Do guinea fowl need a coop?

I was recently chatting with some people about guinea fowl and one of them mentioned that she was thinking about getting guineas instead of chickens because they don't need a coop. This is the first I had ever heard of Guinea's not having a coop to live in.

Obviously we had a discussion about it and I pointed out that yes Guinea fowl actually do need a coop to live in. I started looking into it a little bit after that though and found out that there are a lot of people that believe that guineas do not need a chicken coop to live in. Guinea coop if you will.  There are a lot of reasons why that's wrong and I'd like to talk about those today.

Easy to raise poultry (besides chickens)

I've been raising poultry since 2009 and through the years I have raised lots of different types of poultry. Some of these worked out really well and others not so much! When choosing other poultry to raise it's important to note how many eggs they will actually lay, because they're not all the same!

For instance most people think that a goose is a lot like a duck. I mean they're not wrong in certain aspects but if you're looking at egg laying, a goose only lays about 30 - 50 eggs each year whereas a duck can lay 300! That's a big difference, especially if you're raising them for eating eggs! 

Related reading: Comparing size and nutrition of different types of poultry eggs! Ducks, chickens, turkeys and more!

Now if you're raising them to hatch those eggs and sell the babies, then many goslings demand a higher price than ducklings so the goose might actually be a better choice.

7 things you didn't know about raising guinea fowl

Way back when I first started raising guinea fowl there wasn't too much information available about them, except for exactly 1 book. I had to learn as I went. As I learned more about guinea hens, there were a lot of things that surprised me along the way. People always say that guineas are great watchdogs, their eggs are delicious and they eat ticks like crazy. 

That is all true.

There are a few other things that people don't talk about though, which is weird because they're not all bad! It's just surprising because you assume that other than the noise, guineas would be the same as chickens. They're not!

How to hatch guinea keets

Guinea fowl, you either love them or hate them! I happen to love them and have been raising guineas since 2009. I started hatching guinea keets as soon as my guinea hens started laying eggs. I also started selling keets that first spring since everyone wanted my newly hatched keets!

Thankfully it's easy to incubate guinea eggs so I hatched myself more, and have been hatching them every year since.

The first time I incubated Guinea fowl eggs I just popped the eggs in my incubator along with chicken eggs and used all the same settings as I do for chicks. It sorta worked, actually. 

Other than the longer incubation period, guinea hen eggs and chicken eggs are quite similar in incubation procedure. With a few tweaks though, I started to get a better hatch rate and I was hooked on hatching my own guinea keets.

Of course the easiest method is always to have a hen hatch the eggs out. If you have a broody hen that is. Even though many guinea hens are excellent at hatching their own eggs, they aren't the best mothers at all.

I'm pretty sure they lose more keets than they manage to raise! My solution is to give the guinea eggs to a chicken to hatch and raise. 

If you don't have a broody hen though, you'll have to chose and use an incubator. 

Why do guinea fowl have spots?

Today it was finally warm enough to let everyone out of the coop! I came back from making a rooster delivery to hear a loud ruckus from the trees. The Guineas were all perching in one big tree! Apparently they decided that while they loved being outside in the sun, they could NOT touch the snow. Their unique coloring blended so perfectly with the tree branches that it took me forever to find them.

This brings me to a seldom discussed feature of the African guinea hen. I'm talking about the reason guinea fowl have spots. I mean sure, they're pretty....but WHY do both male and female guineas have the exact same color pattern? 

Train guinea fowl to be friendly

Guinea fowl are not well known for being friendly. I can't even count the number of people who have told me that they can't get anywhere near their guineas. This is the complete opposite as to how my guineas act! Now granted, guinea fowl will never be super duper lovey birds, but they can be trained to be friendly with you.

Guinea fowl are just naturally more high strung than chickens. Everyone says that they are not terribly intelligent (true) but they can easily be trained or uh, bribed...with treats like BOSS, scratch or millet. 

Just like chickens, they will quickly learn to come running when you have their favorite treat!

One of the key points to training guinea fowl to not be afraid of you is to never give them a reason to fear you and in fact, become their favorite person. Don't worry, it's super easy!

Guinea hens: Everything you need to know

I've been raising guinea fowl since 2009. My first set of guineas was a trio of 2 guinea hens and 1 guinea cock. Since then I've had as many as 80 guineas at one time. Over the years I've become pretty well known locally as 'the guinea farmer' and because of this I get asked a lot of questions about them. Luckily, I have answers!

