What would we do without??

[City farm]

I <3 BYC!

What would I do without the ear piercing squawks of my guineas to keep my mixed flock safe and alert me to a danger in the yard?!
:yiipchick

[COLOR=FF0000]How do you keep your guineas home?[/COLOR]

This will be my 3rd batch of guineas and if they leave also, it will be my last batch.

My first guineas just showed up one summer in our yard and stayed. Had about 9 of them and one way or another whittled down to 5 before they left.
The next summer I got an incubator and guinea eggs. About the time they grew up, they were gone.

One time, between the first guineas and my first hatchlings, we were out driving around and way out back of where we live there was some guineas. I figure the first guineas came from there and went back. I figure my first incubated guineas must have heard the guineas way out back and went to visit and either got locked up or decided to stay. I have read here that if I raise them with chicks, they should stay but when I first incubated them, I got adult chickens to mother them. Of course the hens didn't mother them but even though the keets were raised with the chickens, it did not stop them from leaving.

About 4 1/2 weeks ago I put chicken eggs and put guinea eggs in the incubator together, at first not realizing that guinea eggs take longer to hatch but they are in with the chicks now and don't seem to be having a problem. The chicks are about a week older than the keets but the keets were trying their best to get under the chicks wings. So cute.

I just need them to stay here.

Since we live in the city, if they do leave we would possibly hear them, or our neighbors will et us know where they are.. We have a close nit community.. They would be our neighborhood guinea's

 

[perchie.girl]

Hi Peeples....

What would I do without? Or rather what would I could not live without.... My neighbor Tom and Friends on BYC.

I am deb and live in San diego County. Right now I am displaced from my home because I am living with my 98 year old Grandmother.

My home is Sixty miles east in a nub of the Sonoran Desert and still in San Diego county. Its 2 miles from the mexican border and 1.5 miles from paved road. 18 acres of heaven. High desert at 3000 feet I get about 2-3 days of snow for the whole year. WE got 3 inches of precipitation last year. normally its around10.

Right now I have no livestock except my horse. But up till last year I had about ten Guineas and about 30 chickens three goats and my horse.

I just finished my new poultry house design and hope to build it up in the fall when it cools down. I dont get the xtreme temps of Arizona places but its in the hundreds with spikes of 105 and 110 during the summer.

My neighbor Tom keeps an eye on the place and calls the border patrol if needed.

For what its worth I am planning on having Guineas be my main focus on the next go round. Which is what was supposed to happen on the last.... Alot of ranches use them for bug patrol and they tend to drive off or kill rattlesnakes. And OH MY GAWD funny to watch. Some people keep gees for burglar patrol.... Mine did an excellent job on Peeple patrol. I have seen my previous flock of seven escort a Coyote off the property screaming and charging at hijm... He kept looking back as if to say.... "This ain't right"

The trick to keeping them home. Get them conditioned to come INTO the coop at night. They need at least a flock of five but the more the merrier. Spring is the time that they might wander so be dilligent to not let them out to free range till everyone has laid their eggs. If a Hen decides to go walk about to lay in the bush her Cock will stay with her or at least close to her to protect her. If there are any bachelors in the flock you may find that one or two of them have taken up guard duty as well.

Guineas pair off in the spring. You will notice before hand that this is going on. The boys will form silly chasing behaviors.... Wings held up higher heads low and if they catch who ever they are chasing feathers get pulled. Some times you will see two three chasing in a line.... Serpentining throughout the "demonstration" area. With first year Guineas this will be an exceptional display. Once they pair off egg laying will commence in ernest. here we start getting Guinea eggs in February. Places with cooler climates may not get eggs till April or May.

Condition your whole flock to a call like a bell or a horn or a whistle or eve you hollering.... At bed time Everyone gets a treat. This will also get your chickens in at night.... I holler Treat TReat Treat and scatter some chicken Crak .... um er Scratch.... once everyone is in the run I shut the gate. With the guineas I use White millet.... (same stuff you feed Parakeets).

If you keep them all in the same coop make a place that only the Guineas can roost.... at least six feet up is good higher is better. There may be one or two chickens that can join them but usually they get chased off before everyone settles to roost.

For those living in the City.... sorry to say Guineas will not be for you.... With my last ten The Decibal level would reach super sonic proportions to the point where I would not be able to have a conversation with someone.

But this time around I hope to Raise up jumbos and cross them with the fancier colors so that I can have hatching eggs to sell as well as meat for the table. Jumbos run around 30 percent larger than regulars.

Anyhoo... Hi everyone

deb

 

[alebuela]

Not just eggs but the serene place I like to sit in the "chicken pasture" - even at 110 degrees - with the misters on!!

Yes, I can identify with that. I hate the heat, which in Denver isn't anything like what you suffer. But I go outside to the patio, although it's hot, and sit with my right side up against the swamp cooler. And just chill, watching them watching me, wondering if I have a treat!

