Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[stevhoff]

I bought 7 guineas last week from a couple who have had them for about a year now.They said they were just starting to lay and were getting 1 egg a day.I brought them home and got 4 eggs the first day and its been varying between 3-4 eggs/day. Composition of the flock seems to be 6 hens and 1 rooster. I have not seen the rooster(cock?) mount any of the girls and am wondering if he is mature enough to fertilize the girls. I have an 8x8 coop for them and want to put some covered nesting boxes on the floor for the hens to hatch their own chicks while I keep them cooped up during the homing period. Just wondering if I should I do this or just collect and eat the eggs until I see some positive behavior out of the male. Also will the male be able to cover all the girls?

 

[perchie.girl]

I bought 7 guineas last week from a couple who have had them for about a year now.They said they were just starting to lay and were getting 1 egg a day.I brought them home and got 4 eggs the first day and its been varying between 3-4 eggs/day. Composition of the flock seems to be 6 hens and 1 rooster. I have not seen the rooster(cock?) mount any of the girls and am wondering if he is mature enough to fertilize the girls. I have an 8x8 coop for them and want to put some covered nesting boxes on the floor for the hens to hatch their own chicks while I keep them cooped up during the homing period. Just wondering if I should I do this or just collect and eat the eggs until I see some positive behavior out of the male. Also will the male be able to cover all the girls?

Welcome to BYC... Late of course from me...

What you can do is crack an egg and look for the bulls eye that indicates fertility. It will be a light ring very tiny that kind of looks like a smoke ring... But at a year you have adults.... Laying season is short about three months.



Guinea Eggs are smaller and have less white but they show the same bulls eye as chicken eggs do.

If you find they are fertile My suggestion is to incubate them yourself. Guineas are notorious for not using a nest box... Preferring to lay on the floor and kick them about.

For what its worth a female Guinea is called a hen.... A male Guinea is called a Cock... and the babies are called Keets. But you probably know this.

One Cock for six Hens should be fine. The Cocks are the quiet ones the Hens are the ones that holler Buckweat CONSTANTLY....

.

any way good luck.... I haven't been on the guinea boards in a while but will be getting back in to Guinea Fowl within the next year or so.

deb

For what its worth they have been known to make a nesting spot under wood leaned up against a wall as long as its private.... NO peeking in... LOL. But most people find it easier to either stick the eggs under a broody hen or incubate them in an incubator.

 

[R2elk]

I bought 7 guineas last week from a couple who have had them for about a year now.They said they were just starting to lay and were getting 1 egg a day.I brought them home and got 4 eggs the first day and its been varying between 3-4 eggs/day. Composition of the flock seems to be 6 hens and 1 rooster. I have not seen the rooster(cock?) mount any of the girls and am wondering if he is mature enough to fertilize the girls. I have an 8x8 coop for them and want to put some covered nesting boxes on the floor for the hens to hatch their own chicks while I keep them cooped up during the homing period. Just wondering if I should I do this or just collect and eat the eggs until I see some positive behavior out of the male. Also will the male be able to cover all the girls?

@perchie.girl has given you some good advice. On another note, unless you are watching them constantly, you may never see a mating take place. They aren't like chickens and do their "deed" very quickly. Unless you know what to watch for, it is possible for a mating to take place right in front of you and still miss it.

At least three of my five hens are laying their eggs in the nesting box that I built into their coop. Nesting boxes are worth a try as long as you keep them at ground level and large enough to accommodate more than one hen. They do seem to prefer communal nests.

Good luck.

 

[stevhoff]

I tried incubating a couple of years ago and didn't have much luck.Thought I'd go the natural route this time.I'll take a look at some eggs tonight. Thanks for the info.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I tried incubating a couple of years ago and didn't have much luck.Thought I'd go the natural route this time.I'll take a look at some eggs tonight. Thanks for the info.

I have kept guinea a few years now, and have only seen a mating once!
But something is sure happening, I get plenty of keets every year

 

[stevhoff]

You sound like your doing a good job there.Can you tell me how you raise them or do you just let the hens raiser them?
Last night I was in the coop(I go in there just after dark so they can get used to me) and was petting one of the girls,she was up on a perch about 5 feet off the floor. I noticed she seemed to be breathing rapid and a little hard or labored.Well right then and there on the perch she popped out an egg that fell to the floor! My bedding isn't that deep yet so thank goodness for those hard shells.I never laughed so hard.Now I see why some mornings when I go in there the eggs are laying where they are.I had 3 laying under the perch area this morning so they must have all been laid while they were roosting on the perch.Time to add some more bedding under the perches. Now I know when they lay during the day,they lay on the opposite side of the coop. I don't have nest boxes yet.

 

[stevhoff]

Forgot to mention I checked 10 eggs they other day and had 8 fertilized.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

You sound like your doing a good job there.Can you tell me how you raise them or do you just let the hens raiser them?
Last night I was in the coop(I go in there just after dark so they can get used to me) and was petting one of the girls,she was up on a perch about 5 feet off the floor. I noticed she seemed to be breathing rapid and a little hard or labored.Well right then and there on the perch she popped out an egg that fell to the floor! My bedding isn't that deep yet so thank goodness for those hard shells.I never laughed so hard.Now I see why some mornings when I go in there the eggs are laying where they are.I had 3 laying under the perch area this morning so they must have all been laid while they were roosting on the perch.Time to add some more bedding under the perches. Now I know when they lay during the day,they lay on the opposite side of the coop. I don't have nest boxes yet.

I have let hens raise the keets and it doesn't go well. They have to be confined, mothers forget the keets can get chilled from wet grass and won't sit still to warm them. I let my oldest girls raise broods, and only one girl did fairly well. Now, I just take all the eggs and hatch myself. If I plan to keep the keets for my own flock, then, yes its best to be brooded by hens. Comingling guineas is not easy! They don't like outsiders.

 

[MamaKitty913]

Hi I have a question do they move their eggs once they have seen you at the nest? I had about 12 to 14 eggs that I found in a nest. They saw me near the nest about 2 hours later all the eggs were gone

 

[stevhoff]

That never happened to me. I had one guinea set on eggs that were under a truck camper shell and I went by there every day. I had others lay them in the chicken nest boxes and would have to get her to climb out of there every day so I could check for chicken eggs. That got to be a little scary as she got meaner about that as time went by-had to wear leather work gloves to avoid getting pecked. Could be a predator stole the eggs.