Guinea Fowl Roost Options

Guinea fowl keepers tend to have coops and attached, fenced yards for their Guinea fowl. Often, the coop yard has a top – to prevent the Guinea fowl from leaving the coop yard, and to prevent flying predators from accessing the Guinea fowl. Both the coop and the coop yard should have roosts for the Guinea fowl to use. We like our Guinea fowl to patrol the organic garden for insects. To lure them and keep them there we installed a roost right next to it.

We know that in the wilds of their native Africa, Guinea fowl use tree branches as roosts, as well as other things. We have hundreds of pine trees here with thousands of branches. The Guinea fowl seem to prefer using branches that are 2-3" in diameter as their roosts. Tree branches, of course, tend to be round. From this we can know that Guinea fowl prefer using a round roost for their brief rests and for sleep.

I believe the ideal man-made roosts are made from 2"x2" lumber that has one edge rounded to accommodate the design of the Guinea fowl foot. I make these roosts out of 2"x4" lumber that I rip and then round off. This link will take you to step-by-step photos of how to make these roosts. Go to the bottom of the page for those instructions. At the top of the page is a picture of a 'ladder' type Guinea fowl roost.

The roosts shown in the photos are designed so that no Guinea fowl sits directly above another Guinea fowl. You should not make a series of roosts in a vertical configuration. This is because the droppings from the upper birds will fall on the Guinea fowl using the lower roosts. Ultimately, the lower roosts will not be used – and are thus a waste.

When Guinea fowl are keets – young Guinea fowl – roosts that are close to the ground will work great. Our lowest roosts are 12" from the ground, and the Guinea fowl keets start using them at 2 weeks of age. As they grow, they use the lower roost to gain access to the higher roosts. When they reach a certain age, they just fly directly up to the higher roosts.