 

[Sylviaanne]

But this time around I hope to Raise up jumbos and cross them with the fancier colors so that I can have hatching eggs to sell as well as meat for the table. Jumbos run around 30 percent larger than regulars.

Anyhoo... Hi everyone

deb

Where do you get jumbos? I didn't know to watch for mating behaviors in guineas and I had 9 hatch out of 12 that went into lockdown. I don't know if I should try to incubate more or not, especially this year.

When it's time to go in, we have a Pekin duck that quacks very loudly and we go out of the house and call her and start quacking. I yell for them, Come on! Come on! Some times I call them kids, Come on kids! LOL That's what I call my dogs when I want all of them to come. Anyways, all the adult ducks and chickens come and if they are already roosted on the porch, my husband pushes them off and they follow to the run. Usually, I will put food out and they don't want to miss their share so come running.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
There are two kinds of Large Guinea Fowl that are available. One is a French Hybrid. The French Hybrid needs artificial insemination in order to re produce... The Jumbo Guineas do not. There are two places I have found the Jumbos.

One is Ralph Winter. He has the largest guinea farm in the United states. You can buy Keets or Hatching eggs from him. He I believe is in Iowa. Here is his website. http://www.guineafarm.com He is the hatchery he does not farm out from other places. Therefore he keeps his breeding stock in one enclosure by color. And he has more than 24 varieties. Plus he has peafowl. And he offers pinioning...

The only reason i would ever consider pinioning is If I were keeping breeding stock close at hand Once you do that you are completely responsible for their safety because they cant fly Therfore all pinioned birds MUST be kept in a predator proof enclosure... something I am juggling with.

The other supplier of Jumbos is Metzer Farms. An advertiser here.... MetzerFarms

He purchased his breeding stock from Grimaud Freres of France which specializes in genetics. So I am ASSuming they are jumbos.... LOL. I havent emailed him yet about them. I like what Metzer has to say about his poultry and the information on care feeding handling and housing that is available on the site.

deb

 

[Sylviaanne]

I didn't know what pinioning was but I would never have that done. I want them to be able to avoid any predator that might approach them. Of course, that also makes it easy for them to leave home but I would prefer them safe wherever they choose to call home. I am just praying that raising them with chicks will mean they will stay where the chicks want to be.

 

[perchie.girl]

I didn't know what pinioning was but I would never have that done. I want them to be able to avoid any predator that might approach them. Of course, that also makes it easy for them to leave home but I would prefer them safe wherever they choose to call home. I am just praying that raising them with chicks will mean they will stay where the chicks want to be.

I would NEVER pinion unless it was a completely captive flock. Pinioning is done as a hatchling. The tip of the wing that has the bones to control flight is cut off. Just on one wing. This is done on birds for zoo exhibits. Like I said I am investigating it. I am not advocating it.

deb

 

[Sylviaanne]

I would NEVER pinion unless it was a completely captive flock. Pinioning is done as a hatchling. The tip of the wing that has the bones to control flight is cut off. Just on one wing. This is done on birds for zoo exhibits. Like I said I am investigating it. I am not advocating it.

deb

I'm not trying to hassle you or anything, just questioning: Even with a captive flock, wouldn't you be afraid something would get in and get them?

 

[Sylviaanne]

That sounds pretty frustrating Sylviaanne, since you do have other guineas nearby that may be drawing your guineas away and might be tough to keep yours home. Me, I am kinda OCD and have the chance to be home to spend a lot of time with my flock and what I have done is, first and foremost I kept my flock in the coop for 6 weeks before letting them free range to establish that to be home. And when I did first let them out, I only let out a few at a time so they didn't want to go far so they didn't leave the others. Did this for probably 3 days for about a half hour at a time. Then, when I did let them all out I stayed with them and would corral them back after an hour or so. And little by little gave them more time out and let them go further, still mostly supervised for about a week or so, to where now I let them out in the morning while I go tend to my garden and work outside, and they will do a tour of the yard and then after about 2-3 hours they will come back to the coop to get water and nibble some feed. At this time I will close them up for an hour or two while I go indoors and do my cleaning and indoor work and then let them back out to do another tour of the yard, and then again around dinner time and possibly once more in the evening if they're lucky. I really do think getting them into a routine is helpful to keep us all happy. I don't know if you have the time to spend with your flock like I do but I do feel it has helped in my case. I also have 4 chickens I raised them with from the start. Got them all from the feed store the same day as chicks, but only 1 of them, a jersey giant, can keep up with the guineas while free ranging and the others stay near the coop, this might also draw them back. Hope this is helpful. Good luck with this round! I do love having guineas and chickens!

No, I don't have that much time to spend with them but let me ask, when you go to round them up, do they flee? Even these little guys in the plastic tote scream and run to the back of the tote like I'm a winged predator and going to eat them. I pick them up and talk softly to them, I don't even threaten them in a soft voice. LOL It's like the more I love them, the more scared they are of me.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: No not being hassled you are saying everything I am considering. And Yes I totally would be worried about something getting in.

deb