Guinea Fowl Roost Options
Guinea fowl love to roost. That roost is too small for an adult Guinea fowl. Both of these sentences are correct. The word 'roost' is both a noun and a verb. In the first sentence roost is used as a verb. In the second sentence roost is used as a noun. Sometimes, the duality of the word roost can lead to confusion.
The title of this article, and the focus of this article, will be on roost as a noun. In other words, I'll predominately be addressing that thing upon which Guinea fowl perch for sleep or brief resting periods. Guinea fowl will also preen and interact with each other on their roosts. The word 'perch,' by the way, is interchangeable with the word roost. But like the word roost, perch is used as both a noun and a verb. Guinea fowl keepers use the word roost instead of the word perch, almost invariably.
Here we see a roost setup inside of our coop, which is a converted camper. Note the birds are all facing the wall, despite having a large window directly behind them. We got this photograph at just the right moment, as the front Guinea fowl was leaping into flight.
The size, shape and altitude of a roost will all play a role in whether the Guinea fowl like the roost or not. Location will also play a small part in the Guinea fowl's preference for a roost. It's hard to quantify the importance of location. Obviously, a Guinea fowl will choose a less desirable roost 10' from their coop over a perfect roost 1 mile from their coop.
Guinea fowl will find their own roosts if they are allowed to free range. Some Guinea fowl like to use the peak of a house or other building as their favorite roost. Some Guinea fowl prefer dead trees – with no limbs. Other Guinea fowl seem to prefer trees that have lots of foliage. Our property fencing is predominately supported by metal T-posts, but railroad ties are used occasionally to stabilize and strengthen the fence. Our Guinea fowl enjoy using the railroad ties as roosts.