The helmeted Guinea fowl are native to Africa, mainly south of the Sahara. It's not known exactly when they were domesticated, but they are mostly raised on farms and homesteads...not so much in suburban backyards. I'm pretty sure that's because of the noise!  

Everything you need to know about Guinea hens

Here is my list of most commonly asked questions about guinea fowl and specifically guinea hens, breeding and egg laying.

Do guinea hens lay eggs year round? 

No. Guinea hens do not lay eggs in the winter. They start laying for the year in spring and continue through summer into fall, stopping when the days get noticeably shorter.

When do guinea hens start laying eggs? 

Guineas start laying in their first spring as an adult. If you get keets this year, they probably won't begin to lay eggs until next year. Occasionally I'll have young guineas drop 2-3 eggs around December right as they mature. These first
eggs aren't always fertile and very rarely do they hatch. 

How often do guinea hens lay eggs? 

A guinea hen will lay an egg almost every day during her laying season except when broody. That's 6-7 eggs a week.

Comparing different types of eggs

An egg is an egg is an egg....or is it? We all know that eggs fresh from the farm or your own backyard dwelling chicken flock are higher in nutrients then store bought eggs. Is that it though? Actually, no. It also depends what kind of egg you're eating.

Did you know that a guinea egg has more than twice the protein as a same sized chicken egg? Or that 5 quail eggs have almost the exact same nutritional content as 1 chicken egg, but are higher in calories? Or that ounce for ounce, duck eggs have more fat than goose eggs? Weird, right? 

I spent a few hours crunching the numbers and I figured out how all the different types of farm fresh eggs, stack up against each other. Why? Well....I find it fascinating. Plus I was bored, but that's irrelevant! The point is, whether you raise chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, turkey or quail their eggs are all sort of the same, but kinda different.

You've decided to raise guinea fowl and like most people, you've decided to get started with guinea keets rather then adult guineas. (smart move!) Guinea keets are about the cutest little things you will ever see. They have bright orange beaks and legs and scurry around like crazy little bugs! 

Luckily raising guinea fowl keets is almost the same as raising chicks so if you've raised chicks before, keets will be just as easy.

How to raise guinea fowl keets

The brooder set up that you'll need for guineas is the same as it is for chicks. You can see my recommendations here in Brooder Basics. I like to raise guinea keets in their own brooder separate from regular chicks. 

keets are so small, they can easily be trampled or squashed by bigger chicks. The only illnesses I have seen in guinea keets is spraddle leg and pasty butt so they are pretty hardy for as small as they are.

Are Guinea fowl cold hardy?

I get asked all the time how my guineas and chickens handle the cold and snow we get every winter. Guineas are quite a bit different then chickens. For one thing, they are nowhere near as smart. I know it's hard to believe, after all I'm sure we've all seen chickens do some dumb things. Trust me when I tell you, Guineas are not the sharpest tool in the shed! 

They can be trained to a point though. They'll come running when I call them, and they get the general idea behind herding. One sticking point with Guineas though is sleeping in the trees. This isn't a problem in normal weather and sometimes in the summer every single free ranging Guinea sleeps in the trees! 

They get an early start to tick eating every morning so I don't mind. 

Even in cooler weather it's not really a problem. For warm climate birds they can tolerate some pretty cold temps. They do all tend to sleep inside the coop when it's snowing. The rain doesn't bother them. They will spend the whole day and night in the rain and be no worse for wear. The real problem comes with changing weather patterns.

Here in Western Pa, our weather can be quite irregular. Yesterday it was in the 50s, today its 22! Oh and it rained a bit last night before it got cold enough to snow. See the picture up above? That is what greeted me this morning.

Those are ice coated feathers on the guineas backs. I wasn't home to chase them in at dusk, I was working. It was too warm for them to want to go in themselves, so 6 of them slept in the trees. The weather went from rainy to icy during the night. 

Luckily everyone made it through the night and had a warm breakfast and are now huddled in their draft-free coop warming up. Had I been home though, I would have certainly tried my hardest to get them in. 

Obviously they're not in any sort of distress about it.

Finding a Guinea nest with a thermal camera

Ever since I got my first 3 Guineas I've hated looking for their nests! Very few guineas lay their eggs in nest boxes. Some guineas can be coaxed to lay in the coop through the use of partitions or barriers so they feel like they're hiding. Most guineas like to make their nests in the woods among high weeds, bushes or fallen branches. 

