Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[Victoria-nola]

Ok, as I've said, I have 30 guinea eggs in my incubator about halfway through hatch. I must have been out of my mind when I ordered the eggs. No, I just thought we'd have things together by now. But, we don't have the coop built for them, and there really isn't room in our chicken coop even to brood the keets, given that we've just doubled our population in there.


1. Do people generally co-house the chickens and guineas or separate them even if they are raised by a broody hen?


2. Would it be reasonable to build a smaller, armored cattle-panel hoop house for the keets (they will be brooded there with MHP), knowing we have to build the larger house for longterm? Will they be willing to move to a new/bigger coop and view it as an improvement and not as an interruption to the enforced-confinement that is part of their raising (as I understand to be the norm)?

Seeking input and answers.

Thank you all for your good humor and incisive intellects.

--V

 

[R2elk]

Ok, as I've said, I have 30 guinea eggs in my incubator about halfway through hatch. I must have been out of my mind when I ordered the eggs. No, I just thought we'd have things together by now. But, we don't have the coop built for them, and there really isn't room in our chicken coop even to brood the keets, given that we've just doubled our population in there.


1. Do people generally co-house the chickens and guineas or separate them even if they are raised by a broody hen?


2. Would it be reasonable to build a smaller, armored cattle-panel hoop house for the keets (they will be brooded there with MHP), knowing we have to build the larger house for longterm? Will they be willing to move to a new/bigger coop and view it as an improvement and not as an interruption to the enforced-confinement that is part of their raising (as I understand to be the norm)?

Seeking input and answers.

Thank you all for your good humor and incisive intellects.

--V

A lot of people co-house their guineas and chickens. A lot of those people get a really rude awakening when the first breeding season comes around and the guineas seem to go crazy. Some people who give lots of room to their guineas and chickens have a lot less problems than people who try to keep them in cramped quarters. Guineas need more "personal space" than do chickens with a recommended requirement of at least 4 sq. ft. of unencumbered floor space per guinea.

I house my guineas separately and do not have any of the problems associated with sharing space between guineas and other poultry. At times all of my poultry are free ranging at the same time. Because I keep a minimum of 10 or more guineas, there is no friction between my guineas and any of the other poultry when free ranging in the same area. There can be lots of friction between the guineas themselves but they understand their mannerisms while other poultry don't understand why the guineas act like they do.

Good luck.

 

[guineapeeps]

Ok, as I've said, I have 30 guinea eggs in my incubator about halfway through hatch. I must have been out of my mind when I ordered the eggs.  No, I just thought we'd have things together by now.  But, we don't have the coop built for them, and there really isn't room in our chicken coop even to brood the keets, given that we've just doubled our population in there.


1.  Do people generally co-house the chickens and guineas or separate them even if they are raised by a broody hen?


2.  Would it be reasonable to build a smaller, armored cattle-panel hoop house for the keets (they will be brooded there with MHP), knowing we have to build the larger house for longterm?  Will they be willing to move to a new/bigger coop and view it as an improvement and not as an interruption to the enforced-confinement that is part of their raising (as I understand to be the norm)?

Seeking input and answers.

Thank you all for your good humor and incisive intellects.

--V

I can't really speak to housing Guineas and chickens together, because I only have Guineas, but it doesn't seem like just keets (no adults) would be a big deal to house together with chickens. If you really don't have the room, though, it sounds like your temporary plan may work; however, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, I would make sure you enclose the panels with something solid. Little keets are escape artists and can squeeze through incredibly small spaces. Second, once you move the keets, they would need to be confined again for at least several weeks once you move them to their new permanent home (some people do 4-6 weeks, but I've had luck with 3 weeks). Lastly, don't panic! As long as they have some sort of safe, warm space, they do pretty well and are pretty hardy! One year, my friend gave me 30 eggs which I incubated. I tried to brood them in the coop with the bigger Guineas but in a separate pen. The adults were awful and we're constantly trying to attack the brooding pen. I finally moved the keets into a big refrigerator box in my covered porch for awhile, and they did just fine. The ones I ended up keeping eventually integrated into the flock, but it took some time. Now I rarely incubate and just let the hens hatch their own.....it's so much easier and I don't have to worry if they will be accepted by the others. Good luck!

