FAQ: Are Guineas Fowl Friendly?

Now granted, guinea fowl will never be super duper lovey birds, but they can be trained to be friendly with you. Guinea fowl are just naturally more high strung than chickens. Just like chickens, they will quickly learn to come running when you have their favorite treat!

Do guineas get along with chickens?

It is not a harmonious relationship. They can also be pushy with smaller birds too, although some of this behavior is modified if they are raised with chicks. Although Guineas are monogamous, there is the occasional mating of Guinea and chicken, which can result in sterile offspring.

Are Guinea fowls aggressive?

In fact, guineas can be so aggressive that they can run off the toughest rooster in your flock! Male guineas are notoriously territorial and will bully others in the flock.

How do you befriend a guinea fowl?

Taming Guinea fowl keets requires:

1. Lots of time – Frequent and daily contact is needed.
2. Your voice – Talking to the keets throughout the day.
3. Handling – keets only, at least 3 times a day.
4. Feed – Letting the keets eat from the hand.
5. Treats – Hold a meal worm in your fingers.

Do guineas and chickens fight?

Guinea fowls are naturally dominant and will likely take over the coop by asserting themselves in any altercation. Guinea fowls are different from chickens, but the males will still fight with roosters, especially during mating season. Owners cannot raise one guinea fowl alone even in a flock of chickens.

Do guineas keep hawks away?

Many people add guinea fowl to their flock. No predators will make it past guinea fowl. They will certainly spot any hawks lurking above, and will alert you and all of the animals around that there’s danger. The noise alone has been known to scare hawks away before they attack.

Are guineas noisy?

Although guineas are typically quiet, they can be very noisy if disturbed. Guineas are more active than chickens and not as easily tamed—they seem to retain some of their wild behavior.

Do Guineas scare foxes?

Like roosters, guinea fowl are very noisy, but unlike the crowing a rooster makes every few minutes, guineas make an almost continuous chatter, that, to be perfectly honest, is extremely annoying! However the advantage of all this aggression and noise is that guinea fowl will easily scare off a fox.

Will Guineas destroy a garden?

Guinea fowl, on the other hand, won’t destroy your garden. They will still dust bathe and may occasionally peck at your garden, but are far less destructive.

Do Guineas need a coop?

Guinea fowl do need shelter but it does not necessarily have to be a coop. Being from the same family as pheasants and turkeys they prefer to roost in the trees but in order to keep them around and find the eggs easily you really need to provide them with housing and train them in it’s use.

Can guinea fowl live with turkeys?

Despite this similarity, we DO NOT recommend brooding guineas and turkeys together. Guinea keets are quick and flighty. Your brooder will need to have high walls and a wire lid to keep them contained. Due to their skittish nature, they may ‘beat up’ on other poultry (such as turkey poults) in the brooder.

How do I keep guineas in my yard?

How to Keep Guinea Fowl from Flying Away

1. Start Them Young. Guineas raised from keets are less likely to fly the coop.
2. Raise Keets with Chicks.
3. Let a Hen Raise the Keets.
4. Get Mature Guineas to Adopt Them.
5. Provide High Roosting Bars.
6. Temporarily Confine Them.
7. Cover the Run.
8. Clip Their Wings.

How cold can guinea fowl survive?

Here is the important point – If they are in a coop and it is dry and sheltered they can survive sustained temperatures of -18C or -1F provided they have liquid water and plenty of feed. Below: Guineas wandering in the snow – in these conditions they probably just need feed and water in a sheltered coop.

What is poisonous to guinea fowl?

Alcohol – Ethanol is poisonous to Guinea fowl. – See poultry and alcohol.

How can you tell male from female Guineas?

The male is slightly larger, has a larger, taller standing crest on top of his head, and the wattles under his chin are bigger and stick out farther than the female’s. The hen’s crest is somewhat smaller and angled more toward the rear, and her wattles aren’t as large or as deeply cupped.

Do guinea fowl keep snakes away?

Thanks to their noise, Guineas are an excellent way to protect the yard from uninvited snakes. In a flock, Guinea Fowl will sound out loudly to alert you of the presence of a snake. If the snake is small, a flock may encircle the snake and may even kill it. Generally, they will not eat a snake.