Here is a republication of an article I wrote some years ago. I no longer have guineas, but I still recommend them. Read on to learn about this unique and beneficial domestic bird.
Guineafowl, or guineas, as they are known in the South, are low maintenance domesticated fowl. A free ranging guinea’s diet consists mostly of insects; hence the guinea’s growing popularity on farms and in rural areas. Like other fowl, guineas can be eaten, and their eggs are delicious. Guineas are about the size of chickens, but easier to care for; their benefits far outweigh their requirements. Guineas come in many colors, from white all the way to black, but most are some variation of gray. They resemble turkeys somewhat, but their necks are longer and slimmer, and topped off with funny looking little heads. As a bird they are not very attractive, but once you get to know them you forget all about that. If you live in a rural area and have a little land where they can roam you might consider keeping guineas. Here is your basic information.
You are better off starting with young guineas as older ones will sometimes try to go back to their previous residence. Young guineas are called keets. You can buy them from a breeder or purchase the eggs and hatch them in an incubator. It is impossible to tell the sex of a young guinea so you will just have to trust your luck. Get several to be assured of a mix of males and females. If you are using an incubator you will have to wait a week longer than usual for the eggs to hatch. Guinea eggs hatch in four weeks, whereas chickens hatch in three.
Newly Hatched Guineas
When the little ones hatch you must place them in a brooder, or a box or cage with a light in it. They will need to stay warm for a few weeks. They are very tiny; two of them can be held in the palm of a woman’s hand. For the first few days they need a textured surface such as a rough sawn board or a towel in the bottom of the cage. If you use a slick surface such as paper they will not be able to grasp it with their toes. Their feet will tend to slip out from under them, and they will be at risk of developing splayed or spraddled legs. This condition can sometimes be corrected if caught early. It is better to prevent the problem in the first place. Your baby keets will begin to eat in a day or so. Feed them a poultry starter and warm water.
As they grow they will need a wire bottomed cage. When they are between four and six weeks old and feathered out they can go into some sort of enclosure outdoors. If the weather is cold cover them at night and continue to keep a light on for them. You will need to keep them separate from older foul until they are nearly grown, as bigger birds will pick on little ones that have no mother bird to defend them. Continue to feed them as you would chickens.
It is possible for guineas to hatch their own, in the wild. After all, that is how they did it for thousands of years. However, I have never known guineas in my area to accomplish this. There are too many predators. The easiest way to hatch guineas is to set the eggs under a chicken that is ready to begin the natural process of incubating their own eggs. Just take hers away and replace them with the guinea eggs. She will continue to set until the eggs hatch. We did this once and that hen was just as proud of her adopted children as she would have been of her own. She continued to mother the young keets and roamed with them foraging for bugs and the like even after they reached maturity.
After guineas have achieved some growth and learn they have a voice they will begin calling, or “poteracking” as the old timers say. Then you can begin to separate the males from the females. The sound of a guinea’s call is the only foolproof method of identifying them by sex. The males make a one syllable sound. The female call has two syllables. The other method of determining sex is by inspecting the wattles of mature birds. Those having larger wattles are usually males.
Free Ranging Guineas
If allowed to range freely guineas will congregate in groups and forage together most of the time. If you have different age groups of guineas you will notice those from one hatching will form a group separate from those of another hatching. While they are roaming out there in the wild the females will lay eggs in well hidden communal nests. Like chickens, guineas usually lay one egg every day in season. If you find a guineas’ nest outdoors, there might be two or three gallons of eggs in it, depending on how many females are in the group. Most people do not realize that an egg can stay fresh for a long time without refrigeration provided the shell is not cracked. Guineas and other fowl do not begin incubation until they have finished laying their eggs. Until then the eggs simply accumulate. A setting bird will defend her nest if she can, but eggs left unattended are often gobbled up by dogs, foxes, coyotes and other predators. Those same predators kill free ranging fowl from time to time, but for some reason guineas are more adept at evading them than are chickens.
Guineas are wonderful for pest control. Any creepy crawly that dares to cross a guinea’s path is as good as gone. I’ve seen guineas in the vegetable garden going up and down the rows, snapping up bugs. They eat practically all day long, consuming insects of every kind, spiders, even small lizards and mice. Though mainly carnivorous, guineas will also eat certain seeds, including millet and cracked corn.
Guineas kept fenced or housed with chickens will lay eggs in the chickens’ nests. You can tell the eggs apart by their size and shape. Guinea eggs are smaller and more pointed than chicken eggs. Here is a short video comparing guinea eggs with chicken eggs. https://youtube.com/watch?v+VbPdvGLbRQo The shell is also harder, a fact you will notice if you use them for cooking. The taste of guinea eggs is about the same as other free range eggs, wonderful! Some people eat guineas; the meat is reputedly very good, similar to chicken. I can not give a personal opinion. I never had the heart to kill one.
Guineas are aloof. They keep their distance more than chickens. Further, they tend to panic when you are blocking their exit door. I have never understood this. It would seem they’d learn after a while that I am merely coming in to get the eggs, not them! In that same vein, chickens seem to instinctively know the safest place at night is inside. At dusk nobody has to ask them to go into the chicken house and get on their roosts. Some guineas will go in at night, but they will usually be the last ones. Most of our guineas prefer roosting outdoors in nearby trees. Perhaps that is because as a species they are only a few centuries removed from the wilds of Africa where they originated. Our chickens seem to trust us, but the guineas are still not sure.
Some people would keep guineas but for the noise. If guineas are disturbed they will set up a loud ruckus which will continue until they are satisfied the danger has passed. When a strange dog, a fox, or even a person they do not recognize enters their domain they try to eject him by loud calling and cackling. Guineas are nervous and sometimes the slightest rustle of the leaves can set them off. If you have several guineas that can amount to quite a din and a racket, which can be very disturbing to people who are not accustomed to such carryings on. And that, of course, is exactly what the guineas intended to start with!
As people have become more knowledgeable of the value of this unique barnyard fowl, we have seen an increased demand for them. Buyers pay high prices for baby guineas at local animal sales and then ask for more. Folks are finding that the virtues of guineas far outweigh their one noisome fault, if indeed that loud “poteracking” can be considered a fault. To us guinea lovers, it is just music to our ears!
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