bee_pipes
03-20-2007, 12:03 AM
We picked up (nine) month old guineas last July. I read as much as I could find on these birds, and they were purchased as a natural pest control measure. Supposedly they are monogamous, mate for life, and prefer to lay their eggs in secluded areas in woods and field. This last winter the regular chickens started laying, and in the last week or so the guineas are laying too. We haven't determined how many guinea hens and cocks we have, but so far have found up to three eggs a day in with the chickens. So much for secluded areas. The guineas have a separate side of the chicken house from the chickens, and continuous access to the outdoors. They roam pretty much freely around the property, and I always assumed they were laying last autumn during their daily wanderings. Now they are laying their eggs in with the chickens.
Also, from reading, they are not supposed to be great setters or brooders, but I have seen a number of families around the county - two adults with a clutch of chicks. Guess you can't believe everything you read. The weather is getting warms enough to think about raising so chicks, so we have built a nesting box for the guineas in hopes they will raise a brood. The box is a fairly simple affair, about eighteen inches tall, 12 inches deep and divided into three areas, 12 inches wide. We just put it in last night when we finished building it, using scrap lumber lying about. To give them the seclusion they don't seem to care about, it faces the wall with a 12 inch walkway between the wall and the partitioned areas. Over the box is a sloped roof (to discourage roosting over the nesting area and droppings in the nest) with hinges to allow lifting the roof up and inspecting the nest. Most books recommend collecting guinea eggs and placing them under a broody hen. Timing is everything, as guinea eggs take a week less of incubation than regular hen eggs.
Has anybody had any luck with getting guineas to hatch and raise brood? I bought the guineas from a fellow with a commercial incubator - he hatched the eggs himself and lets them roam around the property. He must have a hundred guineas or more. On his place the guineas preferred to sleep outside, roosting on top of the fence surrounding the chicken houses. We spent the first year actively discouraging such behavior - seemed like a good way to feed owls. Each night we'd throw scratch out in the yard and chase the guineas into the chicken house, and it seems to have paid off. They now start honking for their scratch towards sundown, then go in the house by themselves at sunset.
They are entertaining, and I enjoy watching them get in a line and sweep the yard in search of bugs. We have a fenced garden, and they seemed to have no problem flying over the fence to look for bugs. We cut up strips of plastic shopping bags and tied these tapes to the fence for the wind to flap - that seems to have stopped the guinea invasion in the garden. Also, old CDs sent in the mail as advertising were tied to a wire on the fence post - the wind spins and swings the CDs, flashing in the sun. The guineas seem suspicious of these shiny "eyes" and stay out of the garden.
This April we will be starting three hives. Has anyone had problems with guineas hanging around the hives and eating bees? We were planning to throw up a small fence with poultry wire and t-posts just to keep the yard birds away from the hives.
Regards,
Pat
Also, from reading, they are not supposed to be great setters or brooders, but I have seen a number of families around the county - two adults with a clutch of chicks. Guess you can't believe everything you read. The weather is getting warms enough to think about raising so chicks, so we have built a nesting box for the guineas in hopes they will raise a brood. The box is a fairly simple affair, about eighteen inches tall, 12 inches deep and divided into three areas, 12 inches wide. We just put it in last night when we finished building it, using scrap lumber lying about. To give them the seclusion they don't seem to care about, it faces the wall with a 12 inch walkway between the wall and the partitioned areas. Over the box is a sloped roof (to discourage roosting over the nesting area and droppings in the nest) with hinges to allow lifting the roof up and inspecting the nest. Most books recommend collecting guinea eggs and placing them under a broody hen. Timing is everything, as guinea eggs take a week less of incubation than regular hen eggs.
Has anybody had any luck with getting guineas to hatch and raise brood? I bought the guineas from a fellow with a commercial incubator - he hatched the eggs himself and lets them roam around the property. He must have a hundred guineas or more. On his place the guineas preferred to sleep outside, roosting on top of the fence surrounding the chicken houses. We spent the first year actively discouraging such behavior - seemed like a good way to feed owls. Each night we'd throw scratch out in the yard and chase the guineas into the chicken house, and it seems to have paid off. They now start honking for their scratch towards sundown, then go in the house by themselves at sunset.
They are entertaining, and I enjoy watching them get in a line and sweep the yard in search of bugs. We have a fenced garden, and they seemed to have no problem flying over the fence to look for bugs. We cut up strips of plastic shopping bags and tied these tapes to the fence for the wind to flap - that seems to have stopped the guinea invasion in the garden. Also, old CDs sent in the mail as advertising were tied to a wire on the fence post - the wind spins and swings the CDs, flashing in the sun. The guineas seem suspicious of these shiny "eyes" and stay out of the garden.
This April we will be starting three hives. Has anyone had problems with guineas hanging around the hives and eating bees? We were planning to throw up a small fence with poultry wire and t-posts just to keep the yard birds away from the hives.
Regards,
Pat