The Guinea Fowl are Coming, The Guinea Fowl are Coming!
What you'll need for your new Guinea fowl eggs or keets.
Next spring, like last spring, tens of thousands of fertile Guinea fowl eggs and live Guinea fowl keets will be shipped to people throughout the United States. The vast majority of the un-hatched Guinea fowl eggs and the day-old Guinea fowl keets that are shipped will be helmeted Guinea fowl. There will also be a small number of French Guinea fowl, Vulturine Guinea fowl and Jumbo Guinea fowl eggs and keets making journeys to their new homes. Herein we'll be discussing the helmeted Guinea fowl, though raising any of the above types of Guinea fowl is essentially the same.
The word 'helmeted' is almost never used when referring to helmeted Guinea fowl. One simply says "Guinea fowl." Conversely, one always uses the terms French Guinea fowl, Vulturine Guinea fowl and Jumbo Guinea fowl to describe those types of Guinea fowl. In fact, French Guinea fowl and Jumbo Guinea fowl are helmeted Guinea fowl, but each with its own slight differences from the original helmeted Guinea fowl.
Helmeted Guinea fowl have been rapidly gaining in popularity for several years. While there are several reasons for the meteoric rise in Guinea fowl popularity, the primary reason is that they eat bugs – lots and lots of bugs! A dozen adult Guinea fowl will keep 2-3 acres devoid of insects. Guinea fowl love ticks, and due to the diseases these parasitic pests carry, many people get Guinea fowl specifically to rid their property of them. Guinea fowl are so efficient at insect control that beekeepers cannot have them as they will wipeout entire beehives in just days. Guinea fowl will also reduce weed density and growth, and scare off or kill snakes.
This pearl grey Guinea fowl keet is 4 days old. You can tell his color is pearl grey (or gray) by the stripes on the top of his head. Helmeted Guinea fowl are available in many colors and color combinations from white to chocolate – some with the signature spots, and some without.
Guinea fowl are rather large birds. They measure from about 15" to about 28" in length and weigh from 2-4 pounds. Guinea fowl are originally from the hot, dry areas of Africa. These flocking birds spend most of their time on the ground and therefore are excellent runners. They can also easily achieve flight and are superb gliders. Their primary diet is insects and vegetation, especially seeds and grains. Guinea fowl are dedicated flock birds. They love to be with their flock and don't do well without it. For this reason, most Guinea fowl keepers suggest not owning less than four Guinea fowl.
As anyone who has been a Guinea fowl keeper will tell you, Guinea fowl are fun, intriguing pets. Most Guinea fowl keepers initially started their flocks solely for the purpose of insect control, but then became attached to their birds, which ultimately become their pets. This evolution of the relationship between Guinea fowl and their keepers is something that I can relate to. We initially acquired our flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl strictly for bug control in our large organic garden. During the first ten weeks of our flock's life here, the Guinea fowl endeared themselves to us with their unique (and very entertaining) behaviors and amazing abilities.
Here are two of our pearl grey Guinea fowl sub-adult males squaring off for a battle – probably over pecking order status, since they're not yet breeding. Such competitions are common, and rarely yield any noteworthy injuries. These Guinea fowl battles can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. I could tell both of these Guinea fowl were males because of their calls.
If you will be getting Guinea fowl this coming spring, then there are some things you should do and some things you should have ready when they arrive. Proper preparations should be made regardless of whether you are going to receive fertile Guinea fowl eggs or Guinea fowl keets. Before going any further, I will offer a strong suggestion: if you've never hatched poultry eggs before, order Guinea fowl keets – not fertile Guinea fowl eggs! Hatching Guinea fowl eggs takes 26-28 days and the hatch rates for shipped Guinea fowl eggs is 50% or less, as a rule.
FOOTNOTE: Young Guinea fowl are referred to as "keets." The term keets refers to the young of all types of Guinea fowl including Vulturine, French and Jumbo. While there are no hard and fast rules, Guinea fowl keepers usually quit using the term keets when their Guinea fowl reach the age of 8-12 weeks. Return to the top of the page ^