Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In the wild, a guinea nest can be a casual affair, filled with dozens of eggs.
If you have a period of particularly wet weather at hatching time, their success rate is
limited. The young will get damp and chilled. If you're going to let guineas raise their
own young, it is best to isolate the mother in a place where she can take care of her ba-
bies. In that sort of situation, she'll nurture them well.
Guineas Can Be Tyrants
The male guinea is always watching out for his hens and any other birds he claims.
Guineas raised with chickens, ducks, geese, and other fowl tend to look out for every-
body. The guineas really are the barnyard bosses.
I used to keep guineas with my turkeys but found that to be unwise. Male guineas
were well behaved until spring — the breeding season — when they terrorized the tur-
keys. They would never allow the male turkeys to breed their hens, aggressively keeping
the toms constantly on the run. It's amazing to see a bird one-tenth the size of a turkey
cause so many problems. The guineas kept the turkeys constantly moving, pecking at
them and chasing them until some of the turkeys died from exhaustion. I would hose the
guineas down with water and chase after them, but nothing seemed to work. If a guinea
cock decided he didn't like the tom, he wouldn't let him rest.
Similar problems can also occur with guineas and roosters, and between males of
other species during the breeding season. It's best to keep your guineas away from other
birds during that time. While they don't have spurs, as do roosters, they do have very
sharp beaks and are not afraid to use their claws.
Although they can be tyrants, I've rarely had a guinea fly at me. I've only been
chased off once or twice when I tried to check their nest of newly hatched keets. The
