Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[Pennae]

Guinea take several months to actually mature. They won't even lay or breed until the year after they were hatched. With the large lizard issue I would wait as long as possible, I would feel terribly if you lost your flock.The older a guinea is the smarter they get.

thank you heaps

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Mine are now about 10wks old can I open the door tomorrow or must I stil wait. We Live on a farm with lots of bugs and no daytime predators am I going to be able to free range them tomm? Thanks

If you don't have a severe situation of predation, you can. Remember to train your guinea to come to you when you call first. Several of us have posted, use food as a teaching aid and a call. It can be your voice, a bell.. just make sure its loud. Use the same call eat time and give them a favorite treat.

johnny are you npip certified by chance...if so we can make something happen

No I am not, sorry. Someday, hopefully.
We take in a lot of homeless/rehomed birds, making it very hard to do. If you are NPIP, every time you add to your flocks you have to test incoming birds. The other issue I run into is abandoned birds turning up over night, like the odd off white guinea flock! Several misc chickens, a canadian goose that was tame.. last 2 years is a surprise every week it seems.
I have considered becoming a tester to eliminate that problem however, its pretty easy to do. Having the time being away from home is a real issue for me due to elder care.
I work with single Moms/Dads and help them start a small flock, as well as less fortunate families. Indiana has had hard rezoning the last 2 years in my general area, lots of urban area folks have had to give birds up. This is my way of saving a few birds and helping some other folks out too. And these given up birds are free to them, I deworm and quarantine to make sure the next owners get healthy birds. I can't leave home to volunteer to help my community, so this little thing will help a few families and hopefully encourage younger people to continue keeping poultry.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
you're welcome, good luck with avoiding those goanna! Guinea will shoot up like a rocket when they have their adult wing feathers in

 

[sweetlife]

So much great info! Thanks guys : ) i will be getting some this June

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

So much great info! Thanks guys : ) i will be getting some this June

Congrats, they are quite unusual and really a treasure to keep. Love my alarm siren sounds from the guinea when a stray dog or predator comes! We have no ticks, ants, bee or spider problems, haven't seen the japanese beetles here in years. Bonus with them, they do not bother your food in the garden, just pick off any bugs after the veggies! I will always keep them, even if I ever decided not to keep a chicken flock anymore.

 

[sweetlife]

Congrats, they are quite unusual and really a treasure to keep. Love my alarm siren sounds from the guinea when a stray dog or predator comes! We have no ticks, ants, bee or spider problems, haven't seen the japanese beetles here in years. Bonus with them, they do not bother your food in the garden, just pick off any bugs after the veggies! I will always keep them, even if I ever decided not to keep a chicken flock anymore.

I can't wait! And I think it is awesome what you do with rehoming birds! Keep up the good work : ) wish I could help but I'm in California

 

[Pennae]

umm i have a guinea and he seems sick he has white crusty stuff on his legs and face and he doesnt move can you help please

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

umm i have a guinea and he seems sick he has white crusty stuff on his legs and face and he doesnt move can you help please

Oh no! Sugar water first, or if you can get vitamin electrolites into him. finely chop an egg, and keep it available for him to eat. Guinea rarely become ill, and being listless is not promising. Do take him away from the others and keep in a box, keep him warm. If you have an eye dropper or just use your finger, try to get small amounts of sugar water into him. I am so sorry he is ill.

 

[Pennae]

Thanks for your help but we lost him a couple hours after i made the post

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I am so sorry to hear. Usually if a guinea shows illness its likely very ill.