Should I get guinea fowl?

[NixNoodleNumbat]

I have decided I want to get some guinea fowl, and I have a few questions:
How many should I get?
Do they get along with chickens?
How many eggs do they lay?
What's the downside?

 

[featherz]

Quote:
You should get as many as you can handle - more you have, less likely they will pick on the chickens since they will hang together. I had 17 and they never picked on the chickens. Downside? Noise! Noise! Noise! Other than that, I loved them. They are goofy fun birds.. But did I mention the noise?

Mine were not old enough to lay, but I think they only lay from late spring through fall - don't quote me on that as I am sure an expert will be along shortly. They are really good at hiding the eggs if you don't have them cooped.

 

[melroseladi]

I have 2 males and 2 hens. I was very concerned as I have added chickens. I have 2 hens that are 17 weeks, a rooster 19 weeks and 3 hens that are 12 weeks, and 2 silkie hens that are 6 months. My 3 older birds roost in the shed. I put my younger birds and silkies in the hen house to roost.

My chickens chase the guineas, even my little silkies chase them. So far I haven't had any issues between them. For the last 2 nights I have herded the guineas into the hen house to roost with the silkies and the younger hens. Two nights so far and things are going good. They all free range during the day.

 

[GableBabble]

A friend of my husbands has about 25 or so. He started with 10 and sells a ton each year. The only thing he complains about is the noise and the droppings on his truck. They like to roost in the tree above his truck. He never has ticks on his dogs, never has bugs biting your legs when your about on his farm. They are friendly and funny birds. He also has chickens, but he warned us that you want more hens then males. The males will get aggressive if you do not have enough hens for them, and then they might go after our chickens. He had some to kill a rooster once many years ago b/c he said he had all males and one hen in a flock of 15. The hens seem more vocal then the males. They also seem more "gun hoe" per say, meaning they are a bit bold. He has one really pretty gold colored hen that will follow you around and if you sit down she will fly onto your back or shoulder and cheep for a piece of bread.
As far as the funny side of them. We have a ball watching them chase flys and whatnot when he brings the cows up that are going to sale. They run, pounce, trip, stalk and utterly amuse anyone around. They surely are a bird with alot of personality