Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[Tacampbell1973]

Anyone wanting Guinea fowl needs to be advised... THEY ARE LOUD. I currently have 14! And not by choice. My neighbors 7 decidedto move in.I only had 7. But What do you do? I love them all!But they do make a racket... consequently my husband sez no peacocks!

 

[duluthralphie]

Anyone wanting Guinea fowl needs to be advised... THEY ARE LOUD. I currently have 14! And not by choice. My neighbors 7 decidedto move in.I only had 7. But What do you do? I love them all!But they do make a racket... consequently my husband sez no peacocks!

No way, your Guineas are noisy??


Mine are extremely quiet, when they are hiding from the Sheriff. They knock off the armored car and then immediately go into hiding.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Anyone wanting Guinea fowl needs to be advised... THEY ARE LOUD. I currently have 14! And not by choice. My neighbors 7 decidedto move in.I only had 7. But What do you do? I love them all!But they do make a racket... consequently my husband sez no peacocks!

Once they mature usually 2 years they quiet down a lot. They realize leaves flying and the wind is not a threat, lol.
My Peafowl are awesome, and really quiet compared to the guineas. I have a pair, and just adore them. Usually the cock will sound off if somethings unusual, but the hen will honk loudly if there is a real danger.Peas are quieter than guinea.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Mine really quieted down around 7 or 8 months. Their alarm calls became genuine. The head male does do a rooster like cackle session from the deck rail every morning, and the hens have their egg song. Other than that, quiet unless stranger danger arises.

 

[duluthralphie]

My young ones are way quieter than my old ones.


BTW I think I am over 100 Guineas as of this morning, again. I have no idea what I am going to do with all these. Last year I could not hatch enough of them and I had a terrible hatch, maybe 20%.

This year I have had a fantastic hatch and hatched over 90%.


Last year I had people on a list waiting for Keets, this year, I have no one wanting any. Maybe I should be telling people they are sweet luvable birds that like to cuddle and sit in your lap, instead of the truth about the little skitzoos.

 

[silkiecuddles]

Just found this thread, and I wish I had found it long ago.
My white guineafowl that I hatched are a little over 8 weeks now.
Is size a good indication of gender? Two are way bigger than the other three, and they have been since they hatched.

. @jchny2000 I see that you have peafowl around your guineas. Do they all free range, or do they get penned up at night?

 

[perchie.girl]

Just found this thread, and I wish I had found it long ago.

My white guineafowl that I hatched are a little over 8 weeks now.
Is size a good indication of gender? Two are way bigger than the other three, and they have been since they hatched.

. @jchny2000 I see that you have peafowl around your guineas. Do they all free range, or do they get penned up at night?

size is not an indication of gender.... some can tell with posture once they get feathers... some can tell by how their wattles are shaped....

But the only way for certain is when they start talking. They all squak buzz holler and mumble..... but only the femaies say "Buck Wheat" over and over and over and over agian.... I raised up forty keets once.... and sat and listened to them. and I will be darned I could hear the two syllible Peep Peep pattern but I will be DANGED if I could spot the one making the Peep Peep noise. I was just happy I had a few.

Odds were good too.

deb

 

[SunHwaKwon]

My young ones are way quieter than my old ones.


BTW I think I am over 100 Guineas as of this morning, again. I have no idea what I am going to do with all these. Last year I could not hatch enough of them and I had a terrible hatch, maybe 20%.

This year I have had a fantastic hatch and hatched over 90%.


Last year I had people on a list waiting for Keets, this year, I have no one wanting any. Maybe I should be telling people they are sweet luvable birds that like to cuddle and sit in your lap, instead of the truth about the little skitzoos.

My sales have been up and down as well. I will sell really well one weekend and then it will be weeks with no interest and I start panicking about what to do with them all. I am trying to expand my advertising methods. Put up a sign at tractor supply and feed store, craigslist, as many local Facebook buy/sell groups as you can (that allow animals), etc.

Yesterday I sold a woman 21 keets. As she was leaving, she told me she had picked up a rabbit breeding cage from a guy who was retiring and she was going to keep them in that with it up off the ground so all the poo would fall through the wire, and she was going to place this (metal) cage in the sun to keep them warm. I was dumbstruck and speechless. Now I'm stressed out about having sent these poor birds to a concentration camp of painful flooring with poo buildup (because as we know, the poo is not going to drop through nice and neat like a rabbit turd) while they slowly cook to death (its supposed to be in the hundreds this weekend). Why can't people have some common sense???

 

[duluthralphie]

size is not an indication of gender.... some can tell with posture once they get feathers... some can tell by how their wattles are shaped....

But the only way for certain is when they start talking. They all squak buzz holler and mumble..... but only the femaies say "Buck Wheat" over and over and over and over agian.... I raised up forty keets once.... and sat and listened to them. and I will be darned I could hear the two syllible Peep Peep pattern but I will be DANGED if I could spot the one making the Peep Peep noise. I was just happy I had a few.

Odds were good too.

deb

My Girls say "come back" instead of buckwheat....

 

[perchie.girl]

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