This isn't really a problem until they decide to set on those eggs to hatch them. A guinea just sitting in the woods day and night for 28 days is like a written invitation to predators. Of course when they decide to set, it's time to grab the guinea and collect the eggs so she doesn't go back. Which is easy if you know where the nest is. How do you find the hidden guinea nest?

I go in detail about finding Guinea nest here: 12 Tips for finding guinea nests. Sometimes though, despite my best efforts I just can't find the nest! This was pretty frustrating for awhile then hubby came up with the idea to get a thermal camera. Since the heat imprint of the guinea would show on the screen, I could easily locate her on the nest! Check it out. 

13 Reasons why you should raise Guinea fowl

Guinea Fowl aren't for everyone, that's just the straight truth. They are loud, annoying, funny looking and dumber than you can believe. However they have several redeeming qualities that make farmers and backyard poultry keepers alike big fans of this silly looking bird.

I started raising Guinea fowl a few years back because of our tick problem. I've decided you either love guinea fowl or you hate them. I happen to love them and have found a whole bunch of reasons why I think everyone should get a few Guineas.

Why you should raise guinea fowl:

1) Tick control 

Yes, chickens will eat ticks that are in your yard and so will Guinea fowl. Guineas though, will forgo personal safety and enter the brush and woods to hunt out these minute pests which will help keep your kids and pets safer from tick borne illness like Lyme disease.

2) Watchdog 

Ever hear a flock of Guineas "go off"? It's like someone tripped the alarm system! It's pretty darn loud but it's a good indication that someone drove down the driveway, the neighbors dog is in the yard, a hawk is overhead etc etc. 

When you start to hear really loud Guinea fowl sounds, it's time to look out the window because something is up.

14 reasons you should not raise Guinea fowl

Guinea fowl are interesting birds. They are poultry, but not really. They kinda look like feather covered helmets with clown face makeup on. Guineas act like idiots and eat ticks and snakes like it's their job. Well, I guess it sort of is their job since most people get them for their insect control talents.

In fact, guinea fowl have become really popular in the 9 years I've been raising them! When I first decided to get guineas I had a hard time finding some to buy and an even harder time learning to raise them. I kinda had to learn as I go. 

If you're interested in raising guinea fowl you'll soon found out that there are 2 types of people who have raised guinea fowl: they either love them or hate them.

I love them.

Raising Guinea Fowl

I think guineas are about the coolest bird I could get. I never have a health problem with them and they keep the ticks under control in our woods. They're funny and quirky and a whole lot of entertainment!

How to tell the sex of Guinea fowl by sound (It's really easy!)

As you may know I raise Guinea fowl along with my chickens. I currently have somewhere around 50 Guineas in various colors. One of the most frequent questions I get asked is how to tell the males guineas from the female guineas. I usually respond that the females all have red leg bands on, but I'm pretty sure that's not what they mean! lol

There are several common 'farm wives tales' about sexing guineas, none of which are 100% accurate. I discussed this awhile back in The Guinea Wattle Myth. The only proven sexing method for guineas is by listening to the noise they make and unlike most chicken chicks, guineas cannot be sexed at hatch.

When trying to tell guinea fowl apart, the only sure way to tell the male Guinea cock from the female Guinea hen is by the noise they make. Unfortunately male and female guineas make some of the same noises! 

The female guinea does have 1 unique call though and it is quite distinct, but unless you know what to listen for you might not recognize it.

The only white baby chick

Did you know that white Guinea keets are the only poultry that the white birds hatch pure white and not yellow? They are not albino, just pure white. Chickens, turkeys and even ducks & geese all hatch yellow.

They keep their snow white feathers as they grow but their face does turn to the 'clown mask' that all Guineas have. 

Just an interesting poultry fact I thought I'd share with you!

~L

12 tips for finding Guinea nests in the woods

It's that time of year again, when the Guineas start laying and I'm out there hunting for their nests. Guinea fowl are ground nesting birds and like to hide their nests among fallen branches and tall grasses. They can be very hard to find but it's imperative that you find them! 

If you don't find the nest, inevitably the Guinea hen will decide to hatch the eggs. Guineas sit on the nest for 28 days. In this time they are out there for all the predators to find. Many Guinea hens don't survive the setting period because of predators. If you're lucky the predator will only be after the eggs and the hen will run off. If not...well...

Those are pictures of Guinea nests I've found over the years to kind of help you see what to look for as you hunt Guinea nests of your own. As you can see, I placed a trail cam on one when they were in the coop for the night. 

