Raising Guinea Fowl is a unique experience. They are some funny looking birds and they are incredibly noisy and annoying. We got two last year with our baby chicks in April of 2020. We heard that they would protect the flock and fight off snakes and scary bugs.
You can see our guineas at David's Garden Seeds® Farm.
At first, the guineas look very similar to chickens when you get babies. As they grow, the differences are easier to spot. The noises coming out of their mouths are loud and irritating and they keep on talking. We have a male, the one above who is blackish blue with polka dots and stripes, and a female who is completely white. She is louder than the male!
The fOur female guinea chick was completely white. Our male guinea chick was a brownish grey with black stripes on his head running from his eyes, up and over his head and down his back. The guineas moved faster than the chicks moved.
As they grew, they began to boss the other birds, especially after we moved them to the chicken coop. Soon, they just took charge, allowing some birds out of the nesting area and sending others into it. The chickens, even our oops rooster obeyed the guineas. I say oops because we purchased 24 hens but we got 23 hens and a rooster. The rooster is now full grown and is afraid of the guineas.
Back in the early fall of 2020, we noticed that some of the chickens were missing feathers on their backs. Before too long, all of the chickens were missing some. The rooster was getting pecked on his legs. The guineas looked fine. We got those peeper glasses for the chickens because we saw some pecking each other. We covered our chickens with that purple goop and purple spray so the pecking would stop. It never stopped. Finally, David saw the guineas pecking the chickens and invited them to step outside of the coop. They hated being outside.
We ended up having a guinea coop built where they spend most of their time. When we let them out, the first place they go to is their old chicken coop and they try to get back inside to boss the chickens.
Raising guinea fowl is difficult when the neighboring guineas don't stay home. There are two who think they belong to us. They are here every day, all day long. They used to go home in the evening but now I think they stay here permanently. They bully our male guinea up onto the roof of our chicken coop and taunt him. I cannot get them to leave our yard.
One thing you ought to know before raising guinea fowl is that they can fly. I mean a lot. They can fly high and they can fly far. They will fly into you on purpose if they are upset. When I go into the coop to feed and water our guineas, they chirp and chatter and fuss at me the entire time I am in there. They don't want to be touched.
We have not had a single guinea egg yet. Some guinea owners have told me they eat guinea eggs all the time, but we have not seen one. I read that guineas mate for life and only once or twice a year. Our plan is to allow the guineas to raise a family if they ever decide to have chicks.
Raising guinea fowl should help your yard to be bug free and scorpion free. They love to eat bugs and kill scorpions. They also discourage snakes. They do not disturb your planted garden.
The female has laid a ton of eggs, but never would sit on them and hatch babies. That is too bad. We were looking forward to raising guinea fowl to sell. Guineas make horrible mothers; at least our female did.
In the beginning of September of 2023, we gave our guineas away. I could no longer go into the guinea cage because the male would fly into me. He was upset that he could not live in the chicken coop any longer. Ever since we moved the guineas into their own coop, he has been flying into my body to hurt me. It is now quiet out there, but I do miss them in a way.
Return from Raising Guinea Fowl to Raise Chickens
Would you like to share additional information about this topic with all of us?
Since 2009, over 1,500,000 home gardeners, all across the USA, have relied on David's Garden Seeds® to grow beautiful gardens. Trust is at the heart of it. Our customers know David's Garden Seeds® stocks only the highest quality seeds available. Our mission is to become your lifetime supplier of quality seeds. It isn't just to serve you once; we want to earn your trust as your primary supplier.
♪♫♪♪ ♫ ♪ ♫♪♫♫
♪♫♪♪♫♫
Peppers and peas
And lots of yummy greens
You can't go wrong
With Squash This Long
At David's Garden Seeds
♪ ♫ ♪ ♫
Please like and subscribe on YouTube and come visit us at our Farm Store! The music on our TV ad was written, played, and sung by our son, Matthew Schulze. You can meet him when you come to the farm. He just might give you a tour. Ask him to grab a guitar and sing our jingle that he wrote.
We are David's Garden Seeds®. If you need great seeds, we've got over 1,000 varieties to choose from.
Find out what is going on down on the farm by reading our blog and by subscribing to our free newsletter for all of the information going down at David's Garden Seeds® and on the farm. I love to share helpful information with you. Please let your friends know and y'all come on down for a visit when you get the chance. We would love to meet you!