Raising Guinea Fowl at My Farm

June 26, 2020

It’s always exciting when we have babies at the farm - this time seven young Guinea fowl incubated and hatched right here. They’re all doing very well eating, drinking, and enjoying all the sights and sounds of their new surroundings.

Guinea fowl are members of the Numididae family. These birds originated in Africa, but are now found all over the world. I’ve raised Guinea fowl for years. They are ground-nesting, seed- and-insect-eating birds that love ticks, locusts, flies, maggots, snails, and other pesky bugs. They are also wonderful at patrolling the chicken yard - sounding off loud alarms whenever something unusual enters the enclosure.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: I am so happy I am able to properly incubate and hatch healthy fowl right here at the farm. The eggs are kept in optimal hatching temperatures and are safe from any pecking hens in the coop.

: Most recently, we hatched seven beautiful baby Guinea fowl or keets.

: Once hatched, they are kept in a draft-free enclosure in my Winter House where they can be well-monitored until they are old enough and big enough to live in the coops.

: These youngsters are very active, very curious, and very fast, even at just three weeks old.

: These keets have a lot of growing to do – just look how big their feet are.

: And they are all very good eaters. Because Guinea keets are very active birds, they need a high protein diet with a protein percentage of 24 to 26-percent. This will help ensure proper growth and development in the young birds.

: Guinea fowl enjoy being with their own kind and will always maintain their own social groups even when integrated into the coop with the other chickens and geese.

: And if well cared for, these babies can live up to 15-years.

: With all this energy, these keets are already starting to perch and spread their wings – it’s time to move them to a larger brooder.

: This week, we moved the Guinea keets to their own space inside one of the coops. Keets need a clean, enclosed area with solid walls, where they will be warm and safe.

: It is very difficult to sex Guinea fowl. The best way to tell males from females is by their cry. When they’re older, the female Guineas will make a two-syllable call that sounds something like “buckwheat, buckwheat”. Males can only make a one-syllable sound similar to “kickkkkk kickkkkk”. The males also have larger gills or wattles.

: They have a suspended feeder in their space filled with medicated turkey starter or wild game bird starter. At six weeks of age, they will be switched to turkey or game bird grower.

: They also have this feeder which allows all seven of them to eat next to each other at the same time.

: And here is their red-based waterer. As soon as any baby fowl are moved into a new brooder, each one is introduced to the waterer and feeder, so they know where to eat and drink. They are all familiar with waterers and feeders, but it is still a good practice to show them.

: This is an adult Guinea fowl. I have about seven adults. One Guinea fowl is the size of a large chicken and weighs about four-pounds fully grown.

: Notice, the head and neck area of a Guinea is bare, which helps to regulate temperature. These birds originated in Africa, so they are not too fond of the cold weather, but they are very hardy and can live well in nearly every climate.

: With short, rounded wings and short tails, these birds look oval-shaped. Their beaks are short but curved and very stout.

: Guineas are highly social with their own kind; where one goes, they all go. If one gets lost it will call out until the flock comes to find it. And Guinea fowl are noisy. I can often hear them all the way from my Winter House.

: Back in coop #1, the keets are becoming more and more comfortable in their new home.

: Here they are eating again – I am so glad these youngsters are thriving. And do you know what a group of Guinea fowl is called? The collective noun for guinea fowl is “confusion” or “rasp.”