Gardening with Guineas

Alright, here is the promised post about my research on guinea fowl. Most of the information I have gathered came from reading "Gardening with guineas" by Jeanette S. Ferguson. This book was a great, informative read about raising guinea fowl, covering everything from hatching keets to eating full grown guineas.



Guinea fowl originate from Africa and there are three main kinds: helmeted, crested and vulturine guinea fowl. Due to availability and cost, most Americans own helmeted guineas. They come in a variety of colors and sizes. The most common guinea seems to be the pearl grey guinea, which gets to be about two feet long and weighs from 3 - 5 pounds.

Female guineas, or hens, are slightly smaller than the males and can be distinguished by their cry, which sounds like they are screaming "buckwheat!" The males make a "chi chi chi" noise, which can be imitated by the females. Male guineas are far less noisy than their female counterparts, so if noise is a big concern for you and you don't care about eggs, you simply only keep males. Guinea cocks get along fine, unlike roosters who must be kept in limited numbers to avoid them fighting with each other. The primary drawback for raising guineas is their noise. For the first year of life everything is new to them and they squak a lot. They also make quite the racket when something is not as it should be, which is also one of their benefits - they make great "watchdogs." For some, the noise the birds make is enough reason not to keep them, but experienced guinea keepers claim that raising guineas from eggs or day old keets (the babies) is much easier. When you start with babies, you are able to handle them and train them a bit (though they are still a more or less wild bird), cutting down on the noise some.

If you can get past their chatter, there are many benefits to guineas. First of all, they LOVE to eat bugs (ticks, mosquitos, japanese beetles etc.) that are harmful to plants, animals and people. They also eat weed seeds, making the life of a gardener a bit easier. Unlike chickens, guineas do not scratch at the ground and thus are not harmful to the garden. Also, as they walk along, they fertilize the ground. Another upside to guineas is that their waste is not smelly and messy like that of chickens.
Due to their great foraging abilities, it costs less in feed to raise guineas.

Like chickens, guinea hens lay eggs that are perfectly fine for human consumption. They are slightly smaller than chicken eggs, but actually get fluffier and are better for certain baking endeavors. Unlike chickens, however, there is no way to convince guineas to continue laying through the winter. You simply have to wait for spring to begin collecting eggs again. Also unlike chickens, guineas don't typically use the provided nests for laying their eggs, so tracking down the eggs to eat them can be a bit tricky. And, guineas make a great tasting dinner when you have had enough of their noise or have too many birds!


There is much more information available on these wonderful birds, but basically:
- They LOVE bugs and weed seeds!
- They warn you of predators or visitors to your homestead.
- They fertilize your soil.
- They do not scratch up the ground.
- They are not generally smelly or messy birds.
- They lay eggs that are great for eating and baking.
- Yes, they are noisy...

For us, it is worth a couple dollars and some effort to start a few guineas on our homestead and see how it goes. If we end up absolutely not being able to live at peace with the guineas, we can always eat them.

Hope this was informative!
My Family
(Wife Speaking)