Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[Humpty Doo chicken family]

Yes...do let me know how it goes!
Wishing you success!

Mrs. Guinsberg has abandoned the nest... it's the first time she's laid though so maybe next time we'll have some success. I might get hubby to build me a separate coop for the guinsbergs and maybe that will give me some success.

 

[guineapeeps]

Mrs. Guinsberg has abandoned the nest... it's the first time she's laid though so maybe next time we'll have some success. I might get hubby to build me a separate coop for the guinsbergs and maybe that will give me some success.

Sorry to hear that. They can be pretty temperamental over their nests! I use a couple of large plastic Rubbermaid type wheelbarrows for nesting boxes that all my hens like to use as a community nest. I usually get at least 2 or 3 laying in there at a time. They all seem to go broody together too, which is nice, although sometimes it gets a bit crowded! Keep us posted on your nestin adventures! Here is a picure of one of the wheelbarrow so you get an idea of what it looks like it case you want to try it:

 

[Diannastarr]

yesterday, i was surprised to find 12 day old guinea keets out free ranging with their mom in my back field, with my other guineas who are protecting them & surround them as the mom teaches the keets how to graze, i always leave food out & now also a very shallow pan of water out for them , i had 7 pearl guineas now= 7 + 12 they are all doing well out free ranging with my flock of 70 hens & one big blue aussie roo, so soon i will be looking for good forever homes for the younger ones, but for now its all good. o and i live in Bisbee AZ contact me if you are interested in some young guineas, here is a pic of my original 8 guinea keets , we lost one to a bob cat wile setting on eggs last year, so here are my original keets all raised with some of my aussie chicks. i will try to get a few pics of the new guinea keets today

 

[Nickeyo]

Has anyone had issues with guineafowl not wanting to go into a tree at night?
I have a flock of 12 adult Guineas I've had for a while and they go into the tree at night every night like clockwork. I've also got a flock of 20 ish chickens that also go up into the same tree every night aswell. I got some white guineafowl chicks earlier this year and they are now pretty much full grown but none of them have any interest in going into the tree at night. If I chase them up as soon as i leave they come down and sleep on the floor. If left to their own devices they will just bunch together in a group on the grass in my orchard. It's really annoying as I want them to be free range with the others but this has been going in for a few weeks now. They have spent about 4 weeks in the trees previously but at the start of last week they stopped going in and now won't go in at all?

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Has anyone had issues with guineafowl not wanting to go into a tree at night?
I have a flock of 12 adult Guineas I've had for a while and they go into the tree at night every night like clockwork. I've also got a flock of 20 ish chickens that also go up into the same tree every night aswell. I got some white guineafowl chicks earlier this year and they are now pretty much full grown but none of them have any interest in going into the tree at night. If I chase them up as soon as i leave they come down and sleep on the floor. If left to their own devices they will just bunch together in a group on the grass in my orchard. It's really annoying as I want them to be free range with the others but this has been going in for a few weeks now. They have spent about 4 weeks in the trees previously but at the start of last week they stopped going in and now won't go in at all?

I have literally never seen one of my guinea fowl or chickens in a tree. We live in a forest with thousands of trees to choose from -small and large, hardwood, evergreen, deep in the forest, at the edge of forest, and out in mowed yards and fields. I had thought they would be in trees all the time, from what I read about them. But nope. Never. We built them a shelter that is 4x4 by 8’ tall with a peaked roof. It’s open on one side ... think a tall outhouse with no door. There are roosting bars at the top and up in the peak of the roof, and THAT is where they always sleep. We don’t make them - they are full-time free ranged. But they choose to be in that shelter.

 

[Diannastarr]

Has anyone had issues with guinea fowl not wanting to go into a tree at night?
I have a flock of 12 adult Guineas I've had for a while and they go into the tree at night every night like clockwork. I've also got a flock of 20 ish chickens that also go up into the same tree every night aswell. I got some white guinea fowl chicks earlier this year and they are now pretty much full grown but none of them have any interest in going into the tree at night. If I chase them up as soon as i leave they come down and sleep on the floor. If left to their own devices they will just bunch together in a group on the grass in my orchard. It's really annoying as I want them to be free range with the others but this has been going in for a few weeks now. They have spent about 4 weeks in the trees previously but at the start of last week they stopped going in and now won't go in at all?

maybe they have a nest some were..? all my guinea fowl sleep in the big tree over my front porch at night , they all retire at 5:30 p:m i can set my watch by them , but the only time when they were down at night is when one hen had a nest so they all stayed around her for safty i guess..? she hatched 12 chicks , but other wise i have no idea why your guinea fowl wont go to sleep in their tree at night..? or maybe an owl is hunting them in that tree ..??? is all i can think of..????

 

[Diannastarr]

I have literally never seen one of my guinea fowl or chickens in a tree. We live in a forest with thousands of trees to choose from -small and large, hardwood, evergreen, deep in the forest, at the edge of forest, and out in mowed yards and fields. I had thought they would be in trees all the time, from what I read about them. But nope. Never. We built them a shelter that is 4x4 by 8’ tall with a peaked roof. It’s open on one side ... think a tall outhouse with no door. There are roosting bars at the top and up in the peak of the roof, and THAT is where they always sleep. We don’t make them - they are full-time free ranged. But they choose to be in that shelter.

all my chickens would roost in trees
when i lived in FL, but now only my guineas roost in their favorite tree, they are much safer way up there, but now all my 75 chickens sleep in their hen houses and i lock them up tight..! so every is is safe ..! over here in AZ

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

all my chickens would roost in trees
when i lived in FL, but now only my guineas roost in their favorite tree, they are much safer way up there, but now all my 75 chickens sleep in their hen houses and i lock them up tight..! so every is is safe ..! over here in AZ

Our chickens sleep all closed up in their coop too. But the guineas run like a pack of lunatics down the the garden at top speed when dusk comes. Then they flap and struggle and shuffle around to get up to the way highest perch in the shelter. It looks and sounds like a lot of work, but they do it like clockwork.

 

[Diannastarr]

Our chickens sleep all closed up in their coop too. But the guineas run like a pack of lunatics down the the garden at top speed when dusk comes. Then they flap and struggle and shuffle around to get up to the way highest perch in the shelter. It looks and sounds like a lot of work, but they do it like clockwork.

OMG you totally cracked me up LOL when you wrote that your guineas run like a pack of lunatics down the the garden at top speed when dusk comes. wow that must be very funny and yeah i know what you mean when you say they act like a pack of lunatics HA they all do act like that dont they.....lol..all my lunatics are free range to, but mine are all out side my fenced yard every afternoon..? they go around terrorizing my neighbor hood every day and come back home & stand at the front gates crying & waiting for me to come out and unlock the gates so they can come back in...HA i keep telling them to jump back in the way they got out , but no they act like they dont know how to do that..??? lol...

 

[CapricornFarm]

Here are my lunatics!