Be Fair To This Fowl
(Page 3 of 4)
July/August 1982
By Jonathan Erickson
Homeward Bound
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Let's assume that you've scrutinized, sexed, and paid for your guineas . . . just what the heck do you do with the critters once you get them home? Well, first of all you'll have to keep in mind that they're not as domesticated as chickens, and if they're set free before they've had a chance to get accustomed to their new surroundings, they may just disappear.
To avoid losing your flock, you should have a coop (make sure it's fully enclosed . . guineas can really fly) set up and ready for their homecoming, so that the birds can be confined while they learn that food and water are available regularly to them. (They'll do well on the same diet as turkeys until they can forage for themselves ... consult your feed store manager for suggestions.) Once the new boarders get used to the routine around your place and are made aware that food, drink, and shelter can always be found there, they'll likely not want to journey too far for too long.
When you think your birds are used to their new home (there's no specific timetable on this, but you should probably wait at least a week), go ahead and let them loose. Don't be alarmed if the guineas scatter at first . . . by nightfall they should be back and ready to roost in your trees.
Once your birds have been freed, you'll want to begin gathering eggs, and no introduction to guineas would be complete without some mention of their productive but often puzzling laying habits. The egg season typically extends from early March into October, and during this time a hen will generally produce at least 100 eggs. Since guineas are free roamers, however, they're at liberty to lay that hen fruit wherever they darn well please! The best way to locate the hidden treasure is to follow your birds around (at a distance) during the time of day in which they're most likely to lay . . . between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Once you've spotted a nest (two or more hens may share one), you can wait till the birds are well out of sight, then move in to collect the omelets-to-be . . . but do leave a few eggs to encourage your layers to produce some more.
Second Generation
As your egg yields grow, you might decide that you'd like to raise a few keets yourself. Well, be forewarned: Guineas are notoriously poor mothers . . . to the point that they sometimes won't even bother to sit on more than half of a clutch of eggs. Again, follow and watch your setting hen . . . when she deserts her nest and is well out of sight, collect the warm eggs and rush them either to a nice maternal broody chicken hen (who will, if you're lucky, treat both the eggs and the babies as if they were her own) or into an incubator. In other words, don't count on a guinea to hatch out and care for her children . . . if you want to raise keets, you'll probably have to find foster mothers for them.
