So, you have decided to keep guinea fowl as pets after seeing them in real life or looking up their videos on the internet. Either way, these free-range birds are an excellent addition to your backyard. They do not look like your average parakeet or hen and might even appear intimidating, but don't let that hold you back.
Guinea fowl add an element of interest to your backyard with their unique personalities. In addition, they serve practical functions like sounding an alarm, pest control, and even attacking snakes. This guide will help you take good care of these lovely birds and answer all of your questions.
What are Guinea Fowl?
These exotic-looking and noisy birds originated in Africa but have now made their way into several regions of the world. They belong to the Numididae family and are closely related to turkeys and chickens, although they have considerable differences. The young guineas are called keets.
When it comes to appearance, these birds have spotted feathers and helmet-like casques on their heads. While there are several species of guinea fowl, the helmeted guinea is the most common and favorable to domestication (Numida meleagris).
Free-range and largely disease-free, guinea fowl are often kept for their eggs, meat, and pest control ability. Thanks to their natural foraging capabilities, they can weed out insects, ticks, and even small rodents to keep your backyard clean.
Source: Nature's Always Right
Getting the First Guinea
We recommend that you either get young keets or eggs and train baby guineas yourself as they grow. Purchasing mature guinea fowl and training them in a completely new environment is an extremely difficult task and requires a lot of effort.
1. Hatching Guinea Eggs
Here's a brief step-by-step guide to help you hatch the guinea eggs successfully. The process is pretty similar to incubating chicken eggs:
- Incubator and its temperature: Get a high-quality incubator that allows you to change the humidity. Make sure your incubator also has an accurate thermometer so that you can monitor the temperature accurately. Usually, 99.5°F is considered the ideal hatching temperature.
- Settling shipped eggs: Allow the yolk to settle in the recently shipped eggs. Otherwise, they will crack in the warm incubator conditions, and the embryos will die.
- Egg rotation: Keep rotating the eggs every 8 hours, add water to the reservoir to maintain humidity, and observe the conditions until the 14th day, when the embryo begins to appear like a spider.
- Discarding undeveloped eggs: Discard any eggs that show no development after day 14 to avoid bursting and damaging other eggs.
- Final incubation phase: On day 25, dial up the humidity to 60-70% and turn off the automatic egg turner. Stop turning the eggs manually if you haven’t been using an automatic turner. You should also avoid opening the incubator.
- Hatching day: The eggs will hatch on day 28. It is usually a 24-hour process, as some babies take longer to break through the shell, as guinea eggs are usually harder than chicken eggs. Make sure they’re fully dry when you take them out of the incubator.
Pro Tip: Encourage guineas to lay their eggs in spacious nesting boxes instead of allowing them to use hidden nests.
2. Brooding Guinea Keets
Brooding guinea keets is a delicate process that requires attention from you to produce the desired results. Usually, you have three choices here, and you can pick one that suits your situation best.
Brooding With a Guinea Hen
A guinea hen brooding keets sounds perfectly natural, but it is a bit more complicated. Guinea hens are pretty aggressive when it comes to their young ones, so you need to be extra careful.
The first thing to ensure is that the space where the mother and keets are housed should be confined to them only. No chicken or any other bird should be around.
Keep them away from all daily disturbances and move them at night only to avoid stressing or alarming them. Also, make sure the area isn't too cold, as guineas belong to the warmer African climate.
Brooding With Chicken
One good thing about using a hen for brooding guineas is that they are highly considerate and caring mothers.
Nighttime is the best time to start the fostering process because the hen and the guineas can establish a strong connection through sound (they aren't very good at building a connection based on sight).
Remember that you have only a month or two before the young guineas grow as large as the hen, so make the most of this time.
Brooding Guineas Yourself
The things you need to keep in mind while brooding guineas yourself include:
- Brooder Setup and Temperature: Prepare a secure brooder with a large box, plastic container, or a designated area within a coop. Make sure to keep the temperature at 95°F (35°C) for the first week, then gradually decrease it by 5°F each week until the keets are fully feathered, typically around six weeks old.
- Feeding Requirements: When it comes to feeding the young ones, it is best to feed them a high-protein diet. This can include game bird, turkey, or chicken crumbs with 24% to 28% protein content for the first few weeks. After that, feed them 18% to 20% protein until they reach eight weeks of age.
- Transitioning Outdoors: If you want the keets to transition outdoors, wait for the temperature to be consistently above 55°F (13°C). Then, introduce them gradually to the outdoors to help them acclimate. But be aware that older guineas might not readily accept younger birds into their flock.
- Growth and Development: As for Keets' legs, they are particularly delicate. So, provide them with enough support by creating a non-slip surface. These lively chicks might jump out of their pens and hurt themselves; cover the whole thing with a mesh for foolproof protection.
Although they are pretty delicate at birth, if you take good care of them, they grow healthy and reach their natural adult size of up to 20 inches.
3. Mating Guinea Keets
Telling male and female baby chicks apart before the ninth week is almost impossible. Even after this time limit, you must be wary about sound differences.
The female's voice sounds like someone is cutting metal, or a two-tone sound that appears to the ears as "go back, go back, go back." On the other hand, males produce a shriller, single-note call. However, females can sometimes also produce a single note, which is why you need to be more diligent in your judgment.
Another sign that can help you tell male and female guineas apart is that the former have bigger wattles and head furnishings.
