Other uses for guineas?

[jcatblum]

Peeps so glad to hear you sampled some of your extras! And even though you love your birds they can still taste good. I know you are in a more expensive cost of living area -- but $5 sounds high to have each bird processed. Think $2-$3 is what I see normally. $10-$12 for ducks. But a guinea is more like a chicken than a duck.

How old were the Roos you used? I have a batch hatching next wk that will be for meat--- may take a few pretty hens for keeps, but candler the other night & have 47 eggs should hatch around the 23rd. Figure come Feb I hope to have 2-3 dz for my freezer. Will prob offer someone to split them with me. You do the dirty work & keep half the birds-- I imagine when you factor in feed it won't be any cheaper than paying someone, but makes me feel like I am not spending as much!!!

 

[perchie.girl]

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Cool.... I have seen Beef processors up in my neck of the woods but never thought of poultry processors. I may sniff around to see if there are any around here. There are a couple of places for processing classes for do it your self ers. But I am not sure I would be able to do that.... Wayy in the long term.... some home processing is done without plucking. You just skin them out.... but i would suspect that would take away some of the flavor.... Be worth it to raise up some turkeys and Meat birds too.

 

[GoldDogsMom]

sorry to jump in and slightly off topic but...guinea fowl can free range ALL the time? No need for a coop at night?

 

[PeepsCA]

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No, not unless you have completely, securely fenced property and livestock guardian dogs on duty full time to keep the predators at bay, and even then owls will still take what they please. Hawks are usually a problem during the day for many of us that keep Guineas, but I've also had foxes, bobcats and coyotes snatch birds during daylight hours too. Guineas are a little more predator savvy than most types of poultry, but they are not immune or invincible, by far. A flock of 24 can be reduced to 4 birds in just a few days... because predators tend to return for free meals as long as they can, until the buffet is closed. Plus a waterlogged, soaked to the bone, shivering Guinea cannot get up in a tree or any other high roost to avoid the ground predators. If one wants to sustain a flock of Guineas on your land, then I highly recommend cooping/penning them at night. And attached, secure covered run is a useful thing to have in addition tot he coop also. A few other Guinea keepers are likely to disagree with this, but they usually don't have a high predator load on/around their land that most of us have.

 

[GoldDogsMom]

Thanks Peeps! I just couldn't imagine them surviving through the night here....There is a "neighbor" a couple of miles away with 1 that I see in his yard running around, maybe I should ask if he shuts his in at night! I have chickens, had ducks, going to get more ducks next spring and thought Hey...Guinea!

 

[jcatblum]

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Think predators are always an issue. Day or night. 1230 today had a hungry coyote sitting outside my guinea pen. Also had had skunks get caught in the aviary netting outside my pen. We had left the excess netting on the ground to be cut off later. Went down & found a live skunk tangled all up. Glad he didn't get in my pen. Also glad I had a riffle.

I think penning them up @ night is the safest way to go.

 

[PeepsCA]

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Only 1 huh? Bet he started with 12 or more Guineas originally... lol (not really funny tho!). Aftr seeing so many of their flockmates get taken by predators the remainder of the flock does smarten up and find safer places to roost and can sometime last a few years, but that lone Guinea's "time" will come too eventually if it's not cooped/penned at night

 

[GoldDogsMom]

Next time I see someone out where the guinea lives I am going to stop and ask!

 

[PeepsCA]

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Why is processing ducks more expensive that other similar sized poultry in your area? Ducks have guts, heads, feet and feathers just like a chicken or a Guinea does, lol.

I could not have done the processing myself... cuz I raised these guys from eggs, that came out of adult birds that I raised from keets, (and come when I call them!) ack... that part is what gets to me!

I thought $5 per bird for processing was a pretty decent price tho, lol, considering they contained the mess and took the nasty stuff home with them, and I didn't have to touch any of it

I didn't even have to watch the yucky parts, I just handed them 2 birds at a time and wandered off til the yuck was over with, lol. I wouldn't exactly call the expenses of the way I hatched, raised and fed them up to the point of processing as being profitable at all, but I can definitely chalk it up to one of life's experiences, lol.

The Roos were all between 4 and 5 months old (and all pretty much somewhere between 2.1lbs and 2.5lbs after processing... I think the biggest bird was maybe 2.7lbs). The lighter feathered birds were "prettier" after being processed, the darker birds had dark pigmented skin on their legs and upper breast area that was kind of weird/gross looking, even after they were cooked, lol (those went in the crockpot!).

But yah... they were tasty. I'd rather eat a Turkey tho

, but it is nice to know that if I end up stuck with too many birds to feed I can have them "processed", keep a few and still sell them for $25-$30 each processed (I usually get $25 for adult Hens and $20 for adult males (alive) as I thin out my flocks at the end of the year anyway)

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Pics below... you don't have to look if you don't wanna. (I didn't take any pics of the processing part, no worries, lol).


Here's 3 of them ready to go in ziplocks and then into the fridge for 48 hrs, (yes I zitpied their lil legs together, they were stickin out in every direction from just being tossed into the icechest lol). You can see the dark skin I was talking about on the bird in the middle, kinda weird to me, and just yucky, lol:

Here's the 2 smallest birds in the crockpot with my home grown herbs and some chicken broth (store bought broth, lol) Crummy cellphone pic:

And here's the 4 that we stuffed and roasted in the oven (we used Reynolds crockpot bags, lol). This pic was from right before I put them in the oven. No spices or butter added (other than what was in the cornbred stuffing), we wanted to see how they'd turn out with just minimal effort in our part. They turned out really tender and moist... and yummy

(Actually all 6 birds did!)

 

[jcatblum]

Ducks are harder to pluck for what I have been told. Has something to do with their feathers & the amount of fat on them. People even use dawn in the water when they scald ducks. Cost is higher since the process is harder. I wonder what feed would convert for guineas. I will do my best to keep track of the feed for this batch & see. Think many chickens come out to 4 lbs of feed for every pound of meat. I imagine during the spring they would eat alot less feed with green grass & plenty of bugs. Since I am raising this batch of keets over winter the cost of feed will be higher.

Will do my best to keep track, but no promises!