Help !- introducing my Guinea Fowl Pair for Valentines Day !!

[PuddleEndChicken]

I have 2 male Guinea Fowl (aged about 2 years old) and one female which I hatched in May 2024 so now aged 9 months. I want to try to breed a pair and I read that guinea fowl tend to mate for life so I want to get the pair right from the beginning.

One of the males is a violet colour, the other male is also violet but with a white chest area. Not sure which is the dominant one, they fight constantly ! The female is pearl grey (dark grey with white pearling). I'm planning to pair up the violet male with the female as I think the colours will be good.

The males are currently free ranging round our farm, they eat chicken pellets and hang out with our mixed free ranging flock of chickens, bantams and runner ducks. The female has up to now been living in a large pen with her "mother" who is a bantam - they have been together since she hatched and the bantam attacked me when I tried to separate them even though the mother is now 1/4 of the size of the Guinea Fowl female ! I put the bantam back in the pen with other bantams today and she was a bit shocked.

So my questions:

- any special rules for how to introduce a male and female guinea fowl ? She has never been out of her pen yet, so should I just put the selected male in the pen with her to bond and if so for how long ? I'm worried if I just push her out into the yard she might just fly away (had this happen to another male previously) but if she's bonded she will probably just stay around the farm like the males do.

- I also don't want to just leave her with both the males as she might bond with the wrong

- once established with the correct male can I let the pair then free range together with the other male or will that upset him and cause the two males to fight ?

- If the 3 free range together, will both males mate with her so I can't guarantee who is the father of the offspring ?

- Is there any ratio of males to female (like with chickens) or can two males and a female get along - people have told me it's OK for guinea fowl, would it be better to purchase a second female ?

- Are guineas good sitters or would it be better to hatch the eggs in an incubator (assuming I can find them around the farm !)

- I'm also worried she will lay eggs and sit on them somewhere around the farm where I can't find her and she and the eggs would be at the risk of predators. Would it be easier to keep her in a pen with the male whilst she lays her clutch ?

All advice gratefully received - thank you!

 

[R2elk]

- any special rules for how to introduce a male and female guinea fowl ? She has never been out of her pen yet, so should I just put the selected male in the pen with her to bond and if so for how long ? I'm worried if I just push her out into the yard she might just fly away (had this happen to another male previously) but if she's bonded she will probably just stay around the farm like the males do.

The same rules apply for introducing any guineas to each other. Put the new guinea in a place where the other guinea/s can see but not touch. Once the attacks at the wire stop, you can allow the guineas in with each other.

- once established with the correct male can I let the pair then free range together with the other male or will that upset him and cause the two males to fight ?

If you want to choose the mate, you will need to keep the two penned together. If all are allowed to be together, the dominant male will be the breeder. If neither male is dominant, the fighting will escalate.

- Is there any ratio of males to female (like with chickens) or can two males and a female get along - people have told me it's OK for guinea fowl, would it be better to purchase a second female ?

The proper ratio for guineas is 1:1. Two males can get along with a single hen if the males have an established pecking order with one being clearly the alpha.

It would be better to have a lot more guineas. Guineas are flock birds. I never recommend having fewer than ten so they can have proper flock dynamics.

- Are guineas good sitters or would it be better to hatch the eggs in an incubator (assuming I can find them around the farm !)

Not all guinea hens will go broody. If you want to make sure the eggs hatch, gather them and use an incubator. If you gather the eggs, replace them with fake eggs. My hens stayed with their nests better if they had multiple fake eggs. If you take the eggs and don't leave any fake eggs, the hen will abandon the nest for one better hidden from you.

- I'm also worried she will lay eggs and sit on them somewhere around the farm where I can't find her and she and the eggs would be at the risk of predators. Would it be easier to keep her in a pen with the male whilst she lays her clutch ?

It would definitely be safer. The pen needs to be good sized as guineas require more space than chickens.

 

[PuddleEndChicken]

@R2elk thank you that is very helpful.

I've put the pair next to each other last night and as there was no fighting I put them in the run together today and they seem to be OK together.

However the now "spare" other male is free ranging around the farm and seems lost. He's going away from the mixed flock that he usually stays with, I think he's searching for his only other guinea friend, they fought all the time but now he's lost. He did go and roost in the same barn with the flock this evening and didn't completely run away.

If I want to breed this pair I'll need to keep them together and also in a pen. So do I now need to get another female for the spare or will he settle in to being the only guinea in a mixed flock for the time being ? I'm worried about getting too many guineas as they do bully the chickens sometimes and I do want to keep everyone free ranging not have to try to separate the guineas from the rest of the flock.

Also I've been feeding all 3 of them chicken pellets (small size as we have bantams too) which I think have about 18% protein will that be OK for them ? When they are free ranging I guess they can find whatever extra protein they need.

Thank you.

 

[R2elk]

However the now "spare" other male is free ranging around the farm and seems lost. He's going away from the mixed flock that he usually stays with, I think he's searching for his only other guinea friend, they fought all the time but now he's lost. He did go and roost in the same barn with the flock this evening and didn't completely run away.

That is to be expected. They are flock birds and should be kept in large groups.

So do I now need to get another female for the spare or will he settle in to being the only guinea in a mixed flock for the time being ? I'm worried about getting too many guineas as they do bully the chickens sometimes and I do want to keep everyone free ranging not have to try to separate the guineas from the rest of the flock.

He will not do well on his own.

How you raise your guineas is what causes the problems. Do not brood keets with chicks. Do not allow chicken hens to raise keets. The imprinting that this causes prevents the adult guineas from being able to understand that chickens are not guineas.

Guineas have entirely different instincts from any other poultry. It is not good when guineas treat other poultry the same as they treat each other.

Guineas also require more "personal space" than chickens need.

I brooded my keets only with keets. I housed my guineas separately from other poultry. When my guineas and other poultry free ranged, the guineas kept to themselves and the chickens kept to themselves. There was no interaction between the two groups. There were no attacks on the chickens by the guineas.

Also I've been feeding all 3 of them chicken pellets (small size as we have bantams too) which I think have about 18% protein will that be OK for them ?

You didn't say whether or not the pellets are layer feed.

Layer feed has too much calcium in it for any male poultry. The high levels of calcium can cause kidney damage in males, young and non laying hens.

I fed my adult guineas 20% protein all flock pellets with free choice oyster shell. I feed all of my poultry the same.

 

[PuddleEndChicken]

Thank you. I think I need to get a about 3 more guineas, let them breed freely and move them to another barn away from the chickens.

My friend raised the males and she kept the keets separate from chickens so they should not have a problem. It's the female that I raised under a bantam that might have a problem with that !

They have all flock pellets with free choice oyster shell as it's a mixed flock. It's 18% protein. The flock is free ranging too.