Guinea Fowl
 

                    

Above: Left, day-old guinea keet (that is what the babies are called) and Adult Guineas to the right
(Hard to believe something so cute grows up to look like THAT, isn't it?!)

S  T  A  T  I  S  T  I  C  S

Scientific classification: Guinea numida meleagris

Incubation period: 27-28 days

Humidity for incubator: 60 - 65%, increase to 70 - 75% in hatcher

Move to hatcher/stop turning: 24-25 days

Benefits of raising: Guineas can be hand-tamed if worked with early; they are great insect-eaters and very good at eating disease-spreading ticks and mosquitoes (but especially seem to enjoy ticks and garden-eating pests), they are great "guard dogs" both for other poultry and for your premises. I have heard great things from people who use them instead of actual dogs, who were fearful of an aggressive dog biting an intruder. The guineas are loud and let you know when anything unusual happens - an intruder, a visitor, a predator, other loose livestock/pets or children missing curfew. They discourage rodents in the poultry yard. I have never seen mine kill snakes, but I have heard that they do. Their eggs are good to eat (I prefer them hard-boiled and smoked) and the meat on a young bird is quite delicious! An older adult bird will be tough and require stewing.

Size/Weight: approximately 3 - 4 lbs.

Sexing: Both males and females will echo the "CHI Chi Chi" machine-gun-like call; but only the females will call "buck-wheat, buck-wheat". The males will have larger wattles when mature, it is hard to tell the sex in the younger keets and they are difficult to vent sex.

Space/pen requirements: Many let the guineas roam free; if you raise keets and they know where "home" is this may be acceptable to you although I prefer to keep mine penned. You MUST have a top on the pen or they will escape. Keep the gate in good repair and secured tightly at all times. They do not seem to require an unusually large pen, but as always with animals, the larger you can provide can be far better, as long as it is secure and safe. They do "dig" dust bowl pits in the ground and can do this around the edges of their fence.

Special Needs: Incubating eggs and raising young keets can be rather difficult. The eggs are especially susceptible to chilling or shock from change in temperature and are very sensitive to humidity. Guinea legs are prone to injury and you should be in the habit of never handling a keet or guinea by its feet or legs. Young guineas need secure footing, I recommend rubbery shelf-liner for the first few days at least. Their tiny feet as infant keets are too small for 1/2" square mesh and 1/4" mesh should be used if shelf-liner or other secure flooring is not provided. DO NOT use cedar chips for poultry - they are poisonous! Newspaper is also very bad for the birds' feet and should be avoided. For the first two weeks, care should be taken that the keets stay DRY. If raised naturally by a guinea or chicken hen, they should not be turned out in the grass until the dew has dried from the grass. Guinea hens do not make wonderful mothers and may "forget" her babies in the tall grass, I prefer an indoor brooder nursery. As with most poultry, for the first week they will need a heat light at 95 - 100% and lower temp by 5 degrees every week until they are at room temperature. Make sure the babies have enough room to get away from the heat light if they become too warm. Adjust the heat light closer if the babies are huddled; or farther away if the babies are near the edges of the brooder trying to avoid the heat. Make sure the keets have fresh, clean water at all times. You may wish to use marbles in the waterer to help keep the keets dry. Guineas are good in flight and can roost in the trees, on top of your house, etc. Netting on top of a pen should be checked at least once a week for security breeches. Our guineas enjoy high roosting areas and will fly to the highest place they can find in their pen. They can eat almost anything a chicken will, but will favor insects when available. Keets should be started on Game Bird Starter or Turkey Starter (I prefer non-medicated). If you wish to hand-tame them, they will appreciate treats of meal or wax worms. Our guineas have always enjoyed fresh, clean feed - they do not like to be fed from an ever-feeder that holds more than a day's worth of feed.

I've said that the guineas are a "love-hate relationship"; I like what they can do as far as sounding the alarm when a threat is near, I enjoy the bug-eating aspects of these birds. The constant noise isn't so much appreciated, however. I enjoy guinea on our dinner table; so I have been known to threaten a mouthy one! I will say this: last spring a guinea saved our poultry from a potential predator - a large, ugly momma possum made her way into the pen. The guineas did their thing (at 6am, of course) and let us know about the problem. Score one for guineas, zero for the possum! She did not get any of our poultry, and we didn't give her a second chance to steal food from us. That made it worth the noise. I do not find the guineas attractive at all, my sister calls them "Nuclear Chickens" and I find that nickname humorous. Whatever you do with your guineas, find some way of enjoying them. They don't get their feelings hurt when you call them names, as long as you do it nicely and with a good tone. They do enjoy your company!!



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