups of them harassing my chickens, becoming a meal, and generally being a pain hah! Thank you all for the generous input.