Is that a turkey ?
Well , no . It ’s a guinea bird .
That is what many people ask when they first pull into a homestead to see these birds shuffling around .
We took the plunge into guinea fowl about a class ago , and boy was it an eye - opening experience .
Do n’t get me amiss , I have produce to fuck our guineas very much , but it has taken some serious getting used to .
This is why I wanted to share with you a listing of affair I wish someone had tell me before bringing them home .
1. A Guinea Is Not A Chicken
You might be think , “ Well , duh ! ”
But I mean they are not even remotely the same .
chicken are very domesticated bird . you’re able to coop them , free - range them , or do half and half .
Chickens are fine with both .
Guineas are not the same . Unless you snip their wings passing short , they are go to get out of the coop . That is really a good thing if you have them for any rationality beyond nitty-gritty and orchis .
Guineas are also very dominant .
So do n’t be surprised if they end up prevail your hencoop . Our guineas have completely taken over .
Our chickens were align finally , but you know the Guinea have enter the cage when you seem out and even the cock is in the nesting boxwood trying to get out of their way .
Do n’t let this discourage you from keeping your chickens and guineas together . guinea fowl fowl become tame when allowed to interact with chickens .
2. Guineas Know No Boundaries
I ’m not sure if you ’ve noticed , but chickens know when they are off of their turf . I ’m not sure how , but they do .
Well , guineas are not like that .
Not in the flimsy .
Guineas will walk onto a road and think they own it . They will take over the neighbor ’s yard if they so desire .
They knowno bound .
When we first got our guineas , they not only took over our grand and chicken coop but our neighbor ’s too . gratefully , he was a good play about it .
But most Saturday mornings I ’d go out to feed the animals and for certain enough , my neighbour would go into his coop and find my guinea rooster roosting in his coop .
So in the midst of eating animals , he ’d watch them and pass them over the fence to me . Talk about awkward .
But our neighbors have grow to enjoy the benefits of French Guinea too , so it all act out .
Plus , all homesteader know that animals have a mind of their own . So my Guinea go up to bring down our neighbor and their goats come down to visit us on social occasion .
3. They Are ‘Chatty Cathy’
Guinea fowl are ‘ Chatty Cathy ’ .
They blab out all of the clock time .
The hens make a noise that sounds like they are say , “ amount back . arrive back , ” while the roosters make a “ Chi chi chi ” sound .
This is the main way you’re able to tell your male person and female person aside .
Not only do they converse a lot , but they do it loudly .
I ca n’t emphasise this point enough .
Republic of Guinea are garish brute . It can be pestering at times , but you either prefer to bosom it , or guineas are n’t your cupful of tea .
I ’ve choose to embrace it .
4. Who Needs ADT When You Have Guineas?
This is a majuscule benefit of have guinea .
I was not prepared for how great of watchdogs these birds were start to be for our homestead .
We do n’t have a lot of predators around our homestead , but we did have a isolated bounder trouble .
Weraise nitty-gritty rabbitsand unfortunately , these stray Canis familiaris had calculate out we had them . It got to a gunpoint where we were going outdoors every morning to either discover a hovel destroyed or a cony missing .
We tried everything to get them in the act but never had any luck . Then the dogs started getting more brazen and showing up in the middle of the day .
They were degenerate . As shortly as we ’d come out to find them , they ’d be gone .
Then we got guineas .
I heard the Guinea going nuts the first few day they were released on the property . I went out of doors to arrest out what was going on , and certainly enough , there fend one of those stray dog .
It was so afraid of them that eventually , our dog job discontinue .
We had a few isolated cats stalk our chicken as well . A computerized axial tomography render to haunt our guinea rooster one day , and he really let the true cat pounce .
As before long as the cat pounce , the guinea fowl flew over his head and attacked him . We no longer have a isolated cat problem either .
They will guard your brute and belongings against both vulture and people that should not be around .
They are great to have for this reasonableness alone .
5. You Don’t Need The Orkin Man—You Need Guineas
Our property was once entirely wooded . We have since cleared a lot of it so as to homestead , but we still had a pest job .
We had tick everywhere and every class we had to do conflict in our garden because of June Bugs .
Our middle Word came in one day with a giant tick on him . He had the ring around the sting so off to the MD we blend in for antibiotic .
That day is what led us to guineas . My hubby made an executive conclusion and a few days later we were the proud proprietor of our first guinea fowl .
Since we have had guineas , we do n’t have microbe .
They go all throughout the woods , in the different animals ’ areas , in the garden , and all over the railway yard .
Bugs do n’t stand a chance .
This is another huge benefit to possess Republic of Guinea .
6. Guineas Must Be Trained
As mentioned to begin with , wop are not very domesticated birds .
They do n’t actually take a henhouse . They will roost in the trees .
However , if you want them to come home and roost then they ’ll need a coop .
If you make up one’s mind to start with keets , you stir them fundamentally as you would a babe chick or duckling . They require a brooder box and starter feed .