 

[duluthralphie]

I can't really speak to housing Guineas and chickens together, because I only have Guineas, but it doesn't seem like just keets (no adults) would be a big deal to house together with chickens. If you really don't have the room, though, it sounds like your temporary plan may work; however, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, I would make sure you enclose the panels with something solid. Little keets are escape artists and can squeeze through incredibly small spaces. Second, once you move the keets, they would need to be confined again for at least several weeks once you move them to their new permanent home (some people do 4-6 weeks, but I've had luck with 3 weeks). Lastly, don't panic! As long as they have some sort of safe, warm space, they do pretty well and are pretty hardy! One year, my friend gave me 30 eggs which I incubated. I tried to brood them in the coop with the bigger Guineas but in a separate pen. The adults were awful and we're constantly trying to attack the brooding pen. I finally moved the keets into a big refrigerator box in my covered porch for awhile, and they did just fine. The ones I ended up keeping eventually integrated into the flock, but it took some time. Now I rarely incubate and just let the hens hatch their own.....it's so much easier and I don't have to worry if they will be accepted by the others. Good luck!

What? Say it ain't so! Your Guineas misbehaved and acted like gangsters?? How can this be? Did you not treat them well as keets?



My adult guineas live with the chickens when given a chance too. The chickens seem to have no say in whether the guineas move in or not. They get along fine. I would never allow chicks or keets anywhere near my adult guineas. Especially if there is more than one guinea, they tend to encourage each other in poor judgment calls and bad behavior. ( sort of like when I had a 13-14 year old daughter)


I have a BA hen sitting on eggs in the same prison the Guinea is doing life without possibility of parole in. This is just one guinea in a coop and run with 5 chickens and I am worried about its behavior. ( If it gets bad, the Guinea will simply cease to exist and 3 days later appear on our table).

I have a turkey hen hatching keets and a Chicken hen hatching keets those will be my new guineas. The ones I incubate I will sell. It is too hard to raise them (without a Mother) and expect them to stay out of prison or be socially aware of others.

 

[Victoria-nola]

A lot of people co-house their guineas and chickens. A lot of those people get a really rude awakening when the first breeding season comes around and the guineas seem to go crazy. Some people who give lots of room to their guineas and chickens have a lot less problems than people who try to keep them in cramped quarters. Guineas need more "personal space" than do chickens with a recommended requirement of at least 4 sq. ft. of unencumbered floor space per guinea.

I house my guineas separately and do not have any of the problems associated with sharing space between guineas and other poultry. At times all of my poultry are free ranging at the same time. Because I keep a minimum of 10 or more guineas, there is no friction between my guineas and any of the other poultry when free ranging in the same area. There can be lots of friction between the guineas themselves but they understand their mannerisms while other poultry don't understand why the guineas act like they do.

Good luck.

Thank you, this is helpful. And I sure do appreciate all the insight into guinea psychology and behavior that I'm getting here.

Quote:
Thank you. Really don't have room in chicken coop, just doubled our population with new chicks integrating, don't really want to complicate matters either as it is going beautifully. The panels would be encased in 1/2" hardware cloth, I just bought a couple more rolls and expect to get more. My further concern would be about covering with tarps or whatever, how much ventilation and so forth. Our temps right now are generally in the 90sF during the day and low-to-mid 70sF overnight lows. And I'll be using the Mama-Heating-Pad (MHP) method of brooding, so they'll have as much heat as they want. My concern would be overheating/ventilation needs. Of course they need shade too, I'll try to site it so it gets natural shade from trees.

Got it about that when they move to their new house I'll have to start over on the confinement period. Thank you, critical important.

Right, I won't panic. We can provide them worst case with a giant dog kennel (armored with hardware cloth) to start with. Thank you for that inspiration, that takes a huge weight off me. Oh also, yes, my intention is that the guineas do their own reproduction from here on out, for sure. I'll need to ask questions about coop setup to encourage/facilitate that.

 

[duluthralphie]

OH,, I forgot, I put it down to the cold medicines I am taking..

