Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[Nickeyo]

It does sound like you have a French Pearl guinea hen (bred to a larger size for meat) which were all Pearl guineas but I believe that they have managed to breed in the Lavender color recently.  The genes that are related to the size of the guinea are not directly related to the color genes.  Sometimes when you make hybrids, the resulting offspring are even bigger than either parent.  Other times they end up being an in between size and in even other cases they can be smaller but that is rare.  I believe that your crosses will most likely end up at a size that is in between the two parents.

Good luck.

Ok thanks, I hope they don't get to big!

Any thoughts on whether I should keep grass short or long for guineas

 

[R2elk]

Ok thanks, I hope they don't get to big!

Any thoughts on whether I should keep grass short or long for guineas

My guineas like a mixture of both short and tall grass. Short grass is better for hunting bugs and other small creatures while tall grass is good for hiding nests.

 

[BirdFarmer21]

I have a question. I just bought two adult Guineas one make and one female, I want to know on how to unstress them. They are free range but they are fences in about half a hector of land. I also have about 150 chickens with the Guineas. I just need help on how to relax them so they are not always going crazy and being relaxed. Please help.

 

[Rock Sister]

They dont Buck Wheat all day long over and over and over and over and over again.....      But they do make alot of noise if they see something new....  or strange or flying over head ...

YOu should have heard em when i went out in a new pink bathrobe.....  or the hat....

deb

We let our guineas free range and we put a rooster with them in cage for 10 weeks together and after they are out, they actually call like he does... Not sound, but morning and dark. And danger of course. Our neigjbors are close. We are on 5 acres. I went to all around me and said if you dont kill my guineas then you will have zero bugs and snakes. Mine just killed this

No one complains. I only lost two, the first time I got them. I cut their one wing and neighbor's dog got. I really didn't understand how much game they have in them. I got for pest control so have to be out working for food lol

 

[Rock Sister]

I have a question. I just bought two adult Guineas one make and one female, I want to know on how to unstress them. They are free range but they are fences in about half a hector of land. I also have about 150 chickens with the Guineas. I just need help on how to relax them so they are not always going crazy and being relaxed. Please help.

IMO, you can't. They do not care for a group of chickens. Thats is stress you could eliminate.

Imo, unless you buy day olds, you will never hold them easily because they imprint from day one. Now I am not saying that you can't force them or break them like a horse but to do that you will need a hockey mask lol. Most people forget that Guineas are weopons themselves. Feet and wings is what you will get so be prepared lol. Geese are even larger weopons! I have seen broke noses with both.

They don't want friends. They want whats in your yard and when you run out, neighbor now gets benefit.

If you just bought, find them a small cage that they can move around easily depending on size and put in a quiet place. I actually house mine in a pen inside hen yard. I bring up to 4 week olds in house and start messing with them then and after that its the big house lol. They don't want you to do anything with them except do what you have to do and get out of there. They say 3-4 weeks are good to keep on property. That may be a larger piece of land, but on 5 acres, mine run off if not penned for 8-10 weeks. If I have birds that are still unsettled and not used to me, well he/she will be last one released. So weeks depend on settling time and most of mine settle all together but every once in the while, I have a stubborn which isn't a problem because I let them out one at a time. Better to loose 1 than 3. I always raise in 3s.

Theyy are not pets although my mom raised. She did have first two tamed and all was well until she bought a parrot too and it flew to her shoulders and the guinea scratched and bruised her face where side of parrot was. Then guinea lived outdoors. My mom had that male and he was trying to protect her.

Then, for 8-10 weeks we sit and look at each other and they are off to start eating.

 

[harley587]

They dont Buck Wheat all day long over and over and over and over and over again.....

But they do make alot of noise if they see something new.... or strange or flying over head ...

YOu should have heard em when i went out in a new pink bathrobe..... or the hat....

deb

Holy Rockin Rabbits!!! I though I was the only person who ran around saying my guineas "Buck Wheat"!! Gotta be careful saying that - I was wandering around the neighborhood yelling "Buck Wheat, Buck Wheat" when this little boy kept looking at me funny-like. I think he though I was calling him "Buck Wheat"...

tres embarrassing!

 

[guineapeeps]

I have a question. I just bought two adult Guineas one make and one female, I want to know on how to unstress them. They are free range but they are fences in about half a hector of land. I also have about 150 chickens with the Guineas. I just need help on how to relax them so they are not always going crazy and being relaxed. Please help.

They will probably never be calm and tame like chickens, but they will probably settle down after a few weeks once they get used to your place. Guineas tend to have more of a wild personality and even ones that I have handled since hatching still do not liked to be caught or held. Despite that, I can always get mine to come to me with white millet (they especially like Wild Harvest parakeet mix with orange essence). All I have to do is shake the bag and they come running. You might try giving them a treat like that to see if you can win them over, but be patient....it takes a lot of time since they have such a wild personality. Also, one other thing that my Guineas enjoy is looking at themselves in an old mirror or window. I put a big old mirror in my Guineas coop and they spend a lot of time checking themselves out! Good luck!

 

[perchie.girl]

I have a question. I just bought two adult Guineas one make and one female, I want to know on how to unstress them. They are free range but they are fences in about half a hector of land. I also have about 150 chickens with the Guineas. I just need help on how to relax them so they are not always going crazy and being relaxed. Please help.

At best they will associate you with food and generally accept your presence... I adopted a small flock of six adults from a woman and they causally ignored me. But come dinnertime they were front and center

 

[harley587]

I have a question. I just bought two adult Guineas one make and one female, I want to know on how to unstress them. They are free range but they are fences in about half a hector of land. I also have about 150 chickens with the Guineas. I just need help on how to relax them so they are not always going crazy and being relaxed. Please help.

We have 5 (originally 6, but one disappeared) on an acre and a quarter of land. To the delight of some of our neighbors and the dismay of others, the whole neighborhood has become their range. They spend all day roaming the neighborhood cackling and buck-wheating or racing back and forth on our rooftop unless we are out for them to entertain. In essence, they appear to be going crazy at all times of the day. Al, hubby, spends most days outside and is often calling for them to come home. They do come for us whenever we yell "boys" and they are definitely are front and center for any food. By 7pm EST they are nestled for the night in their "roosting trees" right over the chicken coop where they were raised. We have come to realize that they are going to do what they want to the neighborhood no matter how much we try to prevent them and have just relaxed ourselves about their craziness, letting them just be guineas.

 

[cabinchicky]

Did not heed warning of Guinea wings as I should have. Oww, safety glasses and a hockey mask next time. Was trying to catch Black Australorp cockerel that was bought same day as keets. Just say the Guinea thought he was one of their family.