Need Info on Guinea Fowl

[nuts4cowboybutts]

Some guinea fowl have shown up at our place. There are about 4 of them. They showed up and we see them scratching for grain near the barn. They seem very wild.

How can you tell the sexes?

We found a nest in some tall grass. There are 24 eggs. It appears (although we are not sure) that two of the guineas are sharing duties sitting on the nest.

Not sure if this is a guinea "family" or what. We cannot catch these wild birds so we'll let them have some space and see if the eggs hatch.

We don't mind if they use our place for a layover on their journey through life, and we don't mind if they decide to stay here for good.

What should we do to make it better for these fowl to raise some babies?

[jengersnap]

We had guineas for a while and I use to kid that the males were the uglier ones. It was really a toss up though.

http://farmingfriends.com/guinea-fowl-gender-identification/

Keep the grass long, as the babies are the tinest things and really need the cover. The pair takes turn setting the eggs. The female lays an egg a day and then comes back to cover when she's done. Until then they'll keep roosting in the trees. Some good tips here:

http://www.guineafowl.com/fritsfarm/guineas/

If you can get them to stay, they do a great job on the tick population.

[BramblewoodAcres]

Visually, you can't really tell the difference between males and females. The females make a sound that sounds like they are saying "buck wheat buck wheat" the males just kind of screech. Here's a video of what the females sound like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=705vg1IkF38

Also, guineas are NOTORIOUSLY bad mothers. They are African fowl and the chicks (keets) cannot get wet or they will die. They are incredibly fragile and tiny as keets. The mothers lead their little brood right through dewy grass and kill them. They are also at risk from owls, hawks and other predators.

If there are hens setting the nest, and you WANT the babies around, put up a temporary fence around the hens/nest and when the keets hatch, scoop them up and get them under a heat lamp pronto. You can release them once they lost their baby feathers and get adult pin feathers.

[shakeytails]

If those eggs hatch, DO NOT try to catch the keets if the parents are around. Guineas may be bad parents as far as losing their babies, but you will get thoroughly flogged if they see you going after their babies.

I love Guineas even though they're butt-ugly, loud and very annoying. They're interesting to have around and they're hell on the tick population.

[mlranchtx]

It's a good thing they are cruddy parents because if all 24 eggs were to hatch and survive, you would be moving. I promise. :eek:

I have two and I hate them. I wish my dog would eat them. They come in the barn and sceam at me. Um hellloooo, it's MY barn. I'm not a stranger you idiots, I feed you. On top of their screaming an hideous appearance, they are mean to the chickens and chase them all the time.

Sigh.... I do think they help with bugs though. So I suppose I'll let them live. We've actually had conversations about how we would prepare them :D

I bet they taste like chicken!! :yes:

[Technicolor02]

It's a good thing they are cruddy parents because if all 24 eggs were to hatch and survive, you would be moving. I promise. :eek:

I have two and I hate them. I wish my dog would eat them. They come in the barn and sceam at me. Um hellloooo, it's MY barn. I'm not a stranger you idiots, I feed you. On top of their screaming an hideous appearance, they are mean to the chickens and chase them all the time.

Sigh.... I do think they help with bugs though. So I suppose I'll let them live. We've actually had conversations about how we would prepare them :D

I bet they taste like chicken!! :yes:


Agreed on how annoying they are. Our neighbor has a flock of 7 that are constantly getting onto our property. I call them the evil chickens and chase them out whenever I can. Those things are dumb as rocks though. One of them will jump the fence onto our property and scream like crazy for HOURS unable to figure out how to get out again. When you open the gate instead of the one chicken running out the other 6 run IN. They can't even recognize a distress call! The only way to get them to fly out again is to have the dogs chase them, they take off at the very last moment.

I haven't noticed any difference in our tick populations sadly but have been tempted on more then one occasion to just let the dogs get them instead of calling them off.

[FatDinah]

The property owner that I lease my little barn/pasture from wants some fowl like chickens but she does not want to have a coop that we lock them up n at night. I think we will just be setting ourselves up for heartbreak with dogs/foxes/coyotes (got lots of them!) eating them.
Someone suggested guines because they will roost up in trees and be safe.
Will that work?

[Gloria]

It's a good thing they are cruddy parents because if all 24 eggs were to hatch and survive, you would be moving. I promise. :eek:

I have two and I hate them. I wish my dog would eat them. They come in the barn and sceam at me. Um hellloooo, it's MY barn. I'm not a stranger you idiots, I feed you. On top of their screaming an hideous appearance, they are mean to the chickens and chase them all the time.

