New to Guineas

[PeepsCA]

These are the MINIMUM guidelines I go by, (bigger is ALWAYS better IMO tho).

Floor space for growing guinea fowl:

1 day to 2 weeks - 1/2 sq ft
3-5 weeks - 3/4 sq ft
6 weeks - 1 sq ft
7 weeks - 1 1/2 sq ft
8 weeks - 1 1/3 sq ft
9 weeks - 2 1/4 sq ft
10 weeks 2 3/4 sq ft
11 weeks - 3 1/3 sw ft
12 weeks & up - 4 sq ft

 

[lotzahenz]

Welcome, and I love my guineas, although some nights I have to yell right back at them. They can fly, high and pretty far. They are 'fearless' and approach all incoming vehicles, they fly on top of the barn and run back and forth, I really think they like to hear their pitter patters. First time it happened, I thought the sky was falling. Nope, just guineas on the roof. I would like to recommend a GREAT book, called Guinea's in The Garden. You can google it and I picked up a copy at the library to read through. She knows all about guineas. Mine have never been very tame, but they are smart. We now only have 4 males, as all the females were taken by predators. Ours roost in the barn rafters and the oldest male we bought at the KY State Fair 5 years ago. Against all advise, our guinea hen hatched a huge clutch and raised about 12 of them. When they all (12 babies and 3 parents) were in the rafters and got going, it was deafening. I have sorta taught them "hush" but sometimes have to chase them out of the barn if we are down there late. After that, they sneak back in and are quiet, maybe mad though. Once, when our hen brought her keets up to the barn after hatching them alongside a creek, with the dad standing guard during the day only, an owl or hawk attacked them. Mamma activated and keets scattered everywhere. They were in tall pasture weeds and did NOT come back when mamma called them in later on. We searched with flashlights and tractor lights for the 12 keets. The ones we found were hunkered down, almost stepped on them. They are almost impossible to see in tall weeds. I put them in a tote with a heat lamp and mamma would not come close to the barn at all. I gave up and went to bed. The next morning, here she comes with ALL of them in tow, except the ones in the tote. It even rained a bit on them. They managed to stay alive. We lost the next brood, but it is very hard to move a broody guinea hen and her eggs. Tonight, in my laundry room I have hatched out 14 keets out of 24 shipped eggs. Oh so cute. I think a group of 12 is great, and with that much land, hopefully you can hatch out some once you get eggs. I was thinking to train these to sleep in a coop closer to the house in the garden. But, my 4 savvy males do fine, and I only feed them in the winter. They let you know if they are hungry. guinea eggs on eBay are not too expensive if you cannot find any close to home. One thing, the tiny babies need to be kept safe for a pretty long time, we got ours at about 12 weeks old and they adjusted fine, BUT once we bought pigs and put them in a horse stall with a dirt floor. Yep, next day, NO pigs and never did see them again. Get some spares, just in case. You can never have too many guineas............

ETA: Peeps above should be able to hook you up, sounds like she has some to spare!

 

[PeepsCA]

LOL I do have plenty to spare, but I can only sell eggs, keets and adults in California... as I have YET to get my flocks NPIP certified (it's a MAJOR pain in the rear end and a huge expense in CA!!!!)

 

[Cindy in PA]

The space requirement under 2 weeks is 1/2 sq. ft per bird, so why does the book Gardening with Guineas say to get a 1 by 2 by 1 ft high box for keets up to 2 weeks old? I knew they would not need less space then chickens. You would need 8 sq. ft for 15 keets or a 2 by 4 box.

 

[PeepsCA]

Maybe it's a typo?

 

[damselfish]

LOL, no pigs, lotzahens? What did I miss? This made me laugh out loud.

Let's see, you got guineas and their freaky looks scared your pigs so badly that the pigs never came back?

Tell us what you meant, please, you've got me totally puzzled.