Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[NashvilleLuLu]

Weird, muy Guinea fowl poop has no odor and is ez to wash away in grass with waterhose...kinda like pieces of chewed gum, normally!

What kind of feed do you give them??

 

[NashvilleLuLu]

Our four month old Guineas just laid eggs!??! We found a nest last night, but no eggs. This morning we found two eggs in their coop?! A few started singing a new chirp chirp sound, we are thinking it's an egg song.

But we are so confused! Four months old laying eggs?? They were born in April.
R2Elk: I look forward to hearing what you think about this!

This may explain the newly formed evening parade of possum and skunk in the yard.

 

[R2elk]

Our four month old Guineas just laid eggs!??! We found a nest last night, but no eggs. This morning we found two eggs in their coop?! A few started singing a new chirp chirp sound, we are thinking it's an egg song.

But we are so confused! Four months old laying eggs?? They were born in April.
R2Elk: I look forward to hearing what you think about this!

This may explain the newly formed evening parade of possum and skunk in the yard.

It happens. Normally when they start laying that early, they don't tend to lay for a long period and then they start laying again the next spring.

It is not uncommon for the first eggs to be dropped wherever the hen happens to be when the urge to lay the egg hits her. Later when she realizes what is happening, she will want to use a nest and deposit her eggs in one place.

Skunks are great egg thieves.

Good luck.

 

[onvirginiasoil]

It happens. Normally when they start laying that early, they don't tend to lay for a long period and then they start laying again the next spring.

It is not uncommon for the first eggs to be dropped wherever the hen happens to be when the urge to lay the egg hits her. Later when she realizes what is happening, she will want to use a nest and deposit her eggs in one place.

Exactly. When I have young guineas (and I always do have some in the summer and fall), I'll find eggs on the driveway and out in the open, and I always know it's one of the younger ones; grown guineas do not lay in the open. In fact, if a guinea keeper has enough open space for the guineas to free-range, they'll hide their nests in some fairly inventive hidden places. I have a large acreage, and I am concerned about predators, so I gather leafy limbs that fall during storms and make brush piles in hopes the guineas will lay their eggs near the house. So far, that has worked, though I still am sometimes surprised to find that I have a column of tiny new "grandchildren" following their mother up to the house.

My grandparents were farmers, and the family enjoyed guinea eggs, so they always had free-range guineas in addition to chickens kept in a fenced chicken-yard outside the coop. One of my mother's chores as a child was to find a guinea nest so as to swipe eggs from it. My grandmother would not make a cake with chicken eggs if guinea eggs were available (yes, they are that good). Determining the whereabouts of the nest is not space science. My mother would walk until a male guinea started giving her grief (guineas mate for life, and the male will stand sentry while his beloved is laying eggs). My mother would hide and wait till the couple left the area and couldn't see her, then would go in with a spoon to lift the number of eggs Granny wanted.

My own guineas tend to follow me around outside, so it's hard to be sneaky. I end up picking up the single eggs dropped in a public place to cook with (makes GREAT cornbread! Use two guinea eggs for each large egg called for). Taking only those preserves the flock's trust in me, and doesn't diminish the number of keets that are born here.

 

[NashvilleLuLu]

Exactly. When I have young guineas (and I always do have some in the summer and fall), I'll find eggs on the driveway and out in the open, and I always know it's one of the younger ones; grown guineas do not lay in the open. In fact, if a guinea keeper has enough open space for the guineas to free-range, they'll hide their nests in some fairly inventive hidden places. I have a large acreage, and I am concerned about predators, so I gather leafy limbs that fall during storms and make brush piles in hopes the guineas will lay their eggs near the house. So far, that has worked, though I still am sometimes surprised to find that I have a column of tiny new "grandchildren" following their mother up to the house.

My grandparents were farmers, and the family enjoyed guinea eggs, so they always had free-range guineas in addition to chickens kept in a fenced chicken-yard outside the coop. One of my mother's chores as a child was to find a guinea nest so as to swipe eggs from it. My grandmother would not make a cake with chicken eggs if guinea eggs were available (yes, they are that good). Determining the whereabouts of the nest is not space science. My mother would walk until a male guinea started giving her grief (guineas mate for life, and the male will stand sentry while his beloved is laying eggs). My mother would hide and wait till the couple left the area and couldn't see her, then would go in with a spoon to lift the number of eggs Granny wanted.

My own guineas tend to follow me around outside, so it's hard to be sneaky. I end up picking up the single eggs dropped in a public place to cook with (makes GREAT cornbread! Use two guinea eggs for each large egg called for). Taking only those preserves the flock's trust in me, and doesn't diminish the number of keets that are born here.

Thank you for all the information and the lovely story!

 

[Sydney65]

"Guineas need anywhere from 6-10 weeks to know where home is. When building a coop and run, plan for one big enough to accomodate your flock for that amount of time. I generally coop mine for 8 weeks and have never had a problem with them returning." - mb dumb question, but just clarifying, do you literally mean keep them cooped, or are they allowed to go in the run?