Sigh.... I do think they help with bugs though. So I suppose I'll let them live. We've actually had conversations about how we would prepare them :D

I bet they taste like chicken!! :yes:

Can you get your guineas to move to our farm? We lost all 32 of them last year so we are starting from scratch AGAIN this year :( Oh I wish there were some wild guineas around to eat ticks without me raising them.

[arabhorse2]

FatDinah, it's recommended that you buy them as keets and raise them yourself.

The adults have no sense of loyalty or property lines, and will take off for parts unknown if you don't raise the fugly, noisy little bastids from babies.

I happen to like Guineas. They're ugly as sin, noisy, and stupid, but they're great for despooking horses and eating bugs! :D

You don't need a coop for the adults, but until your keets are old enough to fly, they'll have to be kept up at night.

[GotGait]

I like the fugly, noisy critters too. Instead, the BO went with peacocks. Anyone want to trade??? :dead:

[CosMonster]

I happen to like Guineas. They're ugly as sin, noisy, and stupid, but they're great for despooking horses and eating bugs! :D


Amen to the despooking bit! My neighbors have guineas that spend about half their time on my property. When we first moved here a couple of months ago my horses were terrified! Now they barely blink even when the stupid things fly over the fence directly into where the herd is hanging out (because the guineas' favorite crossing is also the horses' favorite corner :lol:).

I kind of like them, too. I think they look like dinosaurs. Ours are pretty quiet, though.

[BramblewoodAcres]

I only have six guineas, but I LOVE them. Sure, they are noisy at times, but we live in the middle of no where and live absolutely no where close to neighbors or roads. So, they don't have many reasons to alarm. They do alarm on hawks or other wildlife and my flock of chickens looks to them to keep 'em informed about the predators!

I'd MUCH rather have guineas than peacocks any day of the year. My closest neighbors are about a mile away and they have 8 peacocks. They are MUCH louder than my guineas and on quiet summer nights, I feel like I'm living in a zoo.

[atlatl]

Sigh.... I do think they help with bugs though. So I suppose I'll let them live. We've actually had conversations about how we would prepare them :D

I bet they taste like chicken!! :yes:

Much more flavorful than grocery store chicken by a long shot. Tends to dry out a little while cooking so I cook in some broth. Absolutely delicious and pretty pricey at the market :winkgrin: If there is a market in your area for free range natural poultry, you could actually make money.

[nuts4cowboybutts]

Thanks for your replies.

I won't have to put the keets under a heat lamp - it is over 100 degrees just about every day. Any more heat would kill just about anything.

And we don't have wet weather either, so they won't get wet.

They are wild, wild and do make a big racket which is annoying. Our horses pay no attention to them.

Should we put out feed? What kind?

[Gloria]

They are wild, wild and do make a big racket which is annoying. Our horses pay no attention to them.

Should we put out feed? What kind?

When the keets reach one year old, they will settle down and quieten down some. They are now like chatty teenagers.

As to feed, you can provide fresh wanter and if you want to provide food for keets, get those gamebird starters or gamebird starter/growser (26~28% protein) till they are around 8~12 weeks. Dont use chick starters. Chick starters have much lower protein content which is not enough for keets.

Honestly I'm envious. Our neighorhood has hard time keeping guineas alive. Dogs, foxes, coyotes, hawks, or owls got them. I raised 32 keets last year and got them trained to come into coop every night. Well, within one year, they were all gone:cry:

[nuts4cowboybutts]

Thanks for the information, Gloria.

There are coyotes around here, but we have "dog proof" fencing around our property, so I hope that will help. I hope they can hide in the tall grass from the hawks.

Just in the last few days, some kind of chickens have flown over here. They sure are running around chasing grasshoppers and bugs. It is so funny to watch them run and pounce on some sort of bug.

I hope we can raise the guineas. People have said they eat ticks. We have no ticks, but there are fleas out in the grass. Will they eat fleas?

[SED]

We're in Texas (hot ALL the time), and the guinea babies STILL get abandoned and die by the dozens. My neighbors who has them will just periodically scoop up the hatchings and put them in a big tub under the lights. But the even bigger problem is all the babies that never hatch. The stupid guineas lay eggs everywhere and then just walk off.....''

But I really don't mind my neighbor's guineas. You get used to the noise, and they are so funny to watch. I don't think they are ugly, either.