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We started our guinea flock from a batch of eggs we purchased and got over 30 keets from that batch of eggs! Our guinea fowl is intended for the purpose of reducing the wasp population around our ranch, as well as eating the ticks and other bothersome pests that can live in this area. Guineas are very primitive looking but have beautiful feather patterns and assorted colors! If you can not tolerate loud poultry, then this is not the bird for you. These are currently one of the loudest birds on our ranch, second only to the peacocks in their breeding season. After noticing the decline in our insect population here on our ranch (we estimate a 10-20% decline in flies the first year and in the second year, a 40% decline in flies and a 90% decline in wasps as well as a zero population of ticks, we are quite happy to put up with the noise. After 3 years of raising guineas, we rarely even notice the guineas calling.

There are three basic varieties of helmeted guinea fowl reared in the United States at this time, the Pearl, White and Lavender. We currently raise blue, lavender, blue dundotte, buff, buff dundotte, white, pearl, Royal Purple and Light Blue. The head and neck are bare, but there may be some wattles. The wattles on the male guinea are larger than on the female, but even as adults it can be very difficult to distinguish males from females. The Pearl is the most popular variety and the one most people recognize.

Why raise guinea fowl? There are many reasons. The guinea has been used in protecting the farm flock from intruders because of its loud, harsh, cry and its pugnacious disposition. Since one of the main sources of food for wild guineas is insects, they have gained popularity for use in reducing insect populations in gardens and around the home, especially because, unlike chickens, they do not scratch the dirt much and do very little damage to the garden. Recently, guineas have been used to reduce the deer tick population, that are known for transmitting Lyme disease. Other people raise them for their unique ornamental value. We use them to help control wasps and ticks here on or ranch as well for meat production. We also use loose feathers we find around the farm for crafts and jewelry makings.

Guineas can be a very useful and interesting addition to your farm. They have great personalities. Guineas make excellent watch dogs, sounding the alarm whenever anything unusual occurs. They will consume large amounts of insects and seldom rarely your garden or flowers. They are easy and inexpensive to raise. Once started, they fend for themselves, living on insects, seeds, and grasses. They control deer ticks, wood ticks, wasps, small snakes, mice, grasshoppers, flies, crickets, and all other insects. Their call is said to discourage rodents.

The incubation period for Guinea eggs is 26 to 28 days. The eggs may be incubated under Bantam setting hens (10-15 eggs) or Chicken setting hens (25-30 eggs), or any reliable incubator. Follow the instructions. If nothing is listed for Guineas, follow the instructions for Pheasants or Turkeys. I have found guinea eggs to be the easiest eggs of any poultry I have raised, to hatch! While guinea hens are often very efficient at incubating eggs, they are typically not good mothers and the keets, left in their care will usually be victim to drowning or predators. Of our last batch born in the wild, four females hatched about 30 keets. We took 20 and of the remaining 10, four keets survived. Those four are doing very well and are nearly adults now but are not growing as fast as the ones raised in captivity. We typically try to brood any keets we find here on our ranch ourselves.

Feeding Guineas- Keets need a 24% - 26% protein ration such as turkey starter or gamebird feed. It is recommend using an unmedicated feed to avoid potential problems with keets getting over-medicated. Reduce the protein to about 18% - 20% for the fifth through eighth weeks. After that they will do well on regular laying mash that is usually 16% protein. If you can't find feed with different amounts of protein, mix the higher protein feed with laying mash to get the proper protein mix. The guineas' natural diet consists of a high protein mix of seeds and insects. If your birds have a large area to roam they will usually get enough to eat on their own, but you can train the birds to stay closer to home by providing supplemental feed in a regular location. Guineas need a higher protein feed than chickens, but do quite well on regular poultry mash or crumbles. It is recommended that they be given only mash or crumbles instead of pelleted feed. They will not eat much supplemental feed if they are finding plenty to eat on their own, but it has been found that they really like wheat, milo, and millet and will clean up every kernel. However, only give whole or cracked grains as a treat or supplement, but not too much. The protein content is too low and the fat content too high to be much value. They don't care for the larger grains and will ignore whole corn kernels. Make sure they have access to clean water. Give keets warm water only! They don't tolerate cold water well.

Basic Management of Guinea Fowl

If you already have other poultry, you will soon discover that guineas are not chickens. They are much more active than chickens and not as easily tamed. They seem to retain some of their wild behavior and will remind you of this whenever they get spooked.

Guineas require a dry environment with plenty of room. Guinea fowls are extremely good runners and use this method, rather than flying, to escape predators. Since most people raise guineas with the intention of letting them run loose after reaching adulthood, space is usually not a problem. If you are confining your birds for any length of time, give them as much room as possible outside and a minimum of 2-3 square feet per bird inside. The more room they have, the less likely they will become overly stressed. Guineas tolerate weather extremes fairly well after they are fully feathered and have reached adult size.

Guineas begin to fly at a very early age and can be confined only in covered pens. It is not unusual to find adults roosting 20-30 feet above the ground complaining about everything they see. They are very strong fliers and the birds will often fly 400-500 feet at a time when moving around the farm, especially if startled.

The laying season will vary depending on your latitude and local weather patterns. The Pearl and Purple usually have the longest laying season and the lighter colors have the shortest.

Managing Adults- If you are purchasing guineas for tick and insect control then you are better off purchasing adult guineas as they require little care and do very well on their own. Clean water and a regular chicken laying mash is basically all you need to rear them. They enjoy a little scratch feed mixed in with their feed and scattered on the ground. If your birds are allowed to roam freely they will eat very little during the summer months. If you keep their feed restricted during the summer months, then they will spend more time eating insects.

Sexing Guineas -One of the most-often asked questions about guineas is how to tell the hens from the cocks. Young guineas cannot be sight-sexed like some other poultry or fowl. The hens and cocks look exactly the same except for some of the newer colors where the hens are darker, as both keets and adults. The only precise way to tell the sexes apart is to listen for the two-syllable call the hen makes. This sound has been described as sounding like "buckwheat, buckwheat", "put-rock, put-rock" or "qua-track, qua-track". This is the only sound that the hen makes that the rooster doesn't. The young birds start making these sounds at 6-8 weeks, but some hens do not start calling till much later.

To learn about guineas as table fowl, click here.