Raising guinea fowl is a rewarding experience that offers unique benefits for your homestead or backyard. These hardy, fascinating birds are excellent pest controllers, low-maintenance, and provide a range of practical advantages. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you raise guinea fowl successfully.
Why Raise Guinea Fowl?
Guinea fowl are not as common as chickens or ducks, but they are an excellent addition to any flock. Their unique characteristics and behaviors make them a favorite among many poultry keepers. They are renowned for their pest control abilities, distinctive personalities, and minimal care requirements.
These birds thrive in a variety of climates and are highly adaptable. Whether you are looking for natural pest management, a sustainable meat source, or simply a fun addition to your property, guinea fowl can meet your needs. Understanding their specific requirements and behaviors is the first step to raising a happy, healthy flock.
Getting Started with Guinea Fowl
Raising guinea fowl begins with careful planning and preparation. From selecting the right birds to setting up their living environment, ensuring they have the essentials is key.
Selecting Your Guinea Fowl
When starting with guinea fowl, you’ll need to decide how many birds to raise. Guinea fowl are social creatures that thrive in groups, so it’s best to start with at least six birds. They are available in several varieties, such as Pearl, Lavender, and White. Each variety has slightly different plumage, but their care requirements are the same.
You can purchase guinea fowl as keets (baby birds) or as adults. Keets are more affordable and easier to train but require extra care in their early weeks. Adults, on the other hand, are hardier but may take longer to acclimate to a new environment.
Preparing Housing for Guinea Fowl
Guinea fowl need a secure, comfortable living space. While they are hardy birds, they still require protection from predators and harsh weather.
- Coop or Shelter: Guinea fowl can share a coop with chickens, but they prefer perching on high roosts. Ensure the coop is predator-proof and provides enough space—at least 2-3 square feet per bird inside the coop and 8-10 square feet per bird in the run.
- Roosts: Install roosts at various heights to encourage their natural instinct to perch. This will make them feel safe and secure at night.
- Nesting Boxes: Guinea hens don’t lay as frequently as chickens, but they still need nesting boxes. Provide one nesting box for every three birds.
- Run or Free-Range Area: While guinea fowl can free-range, a fenced area can protect them from predators and keep them from wandering too far.
Feeding Guinea Fowl
Proper nutrition is essential for healthy guinea fowl. While they are excellent foragers, especially in free-range settings, supplemental feeding ensures they receive all the nutrients they need.
Diet and Nutrition
- Starter Feed for Keets: Baby guinea fowl (keets) should be fed a high-protein starter feed with 24-28% protein for their first six weeks. This helps them grow strong and healthy.
- Adult Feed: After six weeks, transition them to a grower or maintenance feed with 16-20% protein. Guinea fowl will supplement their diet by foraging for insects, seeds, and weeds.
- Free-Range Foraging: Guinea fowl are natural foragers. Allowing them to roam freely ensures they have access to bugs, grasses, and other natural foods.
- Supplements: Provide grit to aid digestion and oyster shells for calcium if you’re raising laying hens.
Watering
Always provide fresh, clean water. Ensure waterers are placed in a location where they won’t be contaminated by droppings or dirt.
Caring for Guinea Fowl Keets
Raising guinea fowl keets requires extra care and attention in their early stages. These tiny birds are more delicate than adult guinea fowl and need a warm, safe environment.
- Brooder Setup: Keep keets in a brooder with a heat source, such as a heat lamp, maintaining a temperature of 95°F in their first week. Gradually decrease the temperature by 5°F each week until they are fully feathered.
- Bedding: Use absorbent bedding like pine shavings or straw, and change it regularly to keep the area clean.
- Feed and Water: Provide a shallow water dish to prevent drowning, and offer high-protein starter feed.
- Socialization: Handle keets gently to help them get used to your presence, which will make them easier to manage as adults.
Training Guinea Fowl
Training guinea fowl to return to their coop or shelter at night is one of the biggest challenges for new keepers. These birds are naturally independent and often prefer roosting in trees. However, with patience and consistency, you can train them to follow a routine.
- Start Early: Begin training keets while they are young. Keep them in the coop for the first 6-8 weeks so they recognize it as their home.
- Use Treats: Encourage guinea fowl to come to you by offering treats like millet or mealworms.
- Evening Routine: Herd them into the coop every evening, using a calm and consistent approach. Over time, they’ll learn to return on their own.
Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Guinea fowl are hardy birds, but they come with unique challenges. Understanding and addressing these issues will help ensure a successful experience.
Noise Levels
Guinea fowl are vocal birds, often making loud calls to alert their flock of perceived threats. This can be problematic if you have close neighbors. Placing their coop away from shared property lines and minimizing disturbances can help reduce noise complaints.
Wandering
Guinea fowl have a reputation for wandering far from home. Fencing can help keep them contained, and consistent training will encourage them to return to their coop.
Predation
While guinea fowl are vigilant and can deter some predators, they are still vulnerable, especially at night. A secure coop is essential for their protection.
Benefits of Raising Guinea Fowl
Despite their quirks, guinea fowl offer several benefits that make them a worthwhile addition to your flock.
- Natural Pest Control: Guinea fowl are exceptional at controlling ticks, mosquitoes, and other pests, reducing the need for chemical treatments.
- Low Maintenance: Once they are established, guinea fowl require minimal care and are largely self-sufficient.
- Meat and Eggs: Guinea fowl meat is lean and flavorful, while their eggs are rich and excellent for baking.
- Security: Their loud calls make them effective “watchdogs,” alerting you to predators or strangers.
- Sustainability: Guinea fowl can thrive on natural foraging, making them a sustainable choice for backyard poultry.
Conclusion
Raising guinea fowl is a unique and rewarding endeavor that offers numerous benefits for homesteaders and backyard poultry keepers alike. These hardy, independent birds are excellent for pest control, provide sustainable meat and eggs, and add a lively dynamic to your property.
By understanding their needs and addressing their challenges, we can enjoy all the advantages guinea fowl bring to our homes. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced poultry keeper, guinea fowl are a fantastic addition to any flock.
Joseph Hudson has been raising chickens for over 15 years. In 2018, he completed the Agriculture & Natural Resources program at Mt. San Antonio College. He currently raises over 1400 chickens on his 7.5-hectare farm. He keeps sharing his experience on raising healthy and happy chickens on Chicken Scratch The Foundry.
