Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[esme13]

I have a question? does anyone just own male guinea fowls? are they just as noisy? With the guinea fowl we have, I always hear BUCKWEAT BUCKWEAT BUCKWHEAT. Sort of driving me nuts now lol. So I am curious to just having males in that case. But wanted to hear from perhaps someone else who has just males and how was the noise level? was it any better?

 

[perchie.girl]

I have a question? does anyone just own male guinea fowls? are they just as noisy? With the guinea fowl we have, I always hear BUCKWEAT BUCKWEAT BUCKWHEAT. Sort of driving me nuts now lol. So I am curious to just having males in that case. But wanted to hear from perhaps someone else who has just males and how was the noise level? was it any better?

I had a small flock of all males for my first flock. They had been free ranging up in the mountains when a woman had to rehome her poultry. All the females were killed by predators because of their "loud" mouths. they were pretty quiet Compared to the females. and Yep they do get along

 

[Izacharmed1]

I have a question... everyone talks about when they start to lay but no one mentions at what age they quit laying. I read on one site that a male isn't near as fertile after 3 years old... is this true? At what age does the hen slow down?

 

[esme13]

I had a small flock of all males for my first flock. They had been free ranging up in the mountains when a woman had to rehome her poultry. All the females were killed by predators because of their "loud" mouths. they were pretty quiet Compared to the females. and Yep they do get along

Thank you perchie.girl! I might have dinner soon lol I But I could use some more boys before that.

Izacharmed1, I have no idea. I am new to guineas but hopefully someone else can give you an idea. I know with fowl hens can slow down around 2 or 3 depends on breed and genetics. Not sure about guinea hens and I dont see why a male would become less fertile. I'd be interested in knowing that part, too.

 

[R2elk]

I have a question... everyone talks about when they start to lay but no one mentions at what age they quit laying. I read on one site that a male isn't near as fertile after 3 years old... is this true? At what age does the hen slow down?

You need to be careful about the things that you believe just because someone wrote it down.

 

[Izacharmed1]

Obviously I don't believe it, that is why I was questioning it. You can find a lot of information on some birds about their breeding lifespan but I haven't been able to find much on guineas other than just your basics and when the hens are fertile

 

[perchie.girl]

Obviously I don't believe it, that is why I was questioning it. You can find a lot of information on some birds about their breeding lifespan but I haven't been able to find much on guineas other than just your basics and when the hens are fertile

there is a lot of info out there thats not one that it occured to me to look up... they are quite different from chickens but in so many ways they were similar.

Keep looking if you find the answer look some more... make sure.

deb

 

[Izacharmed1]

Oh I research the tar out of any new critters I am thinking of getting. I figured this would be a great site to ask questions and get peoples opinions on raising them seeing how it is a lot more personal than just some joe schmoe website out there spurting what ever they think is correct. I appreciate any and all information on them. I have an order for some keets when he hatches them in December. I have raised turkeys, chickens and peacocks so guineas won't be a totally new experience in raising birds but yet I am positive that there are some differences from the other ones that I will need to know.

 

[perchie.girl]

Oh I research the tar out of any new critters I am thinking of getting. I figured this would be a great site to ask questions and get peoples opinions on raising them seeing how it is a lot more personal than just some joe schmoe website out there spurting what ever they think is correct. I appreciate any and all information on them. I have an order for some keets when he hatches them in December. I have raised turkeys, chickens and peacocks so guineas won't be a totally new experience in raising birds but yet I am positive that there are some differences from the other ones that I will need to know.

There are several people on the Guinea threads who have all the above birds and Guineas. The key is space behaviorally... in aggression the attack as a flock so be aware of that. Mostly i find they ignore everyone else except when it comes to toussels over food. I made up two feeding stations.

deb

 

[Izacharmed1]

Thanks Deb, I did know about the aggression thing. My peas have to stay penned as I have a neighbor that tries to hurt them if they go into his yard but I am concerned about my turkeys as they are free range and quite the asshats when anything new comes in and my one tom is super over protective of me even when a human shows up in the yard. He makes darn sure he stays either right behind me doing his poof poof grunt or in between me and the other person lol. I was planning on keeping the guineas penned for quite a while until they are plenty old enough to defend themselves if I decided to go free range on them (I have neighbors that will steal or kill anything that goes into their yard, I guess they stole one of my other neighbors pigs when they got out one time) and they can all get to know each other through the fence. I did read that they need 30 square feet per bird and the pen I plan on for them they should have double that. Do you know what they are like with peacocks? I am in the process of building a huge play area for the peas and was wondering if they could go in with them for more run / play room or do they have a tendency to fight as well?