What is a Guinea treat.

[RMBGKY]

Unlike my chickens who go GAGA over almost anything I haven't found anything the guineas will run to eat. I was looking for something to use to cause them to come in at night when I start to free range them. I have heard people talk about feeding millet, but that is a dollar a pound at the feed store isn't that a little expensive?

So my question is what is your guinea's favorite treats?

 

[jcatblum]

Mine love cracked corn. I throw it out to them almost every night. My tame Guineas come right away. Have a few wild ones that never seem to come. Corn is the only thing I have found that they all enjoy.

 

[ColbyNTX]

Chicken scratch is like crack to mine! It took them a while to try it but once they did, they come running whenever they see me head to the barn where the scratch is stored!

 

[PeepsCA]

Mine love wild bird seed mixes that contain a lot of millet in them (or straight white millet) and the sweet feed/wet COB that I feed my goats and horses. They also love fresh greens (spinach, chard and romaine lettuce) from my garden (but careful what ya feed from the garden tho, they have a tendency to help themselves once they develop a taste for fresh veggies from the garden!). They also enjoy dry/stale breads, crackers and some cereals too (like cheerios, lol). Some Guineas (not mine tho) like plain pasta and cooked rice and any table scraps/left overs that are not too salty or too sweet.

 

[damselfish]

I'm with PeepCA on this, mixed birdseed. We get the cheapest mix our feed store has and I think it runs about $7-8 for 25 pounds. It is white millet and sunflower seeds. Our guineas love both, although when they were younger they thought the sunflower seeds were evil for some reason.

 

[melroseladi]

I tried about everything I could think of for a treat that the guineas would go crazy over. They don't eat any of my leftovers. I have tried frozen veggies and fresh veggies, no go. Cracked corn, they didn't touch it. Mixed wild bird seed, they like but don't go ga-ga over. Then last week I tried my goat's sweet feed and they go nuts over it. So I've been training them on that as their night time treat.

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:

 

[jcatblum]

Mine wont touch boss!! So odd how everyone's guineas like something different!

 

[PeepsCA]

I forgot to mention that it helps to take their feeder away or close the pen/coop so they do not have access to feed other than what they find while out free ranging.... then at feeding time, you could try shaking the feed scoop full of feed or let them hear you refilling their feeder and see if that helps to get them come running back to the coop.

Also as far as millet being expensive... it can be, but you should just be feeding them small amounts as treats only, so it does last a while. Tractor Supply usually has one kind or another of wild bird seed mixes on sale that already contain a pretty good amount of millet in them... and so I just get whatever is on sale there. They seem thrilled with all of them. (Scratch never goes over too well with anything but my goats tho, who basically have the profiles of potbellied pigs and will clean up any scratch, grain or bird seed like a Hoover vacuum, lol. They will also clean out the Guineas' hanging feeders in about 3 seconds flat if I do not close the gate to the Guinea run too, lol).

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Mine developed a taste for Goumi berries. I picked all the ones that ripened at the same time and had a lot of stragglers that were several days behind: Figured I'd get them later. Well, the guineas found the bushes and picked them clean, which is okay...the berries are small with a large pit (like a mini cherry) and only good for jelly really. They also love white millet and something in the 7-way scratch mix I use for the chickens. They guard several piles...eat whatever it is they like...then leave the rest. Nearest I can figure, it looks like the whole oats. So, it looks like I will be growing some oats in addition to wheat and millet this fall.
I also planted several mulberry trees in hopes that they would produce enough berries for us and the chickens, guineas, ducks, and goats. I really hope that works out!