Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[itsjustme]

I have some questions I did not see answered here ( sorry if I just over looked it) I bought guineas last spring for the 1st time. ( and then I bought some more not long after that) I turned my 2nd group out with the first group as soon as i got them home the new guineas went straight to the others and they all got along like they had been together their whole lives. And they all stayed together in a group and never got far from each other. They free range and have since they were old enough to come out of the brooder. lately they do not hang out in a group they will be in pairs and spread out all over the place. My 1st ? Is it normal for them to break off in pairs which I assume are mating pairs and for them to only stay together when they roost? I have 11 and there will be 4 pairs out roaming on their own. The 5th " pair" I believe are both hens. And the last I'm positive is a male and the others will have nothing to do with him he hangs out with the Tom turkeys. So my 2nd ? What is the best way to go about getting them mates? Buy 2 males and 1 hen? Or does any1. No if I pen 1 of the hens with the male for a week or so will they just become mates? Sorry about the huge story! I thought a little back ground info would help.

 

[PeepsCA]

Pairing up is normal for the breeding season... but they may not stay paired up. My birds switch mates often, or a male will group up with 2 or more Hens, but he may not stay with those Hens the whole season... or may keep one of them, but 2 other Hens will join his "harem", lol. Pairs, trios and quads are common in my flocks, and they all coop up together each night without issues.

You may get lucky with getting the lone male to pair up with a Hen (or even both Hens) if you pen them a while, but he may have bonded with the Turkeys and may decide he just isn't interested in the Hens, no matter what. Or the Hens just may not like him, so they won't want to pair up with him. Hard to say how it will work out, but it's worth a try.

Bringing in new birds now may cause a lot of aggression and chaos in the pecking order and pair-ups (while hormones are raging)... so you may want to try the penning up idea first since these birds are already familiar with each other. (Guineas do not always accept new additions to the flock as easily as it went for you last time).

 

[amberr]

I found a 21% protein starter, and i will have a mixed brooder of keets and chicks. Can I supplement with boiled eggs, meat etc to make up the protein? I will try and feed them separately but will it hurt the chicks to get extra protein?

 

[PeepsCA]

I found a 21% protein starter, and i will have a mixed brooder of keets and chicks. Can I supplement with boiled eggs, meat etc to make up the protein? I will try and feed them separately but will it hurt the chicks to get extra protein?

21% is really way too low for keets, you're going to need to do a lot of supplementing... and just to warn you, the more meat and other animal proteins you add to their diet, the stinkier the brooder will be, lol

I've only raised Silkies as far as chickens go, and I have not brooded my keets and Silkie chicks together for more than a week or 2 at a time... they all ate 27% protein game bird starter (or higher) while they were together tho and the Silkies had no issues from it. My flock of Silkies are almost a year old now and still show no problems from it.

Some people argue up and down the chicks will have problems from the extra protein, others insist the chicks will pass the extra protein with no problems. I know a lot of people that raise their keets and chicks together, or even just raise their keets on high protein starter feeds (depending on the breed)... so you'll have to do a little research and decide what is best for your certain breed or breeds of chicks.

Personally I'd go with a higher protein starter feed for everybody and save the 21% for after they turn 6 wks old to make sure your keets are off to a the best start possible. Guineas live longer and stay productive longer than your typical chicken breeds... so why risk stunting growth or causing laying, breeding, health etc issues for your Guineas down the line over a few chicks that will be replaced (or eaten) within a few years. That's JMO tho

 

[Mmmatt13]

Peeps, you have the cutest birds.

