Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[Starkasm]

HI STARKASM!!!! YOur back! man did i miss you.... my keets are all grown now, and laying eggs. whew. still try to tame them like you said your daughter did. Granny hatchett said to be patient that you would come back but i have been dying to ask you guinea questions. my kids still dont lay eggs where i want. out in the forest. in fact lost a hen when she sat on a nest. never found so much as a feather. my baby. still though have 9 of the original 11 keets. Cabo is my little man. like your Tick. mine is Guiness. he is the lead rooster Guinea. sorry cant call them a cock. just doesnt sound right. hatched 7 banties llast month and all goes good. hey hope everything is good with you, we missed you around here.... come back ok.

HIII I'm back for the most part. Still a bit achy when I sit here too long. Healing well though... slow road.
fyi...I don't call them that either... they are boys and girls lol.
Mine never lay where I want. It's a oh here's one, there's one, oh wow there's one... like they just stop where they are standing, til they set. Then I have a 4' 4' x 6' movable pen. We set it right on top of the setting hen with a tarp on top in case of rain etc. protects her and we can put food and water in it without having the chickens, squirrels, other guineas etc eat it!
Glad to hear all is well! I hatched a bunch of bantams last year but gearing more toward sister/ mom etc orders this year with a few ducks I want
Losses are horrid, but they happen. I don't think I'll ever be desensitize to it, breaks my heart every time. Lost two ducks to a weasel the snowfall before last. It's rough!
I actually have some eggs in the incubator as of the 1st so I'm back hatching!!!
Good to see you!!!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Smooches Granny

ewww. lol

 

[NBKOC64]

I have 10 guinea hens and 3 cocks. The hens lay many eggs and I've been incubating them, but only about half the eggs are fertile. Do I need more cock birds? Or do I have too many? The cock birds are always posturing towards one another and can be aggressive towards the hens at times. I'm not sure why there are so many infertile eggs.

 

[NBKOC64]

Anyone know where I can find some pinto guineas in the Dallas, TX area? I have two pinto cocks right now. I'm looking for hens.

 

[TCFarm]

Thank you!
This was a great summary for Guinea Fowl!
I was looking all over last summer when a friend gave me 2 dozen Guinea eggs. I found some useful info., but nothing this complete!
I hatched my eggs under two broody Chantelcler hens (who were mom's to the keets for a couple weeks). Then I acquired more Chanty week-olds (at that point about the same size as keets) from another breeder and raised the two breeds together. I eventually moved the Chanty hens to the layer coop, last fall; and keep the Guinea fowl in my horse barn in a nice run with an out-door area for winter sun; with my 'spare' roos.
This spring, I have let them free-range and so far no worries with them returning to their coop at night. I have had to encourage the roosters to the main part of the barn as they will harass the Guineas at dinner time! The Guineas get them back...bite wing feathers of aggressive roosters; and chase them away from the females. I may have them to thank for my super-tame roos!!
An important note I would add is that the two Guinea Fowl I kept in the Chanty layers coop over winter did get some frost-bite to their 'combs' (?-not actually sure what you call those pointy things on their heads?); and the ones in the (warmer) horse barn did not!
The type of chicken I keep (Chantelcler) are terrifically hardy. We had a super-cold winter here in Ontario, with many nights down to our worst temps ever (plant-hardiness zone 4B); and we had quite a few below that (minus 35 nights)!! So I would attest to these being hardy birds; at least almost as much so as the Chantys!

Thanks again!

Kathy

 

[lizzybaxter]

OK, I'll bite.
You really should try for the 5-6 week range. I didn't do the half thing-- I let all out but late in the day and slowly increased their "out" time by letting them out earlier. They also know that I will be putting feed in their coop right at sunset, so they come in for that. Actually, now the ones I have are roosting nightly in a special tree right by the house (and the dogs), a good place for them, but they still go in the coop nightly for a snack with the chickens, then off they go.

I just use a fine rake to clean out the coop (yes, they are messier than chickens) and a metal dustpan. The dustpan is good for scraping off perches, etc. too. If it's particularly gross, I then sprinkle some diatomaceous earth to keep flies and nasties down. They get a bit sprinkled in their feed too. Great stuff.

I use a little straw, but mostly it's a dirt floor with half the coop covered with a metal roof, half just w/ chicken wire. If it rains a lot it's a mess, but for the most part having all the fresh air in there is a good thing. I clean probably every 2-3 days.

I think I got all your questions covered, had to keep scrolling back up to look.

Feel free to ask more.

 

[lizzybaxter]

Wow, I forgot to put the quote part in. My answer above is for mruth! Sorry! Hopefully she finds it. I'm technologically challenged..... better go back outside now.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Wow, I forgot to put the quote part in. My answer above is for mruth! Sorry! Hopefully she finds it. I'm technologically challenged..... better go back outside now.

Good post and agreed, but I think guinea are cleaner than chickens.. but I have a lot more chickens!

 

[shellybelly]

If you say that hay/straw isn't a very good ground cover what would you suggest for a coop?

 

[castlehens]

Hi, I am new to Guinea Fowl. We got 14 keets and released them at 9 wks. I fed them at night for 3 wks to train them and then released them. I live on 513 acres but wanted them in the creek not far from the house. After releasing them they naturally went to that area. They were doing well all day then at night I could not get them to come in for food. I had to leave them out. The next morning I was unable to find them. I found evidence that one was killed but it's been a week now and I still can't find them. What did I do wrong. They can't ALL be dead in one night can they?