Some questions about Guinea Fowl

[foxypoproxy]

Hi,
I have owned chickens before but i know absolutely nothing about Guinea Fowl except for the fact of what they look like and that they eat ticks.
I have chronic lyme disease so i am paranoid about having ticks in my yard.

I would like to have a Guinea Fowl but i was wondering,

1. Do you need more then one Guinea Fowl?
2. Will they coexist will chickens in the same coop with no issues
3. How do Guinea Fowl differ from chickens, what do they need?
4. Will a boy Guinea fight with a Rooster if in the same pen?
5. Do they eat the same stuff as chickens or do they need specific feed?
6. I hear you need to get one when its young otherwise it won't be tame, is this true?

Thanks and please bear with me hear XD

 

[southern oaks]

#1 yes, you need to get about 5-8 to make a good flock. I can't imagine a lone guinea would be happy.
#2 Mine do co-exist and feed with my chickens. At night I catch a few even roosting with my chickens. some ppl keep them together all the time
#3 guinea fowl are not "usually" a tame bird. I have seen a few that ppl have posted that are. Most of the time they will come close to you when you are feeding but other than that, mine are just free spirits that roam the yard eating bugs, and they are great tick controllers.
#4 I have seen several comments on this both ways. However, on one post I put a picture of my guineas feeding with my chickens and Rooster and they don't have issues. But mine were all raised together to start with. Guineas may run around and chase the chickens and Rooster some but I see it as more of a game to them at our place. Others are going to disagree so you will have to see how yours do together.
#5 When they are older they can eat the same as chickens. If you get keets, they need non-medicated starter, where chicks get medicated feed.
#6 I incubate mine and once they are together they are flighty birds. They throw a fit when you get them out to tag them or to do photo ops. However, I prefer mine to be more anti-social as I appreciate the great work they do at alarming me of anyone who had come into my drive way that they don't recognize and if they see a hawk or something that alarm goes crazy. I have not tried to make one a pet, so I am not a good one to give advise on this.
some ppl like PeepCA and some others can prob give you more info.. But I hope I have given you a basic start.

 

[livenwpeeps]

I agree with southern oaks on all accounts. Except I have a chicken (a hen) that rules my guineas. I have never seen her back down from them and the guineas respect her but my guineas and chickens stay in the same coop/run with no problems. Roosting together. My guineas are also free spirits and do their own thing. I tried to make them tame but it's not in them. They are too leary of everyone and everything. Plus I noticed that the tamer ones are the ones that the preditors get most often but that could just be my guineas.

 

[froggie71]

Yes you should definitely have more than 1 guinea. They do know their own kind. I have 3 groups of guineas 2 live together and 1 live with the chickens. Will they fight with roosters. If the rooster is stupid enough to fight with a guinea, they yes. Only takes 1 time though. We have fairly tame guineas. They were handled as keets and my son shows his for 4-H and carries his around like a baby. We have never lost any to predators. We feed all of birds the same feed. Chickens/ducks/guineas and geese. Haven't had issues with food. We have fed medicated starter with all of them without issue. All of ours were started as keets, I think that is the best way to start.

 

[foxypoproxy]

Ok thanks guys that is really helpful!
They have an outside enclosure attached to the coop so they won''t have to worry much about predators.
(we have been having a really bad hawk problem, so this was are way of not having to always worry while they free ranged)
Ok, well its good to know they can tell the difference between themselves and chickens i wasn't sure, so if i get one, i'll make sure it atleast has another buddy!