 

[itsjustme]

[COLOR=4B0082]Pairing up is normal for the breeding season... but they may not stay paired up. My birds switch mates often, or a male will group up with 2 or more Hens, but he may not stay with those Hens the whole season... or may keep one of them, but 2 other Hens will join his "harem", lol. Pairs, trios and quads are common in my flocks, and they all coop up together each night without issues.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=4B0082]You may get lucky with getting the lone male to pair up with a Hen (or even both Hens) if you pen them a while, but he may have bonded with the Turkeys and may decide he just isn't interested in the Hens, no matter what. Or the Hens just may not like him, so they won't want to pair up with him. Hard to say how it will work out, but it's worth a try.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=4B0082]Bringing in new birds now may cause a lot of aggression and chaos in the pecking order and pair-ups (while hormones are raging)... so you may want to try the penning up idea first since these birds are already familiar with each other. (Guineas do not always accept new additions to the flock as easily as it went for you last time).[/COLOR]

wow I was told guineas would take only 1 mate and keep it for life? I guess if that isn't true then my birds behavior makes perfect sense. Lol I think I will just leave them be for now and just let them figure it out. I would like to get some more though. When do u think would be a good time to do that? And should I just get pairs? Would that cut down on the stress? I love my loud annoying guneas and I think the more the merrier lol but not if its going to cause problems. Thank you for replying so quickly.

 

[PeepsCA]

wow I was told guineas would take only 1 mate and keep it for life? I guess if that isn't true then my birds behavior makes perfect sense. Lol I think I will just leave them be for now and just let them figure it out. I would like to get some more though. When do u think would be a good time to do that? And should I just get pairs? Would that cut down on the stress? I love my loud annoying guneas and I think the more the merrier lol but not if its going to cause problems. Thank you for replying so quickly.

Yah, unfortunately there's a lot of info out there about Guineas that doesn't apply to all flocks...

IMO, the easiest time to integrate new birds is after breeding/laying season is over in the late Fall or early Winter, when the weather gets colder and wetter. My flocks tend to be less aggressive/territorial and more accepting of new additions once their hormones have settled down, they are no longer breeding or laying, they have molted, and the cooler temps set in.

You can add pairs, but keep in mind that the more new birds you integrate at once the less "hazing" the newbies will have to go thru, since there are more of them to bare the brunt of all the normal Guinea aggression the newbies normally have to endure.

 

[itsjustme]

Thank you again! I will hold off on getting any more until late fall early winter and just enjoy the birds I have now. That will also give me plenty of time to decide exactly how many more I want to get. When I first started talking about getting guineas people were like are you crazy? They are loud and annoying, they are mean you can't tame them. I have to agree they are loud! And can be annoying at times. But on the other hand nothing moves on this property without me knowing and I like that. They are also fun to watch. And even though I can't hold or pet them I can stand in my yard and say chick chick chick they all come running and will eat out of your hand. I love it.

 

[PeepsCA]

Maybe you will get lucky and at least one of your Hens will lay a clutch of eggs in a safe spot (preferably the coop!), hatch them out and then SHE will do the integrating for you, lol. If a Hen does hatch out some keets you will want to pen her and the keets up for a few weeks (where the rest of the flock can see them but not get to them/hurt them) until the keets have grown a little, started feathering out and can keep up with Momma when they wander around free ranging. Sometimes flocks aren't very accepting of newly hatched keets and can kill them because they see them as a threat to the flock and pecking order (the same way they typically react to new birds), but sometimes the entire flock can turn into a band of nannies and want to help raise/protect the keets. It's always a good idea to keep the Momma and keets protected/confined until the keets aren't so fragile and you have an idea of how the flock will react to them tho.

 

[weeshanti]

I found a 21% protein starter, and i will have a mixed brooder of keets and chicks. Can I supplement with boiled eggs, meat etc to make up the protein? I will try and feed them separately but will it hurt the chicks to get extra protein?

I agree with Peeps - get game bird starter. I raise chicks and keets together as a single flock, and keep them all on game bird starter until they are about four months old. Once they go outside (they are free-range) and the hens start thinking about laying, everyone switches to layer crumbles. So far I haven't had any issues. I think the bigger issue for chickens getting too much protein comes once they are past chick-stage.