Raising Guinea Fowl: Five Essential Tips
Raising your guinea keets can be tricky, especially if you acquire them for the first time. But 87% of those first-timers say they would keep them again if given the chance.
If you’re one of the first ones, let us make the caring part simple for you with some proven tips:
Tip 1: Always Provide a Safe Shelter
Just because guinea fowl love to roam doesn’t mean they do not need protective housing or shelter. These birds are naturally hardy, but they still need a safe, dry, and secure place to return to, especially at night or during bad weather.
You should have a purpose-built facility or a specified location in the barn where they can stay protected from strong winds, rain, extreme weather, and predators.
Tip 2: Keep the Floor Dry to Prevent Mold
Guinea fowl do not like messy floors. You must cover it with wood shavings, straws, or chopped hay to make it more absorbent and comfortable.
In addition, you should keep moisture in check by properly ventilating. It makes them happier and prevents disease-causing mold from growing in their home.
Tip 3: Build High Perches for Safe Roosting
While guinea fowl may naturally roost in trees, relying on that habit puts them at serious risk. If you allow your guinea fowl to sleep in trees, they’re far more likely to wander off and not return, and worse, they become easy targets for predators.
Instead, offer them safe, elevated perches inside a secure shelter. Guinea hens love to sleep off the ground, so the higher the perch, the happier they’ll be. Just make sure the area is fully enclosed and protected from weather and threats.
Tip 4: Create Space for All Guinea Fowl
It is important to remember that guinea fowl divide themselves into various ranks. The bullies in the group will try their best to keep the weaker guinea fowl out.
To counter this issue, create two pop-holes or expand the doorway. It also ensures that weaker or shyer guinea hens enter the house every evening instead of enjoying the outdoor life they are so fond of.
Tip 5: Take Care of Darkness and Nests
Did you know your beloved guinea fowl are scared of the dark? To alleviate this concern, keep their home well-lit with a reliable battery-powered cupboard light.
Sometimes, they also love creating secret nests. Keep an eye out for them and destroy them instantly to keep bringing them to their actual home.
What Do Guinea Fowl Eat?
Guinea fowl are valued for their voracious appetite for insects and their ability to feed themselves on their own. However, to ensure optimal health and productivity, it’s essential to understand specific dietary needs.
In their natural habitat, guinea fowl are omnivorous and spend a significant portion of their day foraging. Their diet predominantly includes:
- Insects and Vertebrates: They actively hunt mosquitoes, beetles, ticks, slugs, caterpillars, ants, grasshoppers, worms, and other small invertebrates. This insect consumption fulfills their protein requirements and aids in pest control.
- Seeds and Grains: Guinea fowl consume various seeds and grains such as millet, sorghum, and wheat. However, they tend to avoid whole corn kernels.
- Vegetation: They ingest greens like dandelions, weeds, and grasses, which aid in digestion and provide essential nutrients.
Additionally, guinea fowl need access to clean, fresh water. So, make sure the water sources are kept clean and are easily accessible to prevent dehydration and support overall health. You should also regularly observe your flock for signs of nutritional deficiencies or health issues.
When Foraging Isn't an Option
While guinea fowl are adept foragers, there are circumstances where supplemental feeding becomes necessary. This is especially important during adverse weather conditions, limited foraging opportunities, or when raising them in confinement.
The protein requirements you should be aware of while raising one as a pet:
- Keets (Young Guinea Fowl): Require a starter feed with a protein content of 24-26% for the first 6 to 8 weeks to support rapid growth and development.
- Growing Phase (5 to 8 Weeks): Transition to a grower feed with 18-20% protein content.
- Adults (Post 8 Weeks): A maintenance diet containing 16-18% protein is suitable after they’re adults.
As for the form of feed, these birds prefer mash or crumbles over pelleted feeds. However, you can also supplement their diet with leafy greens like alfalfa to improve digestion and provide grit to help in grinding down food, especially when access to natural foraging is limited.
Just make sure to avoid certain foods such as avocados, chocolate, uncooked beans, and salty or sugary snacks, as they can be quite toxic for guinea fowl keets.
Conclusion
Raising guinea fowl can be both rewarding and practical for backyard farmers and homesteaders. These birds are natural pest controllers, resilient foragers, and surprisingly self-sufficient if given the right start. By focusing on safe housing, balanced nutrition, and mindful brooding, you can raise healthy guinea fowl that thrive in your space. Whether you’re looking to protect your garden or enjoy the benefits of sustainable poultry keeping, guinea fowl offer an eco-friendly solution that supports your lifestyle and the local ecosystem.
Curious about other unusual birds with distinct personalities? Learn about the mysterious potoo, a nocturnal master of camouflage that might just be the oddest bird you’ve never seen.
FAQs
1. How do you raise friendly guinea fowl?
To raise friendly guinea fowl, you should spend as much time with them as possible. In addition, provide them with a healthy diet and fresh water.
2. At what age does a guinea fowl fly?
Usually, a healthy guinea fowl starts flying when it is 2–4 weeks old. They can fly a few yards in the beginning, and the range keeps increasing with age.
3. What is the point of raising guinea fowl?
Guinea fowl keep your place clean of bugs, ticks, grasshoppers, and insects. They also consume slugs.
4. Are guinea fowl noisy?
Yes, guinea fowl have a loud alarm, and they make a sound whenever something threatening appears. They use it to warn other guinea fowl and their owner.
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