The Guinea Wattle Myth

When raising Guinea fowl it can be really hard to tell the males and females apart. The male guinea cock and the female guinea hen look almost exactly alike. If they are the same age, the males can be distinguished by their 'horns'. (it's actually bone, part of the skull which grows as they mature) The males 'horn'  is typically larger than the female, however it can be hard to tell the difference between guinea fowl of different ages. 

I've heard several theories on how to tell them apart. The females tail makes a 'hump', the males have a smooth tail area. The girls have fluffier skirts so they can brood keets. The boys have pointed feathers, the girls have rounded feathers. Etc etc. 

Do wattles tell which sex a guinea fowl is?

The only theory that I've heard that even comes close to being accurate is the one about their wattles. Both male and female guineas have rather prominent wattles. This theory says that the females have small wattles that point backwards, like the white female guinea in the top picture.

The males are said to have larger wattles that fold over and point down, like the male pied guinea in the center. Obviously, this sometimes holds true. There seems to be a good amount of guinea fowl that look like the lavender guinea in the third picture though. As you can see, one wattle is small and points backwards, the other is larger and folds over and points down.

Are you my mother?

Silkies are excellent mamas. I once saw them referred to as 'The best mama an egg could ask for'. Isn't that the cutest thing? It's true too. They love to hatch babies. They don't care what time of year, or even what kind of babies. When they go broody they will steal eggs if they have to! You know who make really bad mamas? Guineas. Yup...they're the absolute worst! 

Half the time guinea hens crush the eggs while they're sitting. If the keets do hatch out, mama's short attention span just about guarantees she will lose at least half of them. It's like she just doesn't even hear them peeping their little heads off. Drives me bonkers! I spend all day rushing outside and rounding up her keets for her, then she tries to peck me while I'm giving them back! The nerve!

Actually, there are a lot of breeds that don't do so well at brooding chicks. That's why you need a silkie! This is the story of Zippy the silkie hen who would hatch any egg you gave her and love those babies no matter how they hatched out!

Using fall leaves in the chicken run.

When I put the baby Guinea fowl into the chicken run again this morning I noticed they looked kinda, well....bored! These little keets go in the covered run every day by themselves till they're big enough to play outside without the big kids picking on them. I suppose after awhile that would get boring, so I decided to find them something to do.

These little keets had so much fun, I decided to rake a few piles of leaves into both the silkie runs and the big guinea run. 

It's important to try to alleviate boredom in chickens and guineas, especially when confined.

Boredom can cause: Feather pulling to themselves and others
Pecking each other
Pecking order problems
Bullying
Injury to the bullied chickens
Egg eating

Obviously none of these are desirable in a confined flock. The obvious solution would be to alleviate their boredom. You could go the fancy route and buy swings and toys but I prefer a more natural (and free) approach and so that's how I ended up with the leaf solution to flock boredom.

Guineas eat stink bugs!

Stink bugs have been a big problem up here in Western Pennsylvania the last few years. Mostly in the city. Pittsburgh has had tons of them the last few years, but miles away here in the country we've seen very few. Oh we get our share of ticks, cicadas and other insects, but not too many stink bugs. Until today. 

Right now as I sit here at my desk I can see at least 40 of the creepy mutant shield looking things sticking to my back screen door and hanging on the porch ceiling. I'm sure if I look behind me, the front porch and door would be the same. EWWW! 

They are so freaky looking. I do have to admit that I've never noticed the smell, even though my husband swears they stink when you squash them. I get grossed out just by looking at them and honestly, isn't that enough??? Well,actually I smell fresh cilantro when stinkbugs are around, but that can't be what they're supposed to smell like!

Earlier today while a customer was here, there were several stink bugs above one of the open brooders and I flicked them in to the chicks and keets. They had a great time playing chase and finally eating the little mutant bugs. 

Yes, guineas eat stink bugs!

Which gave me an idea! After emptying the vacuum cleaner canister, I vacuumed a bunch of stink bugs up and dumped that canister in the guinea pen. They loved them! Now I know what the free ranging guineas have been chasing all day! I could see them out there in the yard chasing bugs, but didn't realize they were probably after stink bugs. 

I always knew that bug eating was one of the main Reasons To Raise Guineas, I just didn't truly appreciate it till the stink bugs came to town! I am so grateful for my army of  bug eating clowns right now! I'm off the vacuum up some more bugs for them!

Have a great day!

If you have any other questions about raising guinea fowl you might find the answers here: Guinea Fowl 101 or feel free to leave a question down below and I will answer it as best I can! 

~L

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