Does anyone keep Guinea Fowl?

[yugogypsy]

Hi Folks,

When I finally get to expand in the fowl department, I was thinking of trying a few guinea fowl, they are supposed to be good egg layers and taste something like grouse.

Any helpful hints appreciated

Lois

[Mare Owner]

We have guineas here. They are loud, if you aren't used to their noise, it does take getting used to. We have them for bug control.

We don't collect eggs from them as they are free range and their nests are hard to find, but if penned up the eggs are supposed to be just like small chicken eggs.

I've never butchered any, but my husband has eaten them when he was a youngster and he didn't care for them, said their skin was black and just didn't care for the taste.

[yugogypsy]

I am used to the noise, lots of my neighbours have had them and pea-fowl over the years.

If I can stand a pea-fowl screaming, I can survive anything.

I was planning on keeping the birds penned to collect the eggs and raise another generation under a broody hen.

Thanks
Lois

[catalyst]

we kept them for a few months - but the noise drove us insane:

FRACKA FRACKA FRACKA all day every day... they are called frackas here in portugal..

[roundthebend]

Guinea fowl eggs are divine, milder in taste than chicken eggs and if you get lilac or silver lines there skin is mainly white when dressed out, much drier flesh than chicken.......more like pheasant. They take a good six months to mature, are nervouse and flighty and insanely noisy, so if you get on well with your nieghbours DON"T get them if they live within half a mile.

[Camile]

Good morning ..

I do have a few guinea fowls here ... and they are brilliant ..

a bit of a tramp because they go and visit every neighbors garden and range for more than half a mile around ...

I think they are laying just a few dozen eggs a year though, from March till August ..

We never found a nest but I kept them penned up for a couple of days to get eggs .. and collected 8 in 9 days ..

gave them to a broody, 6 hatched but 2 died afterwards, the 2 white ones, because apparently white ones are not as hardy as the other colors.

The keets are now 4 weeks old and thriving ..

Camile

[yugogypsy]

Do you think they could be kept in Arks like chickens? I'd like to keep them separate from my chickens and don't have room for another coop?

Lois

[Mare Owner]

No expert here, but I think they are much more nervous than chickens, and keeping them in a small coop or pen (not sure what an ark is?) may make they VERY nervous. If I was to try it, I would start with hatchlings that I raised myself so they would be tamer, and used to smaller enclosures.

But all our guineas here are rather wild and do great that way, can't believe how FAST those keets can run when they get spooked!

[the.fee.fairy]

how about quails instead?
I used to keep brown quails and japanese painted quails. The brown ones are a good size and the produce eggs, and are edible (i never ate mine though - i liked them too much!!).

I kept my quails in the bottom of a 5ftx10ft aviary with budgies and cockatiels - they ate canary food and whatever the budgies dropped. They are really really cute. if you get them young enough, they'll come running to see you whenever you go near them! You do have to watch their feet though - they get them covered in crap that needs to be soaked off.

I had one quail named Froggy (she croaked like a frog!) who wanted to live indoors - she had a thing for the dog, she used to bash her head on the side so that she'd be brought inside to be cleaned. Once i let her wander around whilst she dried off. i found her 10 mins later cuddled up to the dog!!

[Thomzo]

are insanely noisy, so if you get on well with your nieghbours DON"T get them if they live within half a mile.

Oh cool. A nasty dose of builders has infested a house at the bottom of my garden. They have built this huge structure on my boundary which is apparently for storing motorbikes while they do them up.

If they get too noisy then that sounds like the perfect revenge

[yugogypsy]

Ah Ha-theres a group like that here, yes, I am definitely going to get guineas That'll fix them!

My other neighbours are good and have livestock themselves-and if they can stand Pinky's braying, they can stand guineas.

Lois