Well folks, I need to tap into your wisdom once more, so I'd appreciate any help you can give....
I'm thinking about maybe getting some guinea hens, but I don't know the first thing about them. Here are some questions to get us started:
1. I have chickens - can guineas and chickens live in the same hen house together?
2. Do they eat the same feed, etc.?
3. Do they put themselves back in the hen house when the sun goes down? ...Like the chickens do.
4. What are the benefits of keeping guineas?
5. What are the negative points about guineas?
6. Is it important to have only one guinea rooster and the rest hens - like with chickens? Or can you have a mixed flock with no problems?
7. What are some things about guineas that I absolutely need to know before making my decision?
8. Are guineas as easy to keep as chickens?
9. What do you not like about guineas?
10. Do guineas really eat Japanese Beetles??? ....Boy, I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one! ;)
11. Do guineas need anything that chickens don't need/use (feeders, waterers, nesting boxes, etc.?
12. If you had to choose between guineas and chickens, which one would you choose and why?
13. If I put in a garden, will guineas eat my veggies and fruit?
.....Please fill me in on anything I didn't think of. :) Thanks a bunch you all!
~:> Glenda
Thinking of getting Guineas - Need your help please!
Reading and having something valuable to say -two very different things. Best of luck!
A friend of mine has guineas and they have chickens as well. I will check with her. They are always wandering around together. (guineas) They sleep up in the rafters of the barn together. They are a pair. When one lost its mate it cried very loudly for days. I heard they are loud any way. I am hoping someone has a lot more to offer than my little tid bit! hehehe
Had mine for about 6 months and sold them because they made noise all day everyday "Very Loud"
Mine didn't range like i was told they would they just hung around the pens and came out in the yard on occasion
Roosting mine were free range and slept in the trees so i don't know about that
Feed i fed mine chicken crumbles in a hanging feeder they ate when they wanted you can feed them game bird
Good point's they were very sweet and friendly and will follow you around like a duck
They eat ticks and bugs lots of them don't know about the beetles
Good Alarms will go off if a predator or stranger comes in your yard ( mine seemed to see things all day)
Not flighty they never ran from me or others
Negative i can only speak from my experience and i won't ever have them again. They were loud and often it was like a car alarm going off every 30 minutes or so.
They followed me around when i fed my other animals i found this sweet but only if your deaf and can't hear the noise they make or get a good set of ear plugs.
If it wasn't for the sometimes constant banter from them i would definitely have them ^_^
I agree with everything Harmony said. When I had them the owls ate very good until there were none.
Are male guineas louder than females? Kind of like Roosters crow where hens cluck?
cant answer that either, i do know they have a different sound than the females. Mine didnt stick around long enough for them to come of age.
I maybe mistaken but i believe it was the hens that made the most noise
I love my guineas, but most other folks detest them.. The noise is LOUD, a crowing rooster nowhere compares to the almost 24/7 noise of guineas.. Don't ask why I love them, just do..lol... I have had them along with chickens for over 40 years.. Thy get along well, especially if turned out during the day hours.. Enclosed most of the time, they will run your rooster ragged, hog the food and more. Daily free range and shutting up at night works well.. They come home better than the chickens, for me..
Even in the day time, I have lots of trouble with hawks, fox, bobcats and other predators..If they stayed around the pens they would be ok, but mine seem to travel all over.. My kin folks would complain, but they live here on MY farm, lol Love the guineas, so they have to be endured or tolerated if you live here, would not work with other neighbor's, even 1 guinea makes a large, loud noise..constantly..
As for food, I feed the same.. Crumbles, cracked corn and treats of wild birdseed..Also my birds get all the household scraps..
Larkie
My friend had 6. They would wander every where. Some ended up getting hit by cars though. (2 I think) They would go out in pairs and cross through feilds and out to the road. They went quite a ways away. They did come back every night. The chickens never go out as far as they did. She loved them though.
We had guineas with our hens for awhile. A friend had recommended them for insect control, particularly for ticks which are a problem around here. However, they got into our garden and seemed to prefer the bean and zucchini buds to bugs; I got no fruit as long as they were around. They are also noisy - "GeGANK geGANK geGANK!" Our poultry yard is on the other side of our garage across the driveway, so it wasn't as bad as the Fowler's toads in the pond right under our windows, but still they did make a racket.
As far as going into the henhouse at night, yes, they finally learned, but not before we spent weeks corralling them and stuffing them through the little door in the evening. Eventually they started to get the idea, and we would stand outside waiting for the last one to sally in so we could shut them up. All of them would be safely ensconced inside when a random thought would flicker through one pea-sized brain and it would decide that it had something urgent to do out in the yard. All of the others would follow suit and we'd have to wait all over again until it occurred to them, "Hmmmm - dark. Should be inside. Hmmmmm." I used to stand there doubled over with laughter. They finally did figure out the routine, but still, I have never seen anything so witless yet mobile in my life. We ended up giving them to our friend who recommended them to us, where they got picked off by foxes and eagles since she doesn't lock hers up at night.
You can probably tell that I don't recommend them. They taste good, though.
Thanks everyone! You've been a huge help! ...I also went to Youtube and clicked on videos that had flocks of guineas. I get what you mean by LOUD and CONSTANT! lol That would be a problem where I live. I'm on 25 acres but my neighbors are close enough that they'd hate the noise. So I guess I'm going to pass on guineas for now. :( ...If they ever come up with one that's quiet or if there's a variety that is known to be more quiet, make sure you let me know ok? heehee :)
They are cool birds and I love the fact that they eat ticks, bugs, etc. ......If they would just keep their beaks shut!!
Wow, what a noise!
I also have guineas and chickens. The guineas are my exhusband's but they still live here on my 26 acres. They are REALLY LOUD, they wander everywhere but always come back (darn it). They would never roost with my chickens but in a tree, sometimes right by my bedroom window. They are supposed to be good for insects and snakes but I found a Rat Snake in one of their nests one time so I'm no longer sure about that theory. They are really amusing to watch and to be honest I don't even hear them anymore. They are also difficult to breed. The mortality rate is very high.