Want to get guineas

[vixx]

I will be retiring this year and am interested in getting some guineas. I've never had them or any poultry so I know absolutely nothing other than what I've read on the internet. So all helpful info from anyone is welcomed. I live on 2 1/2 acres, my property is surrounded by farm ground. I have questions on just about everything. I want them for insect/pest control as well as alerting me to strangers, and entertainment. I really don't want to mess with the babies or eggs so thinking of getting about 6 adults. I do want to train them to come into their shelter at night due to predators. We are gone most weekends during the summer months. What all do I need to get started?

 

[Kabootar]

I will advise you to get some experience with an easier type of poultry before jumping into guineas. Guinea fowl is not a bird for beginners, they are loud, they are stupid, they are difficult to manage in a small flock, they are difficult to introduce as adults and they are difficult to coop train. Determining their sex is also tricky and any imbalance in the sex ratio is more problematic in guineas than it is in other types of poultry.

 

[R2elk]

I will be retiring this year and am interested in getting some guineas. I've never had them or any poultry so I know absolutely nothing other than what I've read on the internet. So all helpful info from anyone is welcomed. I live on 2 1/2 acres, my property is surrounded by farm ground. I have questions on just about everything. I want them for insect/pest control as well as alerting me to strangers, and entertainment. I really don't want to mess with the babies or eggs so thinking of getting about 6 adults. I do want to train them to come into their shelter at night due to predators. We are gone most weekends during the summer months. What all do I need to get started?

Read the thread Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA

I never recommend getting fewer than 10 guinea fowl. They are a flock bird and do best in large groups.

Getting adult guineas can allow you to obtain guineas that are kown which sex they are. The ideal ratio is one male to one hen. It can also cause the problem of convincing them that their new location is now home. It is important to keep new adult guineas penned long enough to understand that it is their home. The recommended amount of time for containment of new adult guineas is a minimum of 6 weeks.

They can be trained to come to a call by using treats that they are familiar with. They can be trained to go in a coop through the use of treats or by herding them in.

 

[BIRDGIRL79]

We started out with 15 guinea keets last spring. A year later we are down to 9. All made it to adulthood but 4 were killed in our yard in the middle of the day by a fox. 2 broke a leg by roughly roosting in the coop and we had to put them down. They are loose during the day and we have them in a coop at night. Coop training is much harder than with chickens but after herding them in every evening for months they learned to go "home" in the coop at night and we just shut the door behind them. They are separate from our chickens but get along with them in the yard, although they stay in their own flock. They are stupid. Stupid isn't even the word. The 4 that died from the fox attack were up against a fence they could have easily have walked through but they are just not that smart. Same with flying into things when they go to roost which has resulted in serious injury. The part I would not trade is their guard dog attitudes and tick eating abilities. They have fought a chicken hawk and won. They are fearless. They chase cows that don't "belong" in the yard. They eat every bug in sight even the tiny ones the chickens walk past. I think they are worth the effort but they can be aggrevating at times.