They need to be protected from the breaking wind and kept warm for the first few workweek .
you’re able to also raise guinea fowl from adult .
We have done both .
Our first go - unit of ammunition with guineas we stir twenty-four hours old keets . We lift them all the way of life up until they were ready to get free - range , and we mess up vainglorious time .
We let them all go at once .
Guineas travel in near - knit groups so once they are all out and gone , they are gone if they are n’t train that this is menage .
The next go - cycle we bought only adults .
We cooped them for about six weeks . Then we permit them out one at a time . We would release a new guinea about every daylight or so .
Because they wo n’t pass on each other , they had to keep come home to rest .
By the metre all of our guineas were give up , they knew that this was home .
This is what you ’ll require to do whether you advance them from keets or not .
give them a coop with food , water , and roost will entice them to come home every day more so than if you just permit them rest in the trees .
7. Guineas Are Poor Mothers
Guinea fowl are fast - paced , flighty birds .
They are also seasonal layer . They choose to cuddle on the land instead of nest loge as chickens do .
It takes guineas about 26 - 28 days to hatch a full clutch .
A lot of times they will make a nest off in the woods . If you see it , it is a unspoilt idea to move the nest back to the coop .
French Guinea are normally great compositor .
The trouble is that once the eggs hatch , the mom are off and running again . They take their baby through pie-eyed areas which can cause them to chill and at last die .
So what do you do if you want to raise those baby guineas ?
You have two options :
If you leave things in the hand of a Numida meleagris hen , sadly , the keets will probably not live on .
8. Fly Away Little Guinea
Have I told you yet that guineas arenothinglike chickens ?
Well , they are n’t .
crybaby do n’t really aviate . They can use their wings to aid them slimly skip to high places , but they do n’t soar .
Guineas fly .
I ’m talking like actually take flight .
It is nothing for our guinea bird to fly on top of our sign of the zodiac . They seat on our fencing posts with ease .
If something scare off them , they ’ll just fly in good order over it .
I ’ve even reckon my French Guinea walking back from my female parent - in - law ’s house which is across from our house .
They got tired of walk up the driveway , so they just fly from the bottom of our drive over our sign , and into the farthest corner of our backyard with no job .
I was not aware of this when we got them . I reckon them to fly like a chicken flies .
The first clip I saw them soar upwards over our firm , it was amazing .
So just be fix that they will actually soar up longer space than you ’d likely think .
9. Guineas Are Excellent Gardeners
I already mentioned that Guinea are great at corrode bugs . They have saved our garden from being ravaged by the June Bugs .
I am so thankful for that !
What is even more amazing is that they do n’t destroy your garden .
Gallus gallus like to exhaust bugs , but they ’ll also eat your plants and scratch the ground all around them .
Ducks are swell at exhaust germ , like chicken . However , their feet are so big that if the plants are not large enough , they ’ll squoosh them in the process of wipe out the bug off of them .
And duck like certain plant life too .
Guineas do n’t do that .
They consume the bugs , are delicate on the plants , and do n’t scratch the dry land .
If you are like us and attempt to grow as much of your own food as possible , then guineas are a great little weapon to let loose on those unwanted garden pests .
10. Guineas Are Crazy Fast
If you necessitate to catch your Guinea , you may forget it .
They are dissolute .
The only mode you ’ll most probably be capable to catch them is if they are cooped at night .
Even then , you get only one shot . If you bobble it , you wo n’t take in them that night .
So how do you get them ?
You first have to wait until they are cooped .
Then you have to snaffle them by their wings . We actually use a lucre , so we do n’t spite them .
ginzo fowl have really delicate legs . If you snap up them by their branch , they ’ll whip around on you and in reality break it .
That is why it is secure to grab them by their wing or just use a net and catch the whole bird at once .
When you have to catch them be train to laugh at yourself . It catch humorous quickly .
11. Guineas Are Free Entertainment
People tell me chickens were queer . They were ripe .
People told me goats were comic . They were right .
But no one ever told me how rummy French Guinea are to keep an eye on .
When they shuffle up and down the private road looking for bugs , it is an adorable view .
Watching a guinea outsmart a cat and then ladder it off is a comic sight .
Guineas just impart one more funny matter to catch while you are out on a homestead . It is nature ’s liberal amusement .
12. Guineas Are Low Maintenance Birds
Guineas don’thaveto have a coop .
They forage for their food .
Guineas do n’t need nesting boxes .
Yes , a coop is a good theme as we discuss previously .
But in all actuality , French Guinea are passing low criminal maintenance . There are no nest box to cleanse , no great coop to keep .
They are just felicitous to fly around your holding and eat your bugs .
You do n’t get much more low - sustentation than that .
Having these astonishing shuttle as part of your homestead will give it a utter tactual sensation .
Yes , they have their pros and confidence game , but from my personal experience , I would n’t switch my guineas .
They have been much more of a avail around our homestead than a hindrance .
Here are some fantabulous initiate guides on raising guinea bird , if you settle to get one yourself :
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