R2elk hit on a very important part.. DO NOT KEEP GUINEAS IN COOP with CHICKENS DURIN GBREEDING SEASON!

I lock my guineas in a run 50X50 with a separate 12x20 building attached for the worse of the breeding season. I do not let them even look at the chicken then. The normally poorly behaved Guinea becomes even worse during breeding season.. And they get MEAN!!



Also on Guineas handling their own reproduction. I cannot do that here. Dew will kill the Keets on the cool mornings and Mother Guineas are not great in my climate. You're further south so you might do ok. But it is damp there.

 

[Victoria-nola]

I have a turkey hen hatching keets and a Chicken hen hatching keets those will be my new guineas. The ones I incubate I will sell. It is too hard to raise them (without a Mother) and expect them to stay out of prison or be socially aware of others.

This is why I was asking about whether we ought to buy an adult or two as guides for the keets about to be hatched here, but people said, and I think you said this too, that guineas don't take too well to keets not their own. But I totally know that the mother birds would be passing on important cultural knowledge to the keets and I'm concerned about starting a flock without that ability.

 

[guineapeeps]

What?  Say it ain't so!   Your Guineas misbehaved and acted like gangsters??    How can this be? Did you not treat them well as keets?



My adult guineas live with the chickens when given a chance too. The chickens seem to have no say in whether the guineas move in or not. They get along fine. I would never allow chicks or keets anywhere near my adult guineas.      Especially if there is more than one guinea, they tend to encourage each other in poor judgment calls and bad behavior. ( sort of like when I had a 13-14 year old daughter) 


I have a BA hen sitting on eggs in the same prison the Guinea is doing life without possibility of parole in. This is just one guinea in a coop and run with 5 chickens and I am worried about its behavior.  ( If it gets bad, the Guinea will simply cease to exist and 3 days later appear on our table).

I have a turkey hen hatching keets and a Chicken hen hatching keets those will be my new guineas.  The ones I incubate I will sell. It is too hard to raise them (without a Mother) and expect them to stay out of prison or be socially aware of others.

Yes, they can act very gangster like in introducing newbies to the coop.....that's why I don't incubate anymore......to hard to integrate them with the adults. They are very good mothers, though! Actually almost too good once the keets hatch. If I try to grab a keet, the mothers are brutal and wage a full assault, so I try to just let them be and do their thing! But I do appreciate how my entire Guinea flock gets
in on the action of raising the babies hatched under the hens....even the males watch over the little ones.
I love the comment of Guineas having the poor judgement of a 14 year old! I have a 14 year old son and I think the Guineas still have better judgement that he does! I'm hoping that will change as he gets older!

 

[guineapeeps]

This is why I was asking about whether we ought to buy an adult or two as guides for the keets about to be hatched here, but people said, and I think you said this too, that guineas don't take too well to keets not their own.  But I totally know that the mother birds would be passing on important cultural knowledge to the keets and I'm concerned about starting a flock without that ability.

I think the keets will be fine without an adult role model. I started my flock with 4 keets (with no adults) and they did just fine. In fact, 2 of those original ones are my best mothers today! Most Guinea qualities are inborn and come as instinct. I think the inherent "wildness" they have is what makes them so hard to tame, even if you handle them a lot as keets.

 

[perchie.girl]

For what its worth when i had poultry I housed the guineas separately from the chickens but free ranged them together. At the time I had five adult males at least four years old. So there was no "breeding" season commotion.

but there were scuffles over food and water and surprisingly they shared roosts occasionally. Yep I left the door open between them after a while.

I put the roosts up high for the guineas and most of the chickens stayed on the lower ones. But there were a few roos that were up to the challenge....

didnt feed in the coop at that time I fed out in the yard. so I setup about three or four feed stations and a couple of water founts so that when one ran everyone off they could go to another.

My success was dictated by not having Guinea Hens.... The social dynamic changes every spring. My last flock of guineas had females. I raised them from Keets so they all became sexually mature at the same time... Oh the running and the feather pulling they could even run along the perches....

but once they pair off life settles some.... and I hear they mellow a bit each year.... So far the coyotes have terminated that experience for me.

deb