 

[guineapeeps]

"Guineas need anywhere from 6-10 weeks to know where home is. When building a coop and run, plan for one big enough to accomodate your flock for that amount of time. I generally coop mine for 8 weeks and have never had a problem with them returning." - mb dumb question, but just clarifying, do you literally mean keep them cooped, or are they allowed to go in the run?

I would say, that their “home” includes the run, so in my opinion, they could be let out in the run as well, as long as there is no open top that three can fly out of.

 

[Marmack]

Guineas do make good moms.
The hens laid about 30 eggs in the coop this year. When one of the hens began sitting, I let her alone since I knew she was safe. Her mate was often with her.
It was very educational to watch her sit on so many eggs and it was very evident that she was moving them around as they would be in different positions. She also chirped a good amount of the time when it was near to hatching. I am told this is so the keets know who momma is.
17 hatched, I put the rest in the incubator. I tried to keep them in the coop but they all escaped by day three. Mom and companion kept them all together in a group and she would chirp to them as they moved around. Initially, she kept them close to the coop area. I set up a pen for mom and keets until they were a month and half then started letting them in the coop with all of the other guineas and chickens.
The hen often had a companion with her as they all free ranged together, she has never lost one of her keets and they are now 3 months old. But the 17 still will travel the farm together, at times they look like a live wave. It has been a real learning experience. Mom has taught them everything even how to dust bathe.
I have lost one hen to a racoon when I could not find her nest. I was able to convince a couple hens they did not want to nest outside of the coop and retrieved their eggs. I have made several people happy with keets of their own.
The eggs I incubated, 10 hatched, I was not as good as mom. They were started on electrolytes in their water (I put small glass rocks in the water bowl to keep them from putting their heads to far into the waterer and drowning. I also use a very shallow bowl. I start them on a medicated game bird starter on a paper plate. It is easier for them to find their food this way and moved to a chick feeder after a few days. This was information passed along to me when I received my first shipment of keets and have been doing this for a couple years successfully.
It was interesting to watch the incubated group as they hatched the old keets would help the younger ones until they were around 2 weeks old. Of those I hatched I have lost one, not as good as mom. Today, the 9 still are their own group, they roost together eat together and travel together around the farm. Whenever they tried to join the group of keets with the mom guinea they were chased away.
I have today seen where they are integrating into the larger flock.
Guineas are amazing birds, they have taught me a lot this year through observation. And yes, my neighbors enjoy them and people slow down when going past the our farm. I also love to hear them chatter and do roll call at night even though many times it sounds more like yelling at each other.

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[guineapeeps]

Guineas do make good moms.
The hens laid about 30 eggs in the coop this year. When one of the hens began sitting, I let her alone since I knew she was safe. Her mate was often with her.
It was very educational to watch her sit on so many eggs and it was very evident that she was moving them around as they would be in different positions. She also chirped a good amount of the time when it was near to hatching. I am told this is so the keets know who momma is.
17 hatched, I put the rest in the incubator. I tried to keep them in the coop but they all escaped by day three. Mom and companion kept them all together in a group and she would chirp to them as they moved around. Initially, she kept them close to the coop area. I set up a pen for mom and keets until they were a month and half then started letting them in the coop with all of the other guineas and chickens.
The hen often had a companion with her as they all free ranged together, she has never lost one of her keets and they are now 3 months old. But the 17 still will travel the farm together, at times they look like a live wave. It has been a real learning experience. Mom has taught them everything even how to dust bathe.
I have lost one hen to a racoon when I could not find her nest. I was able to convince a couple hens they did not want to nest outside of the coop and retrieved their eggs. I have made several people happy with keets of their own.
The eggs I incubated, 10 hatched, I was not as good as mom. They were started on electrolytes in their water (I put small glass rocks in the water bowl to keep them from putting their heads to far into the waterer and drowning. I also use a very shallow bowl. I start them on a medicated game bird starter on a paper plate. It is easier for them to find their food this way and moved to a chick feeder after a few days. This was information passed along to me when I received my first shipment of keets and have been doing this for a couple years successfully.
It was interesting to watch the incubated group as they hatched the old keets would help the younger ones until they were around 2 weeks old. Of those I hatched I have lost one, not as good as mom. Today, the 9 still are their own group, they roost together eat together and travel together around the farm. Whenever they tried to join the group of keets with the mom guinea they were chased away.
I have today seen where they are integrating into the larger flock.
Guineas are amazing birds, they have taught me a lot this year through observation. And yes, my neighbors enjoy them and people slow down when going past the our farm. I also love to hear them chatter and do roll call at night even though many times it sounds more like yelling at each other.

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Great pictures...love those lavender guineas!
I completely agree that many guineas are great parents. I always let mine hatch their own eggs whenever possible as I found that they were more successful than I was, as you mentioned.
Great job with your guineas and Keets...it sound like a successful hatching season!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Maiahr]

Hi, the link to Hatching eggs is not working, is there another one? Is the sound the only way to distinguish males from females?