Need some Info about Guinea/Keets

[DickGJ]

I know it's always preferred to have a lot of room for any flock, but is an acre big enough to keep 6 guineas? I don't mind building a separate coop for them if it's necessary cause I have 16 chickens in a net enclosed 12x40' run and coop of their own. I have quite a few trees in my yard, and would be quite pleased if that's where they decided to spend the night, but I'm concerned that they'll fly outside my chain link fence at some point and end up in a neighbors yard or something. If that's a worry...can a person clip their wings? (Of course, that will negate their ability to roost in a tree) If I did clip their wings, I would definitely build them a separate coop of their own..will they use a coop like chickens as long as I have roosting bars inside for them to jump off the floor? I really would like to try six of them for tick/insect control, but I don't want to get them if they won't be happy on a confined one-acre property. Should I drop the idea?

Lastly, if I bought 6 keets and find out that their all males...it sounds like I'm going to have a lot of problems. On the other hand, would it be best for me to have 6-hens instead...I'm thinking the optimum setting for a 6-bird flock would be to have 5-hens and 1 male. True statement or B.S.? Thanks in advance.

 

[DickGJ]

Is there a way to sex keets, or do you have to wait until they grow up to determine the difference? I would hate to buy straight run and find out I got 2 or more males and 4 hens. I hear that having more than one male in a small flock such as this will be nothing but problems. Thoughts, recommendations, or drop the idea? Thanks in advance.

 

[PeepsCA]

Speaking from personal experience... even roosting in the trees within a well fenced piece of property they are still potential predator bait. Owls are a huge problem for Guineas, as are other night time predators that can scale fences and climb trees. Unless you are prepared to lose some or all of your birds, I'd avoid letting them roost in the trees if you have other options. Once a predator knows there is an easy meal on your land, they tend to keep returning until the food resource is depleted.

Once the Guineas learn to fly up, and make it a habit (like to roost in the trees for example) you can pretty much count on it that your 6 foot fence will not exist to them. Guineas can be trained to respect fences tho. I have a breeding flock of 20+ Guineas that I pen raised, and they are allowed to free range my goat pasture during the day. They reliably come in at night and their roosts are no higher than 5 1/2 feet tall. They have never roosted in the trees and they don't even fly into the trees while out free ranging. They do get feisty/cocky at times and get up on top of their covered pen and the goat shed and give everyone down below heck, but for the most part they are "Ground Guineas" lol and stay out of the trees. I have never clipped their wings, I haven't had to. They have learned to respect my 4 foot tall pasture fence and stay within the pasture, for the most part. I do have to go herd one or 2 back in on occasion but usually they see me coming and jump/fly back into the pasture, they know the drill. I do not let them free range when I am not home, only when I am able to check on them from time to time. This is most likely not the typical case with everyone else's Guineas and Guinea experiences, but it is a personal success of my own that I achieved thru persistent training and correction... and it took about 5 months to get them to this point (once I gradually started letting them free range at 4 months old).

A small flock of Guineas co-mingled in the same coop/run with other poultry doesn't seem to work out too well for most people, especially later on after the Guineas have matured and breeding season begins.... so a separate coop/run for them would probably be your best choice, (some do attain perfect harmony tho, it's not an impossible task). And personally if you go thru all the trouble of building them their own coop, I'd want to train them to go in at dark and be locked up safe in it every night, (but out free ranging my yard/property every day). You mentioned you have a large pen for your chickens, but you didn't say if you let them free range your 1 acre or if you planned on letting them all free range together... but obviously if you do not let the chickens free range with the Guineas at the same time, then you should not have the aggression problems others experience with the not so perfect male to female ratio, whatever that may be. There is no perfect number for everyone, it of course varies depending on everyone's individual coop/run/free range/additional poultry situation differences. The 1:5 ratio does however does pretty accurately apply to the amount of Hens one male can cover (fertilize), altho I have had 1 male cover 10 Hens recently, pretty consistently. IMO (and this is just my personal opinion based on personal experiences with both small and large flocks), the male to female ratio is really only a substantial concern when you are co-mingling them with other types of poultry... a flock of only 6 guineas (if raised together, but kept separate from other poultry), no matter what sex ratio will work out their own pecking order, and you may or may not end up with a low bird that gets picked on and rejected by the others. And of course the more room in the coop the better when it comes to Guineas, for a multitude of reasons no matter how many Guineas you have.

As far as sexing keets... the Buff Dundotte and Buffs can pretty reliably be sexed by the lighter and darker shades, so can several of the other Guinea colors in the tan family (Hens are usually darker). The rest are impossible to sex until the Hens start making the 2 syllable call at around 5-6 weeks at the earliest.

Sorry for the long winded post... lol, hopefully I answered all your questions with enough info to provide a broad perspective of what you are headed into

 

[DickGJ]

Quote:
What a tremendous response...thanks for taking such time. I plan on keeping the chickens contained in their run/coop. I think they are pretty pleased with their "diggs". If I do get guineas...I planned on keeping them in a separate coop and will no longer entertain the thought of them just living in trees like a wild turkey (as I had imagined). I want to provide them all the safety that I provide the chickens and really only consider them for their insect controlling character. O've had such terrific success with the chickens...I thot perhaps I could be equally if not more successful with guineas once they are 8 weeks old at least. I'm a little aprehensive about this possible venture and only want to provide a good environment for their "happy" existance! Thanks again for such an informative response! Best regards! Gerry

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I think PeepsCA said it very well. One thing to note Guineas aren't like chickens they pair off so having 50 / 50 ratio of boys to girls is a good thing. Unless you are breeding for a specific color or trait I wouldn't worry about it. Especially if you are going to keep them in their own Domain.

 

[wv mountaineer]

Hi, Gretchen,
What part of Tn. do u live.
We lived in Crossville and loved it.
Have since moved to West Va.
Gettin' ready to build a Keet house soon.
How do u like Tn?
Ralph Clark