Should guineas be raised with chicks?

[ChickenWhisperer101]

I have 5 guineas that I’m guessing are about 1 week old. They are my first guineas so I don’t really know anything about them. I’m pretty sure they are all pied as they all look the same and we’re sold as a pearled/pied assortment. I’ve heard of lots of people raising them with chicks with no problem and some people who do have some problems. Some people are against keeping them with chicks. I don’t know what to do. If I don’t raise with chicks they won’t be coop trained and would probably roost in trees at night. They would be kept in electric poultry fencing if kept with the chicks, don’t know if this matters at all. Thanks for any feedback!

 

[R2elk]

I have 5 guineas that I’m guessing are about 1 week old. They are my first guineas so I don’t really know anything about them. I’m pretty sure they are all pied as they all look the same and we’re sold as a pearled/pied assortment. I’ve heard of lots of people raising them with chicks with no problem and some people who do have some problems. Some people are against keeping them with chicks. I don’t know what to do. If I don’t raise with chicks they won’t be coop trained and would probably roost in trees at night. They would be kept in electric poultry fencing if kept with the chicks, don’t know if this matters at all. Thanks for any feedback!

Imprinting is the problem that happens when you brood your keets with chicks. The imprinting causes the guineas to lose the ability to understand that chickens are not guineas.

Everything can seem to be going great until the first breeding season. Guineas have entirely different manners than any other poultry. When breeding season starts, the races and chases along with the attacks from behind with the feather pulling and feather breaking are unique to them. Other poultry do not understand this behavior and it can cause them extreme stress when the guineas start treating them as they would other guineas.

I brood and raise my guineas only with other guineas. I have a separate coop for them. Because they are raised only with other guineas, they understand that my chickens and turkeys are not strange looking guineas. When I free range them all in the same area at the same time, each group keeps to themselves. Their is no intermingling and no attacks by the guineas on any of my other poultry.

I have no problems cooping my guineas in the evening. Do not wait until dark to get them into a secure coop. They do no like going into dark places. A light can be very helpful if you have waited until too late to put them in.

Some people use treats to get the guineas to go in the coop. I herd my guineas in. If I happen to be running late, they will go in on their own. The exception is if a hen goes broody on a hidden nest she will not return to the coop on her own.

 

[ChickenWhisperer101]

How big does a coop need to be for 5 guineas? I don’t know if I want to spend 300-500 dollars on a pre made coop right now. I built my bantam coop and working on building the standard one, but I had the wood for it before wood prices went crazy, so it would be expensive to build a coop from new wood too. I’m at a loss. Do you know who White House on the hill is? They are on YouTube. They have little A-frame coops that I think would be good for the guineas, but Jake said that it cost him around 500 dollars to build one recently. It used to cost like 200-250 or something like that.

I really do appreciate your help though! thanks!

 

[R2elk]

How big does a coop need to be for 5 guineas? I don’t know if I want to spend 300-500 dollars on a pre made coop right now. I built my bantam coop and working on building the standard one, but I had the wood for it before wood prices went crazy, so it would be expensive to build a coop from new wood too. I’m at a loss. Do you know who White House on the hill is? They are on YouTube. They have little A-frame coops that I think would be good for the guineas, but Jake said that it cost him around 500 dollars to build one recently. It used to cost like 200-250 or something like that.

I really do appreciate your help though! thanks!

With current lumber prices, if I had to build a coop now, I would make it by recycling wooden pallets which still can be gotten for free. An A frame is not a good design for guineas. Guineas like to roost as high as they can get. An A frame limits the available room for desirable roosts for guineas.

My Guinea Coop

If you build a coop for your guineas, make it bigger than you think it needs to be. You will appreciate it if your flock reproduces.

Minimum required space for guineas is 4 sq. ft. per adult bird. This is free and clear floor space not including the amount of space taken up by feeders, waterers, storage, and hiding places. More space is even better.