Guinea Fowl as pets ??

miller2345 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:24 pm

Hi there everyone, we are thinking of getting Guinea Fowl. Would love your expertise please.
Are they good with children & large dogs? we have a yard about 1/4 of an acre well fenced with 5ft colour-bond.
the reason we are thinking of it is we had two chickens to help clean up the leftover seed from our 8 meter long pigeon cages & now they have gone back to there farm home, we heard fowl may be the way to go

chooklover101 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 03, 2013 6:29 pm

miller2345 wrote:

Hi there everyone, we are thinking of getting Guinea Fowl. Would love your expertise please.
Are they good with children & large dogs? we have a yard about 1/4 of an acre well fenced with 5ft colour-bond.
the reason we are thinking of it is we had two chickens to help clean up the leftover seed from our 8 meter long pigeon cages & now they have gone back to there farm home, we heard fowl may be the way to go

If you raise from babies, they are(probably) ok.If the dogs are hunting dogs, they will chase them.Also, if there is a larger flock of guinea fowl in your area, they will just fly over(it will take them a while to figure it out :-D

)and join the larger flock.Also, don't get them as adults, or they will fly back to their old home.Even of it's really far away, they will fly and probably get lost on their way.They are fine with kids if you handle them as babies(Just be prepared for a peck every now and then. [smilie=welcome.gif]

miller2345 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:12 am

Thank you,it was the fowl i was thinking may have problem with dogs lol its not our dogs we are worried about as they know birds are off limits. Would they be ok with the pigeons? and will they be useful cleaning p the seed aroudn the cages.I can't find anything online about keeping themn in backyards? how many is a good number for a yard then? [smilie=thanks.gif]

silly question but if they fly well can i clip wings like we did the chooks? cant have them going into next doors pool [smilie=a_holycrap.gif]

chooklover101 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:20 am

miller2345 wrote:

Thank you,it was the fowl i was thinking may have problem with dogs lol its not our dogs we are worried about as they know birds are off limits. Would they be ok with the pigeons? and will they be useful cleaning p the seed aroudn the cages.I can't find anything online about keeping themn in backyards? how many is a good number for a yard then? [smilie=thanks.gif]

silly question but if they fly well can i clip wings like we did the chooks? cant have them going into next doors pool [smilie=a_holycrap.gif]

I dunno, they might be okay with them.Normally they chase each other(you will see this a lot! :-D

) when they have a nest or when the guinea fowl is a weakling, but I don't know if they would be fine with the guinea fowl :-?

hmmmmm...........What is the seed you are talking about?Is it a special brand?They eat lots of things, ticks are one of them..............Yes you can clip their wings one or both, try clipping one wing on them and if it doesn't work, then clip both wings.Also, people say at least 7 is a good start(you can get less I would suggest 4)but I would go 8 so it's even.Remember, don't get adults or they will fly away.If you have any other questions, please post them

CinnGuinea · **Posted:** Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:48 am

chooklover101 wrote:

[if there is a larger flock of guinea fowl in your area, they will just fly over(it will take them a while to figure it out :-D

)and join the larger flock.

No not true if you lock them up for the recommended time they will bond and they will no where home is.

chooklover101 wrote:

[Also, don't get them as adults, or they will fly back to their old home.Even of it's really far away, they will fly and probably get lost on their way.

Nonsense chooklover, where are you getting this info from? :roll:

This is 100% incorrect if you lock them up for the recommended time they will bond and NOT fly anywhere especially not to their old home.

chooklover101 wrote:

Yes you can clip their wings one or both, try clipping one wing on them and if it doesn't work, then clip both wings.Also, people say at least 7 is a good start(you can get less I would suggest 4)but I would go 8 so it's even.Remember, don't get adults or they will fly away.

No you do not clip their wings unless you absolutely have to as a last resort because of predators. If you have to [not recommended] then ONLY 1 wing NEVER both as they will have flight if you do both. Your last comment is covered in my replies above but its complete nonsense.

CinnGuinea · **Posted:** Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:58 am

miller2345 wrote:

Hi there everyone, we are thinking of getting Guinea Fowl. Would love your expertise please.
Are they good with children & large dogs? we have a yard about 1/4 of an acre well fenced with 5ft colour-bond.
the reason we are thinking of it is we had two chickens to help clean up the leftover seed from our 8 meter long pigeon cages & now they have gone back to there farm home, we heard fowl may be the way to go

Guinea fowl are not pets per say they rarely tame like a chicken so not ideal for children. As for dogs well its likely the guineas will sort the dogs out in short time as they are aggressive in breeding season so they will send the dogs on their way. On that size land you could have 4-6 but if you have close neighbors then they will hear them. As for the leftover seed well that depends on the type of seed? also will the leftover seed have pigeon poop in it? if so then not a good idea because of disease issues and worms. If you look at biosecurity than you should never mix any other bird/animal with pigeons

CinnGuinea · **Posted:** Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:04 am

miller2345 wrote:

Thank you,it was the fowl i was thinking may have problem with dogs lol its not our dogs we are worried about as they know birds are off limits.

You are correct its the guineas that will have an issue with the dogs but the dogs will learn to stay clear of them.

miller2345 wrote:

Would they be ok with the pigeons?

Not a good idea because of disease and biosecurity if you practice that?

miller2345 wrote:

and will they be useful cleaning p the seed aroudn the cages.

On the outside yes not inside sorry

chooklover101 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:23 am

CinnGuinea wrote:

chooklover101 wrote:

[if there is a larger flock of guinea fowl in your area, they will just fly over(it will take them a while to figure it out :-D

)and join the larger flock.

No not true if you lock them up for the recommended time they will bond and they will no where home is.Yes sorry forgot to mention that :oops:

Also, I have raised guinea fowl and some of them have flow away to my neighbours so not completely untrue.

chooklover101 wrote:

[Also, don't get them as adults, or they will fly back to their old home.Even of it's really far away, they will fly and probably get lost on their way.

Nonsense chooklover, where are you getting this info from? :roll:

This is 100% incorrect if you lock them up for the recommended time they will bond and NOT fly anywhere especially not to their old home.Also forgot to mention this :oops:

But once a friend of mine got some guinea fowl when adults and they flew away when she put them on the ground.(It has happened once to me too)But if you do lock them up then they will be fine.Sorry :oops:

chooklover101 wrote:

Yes you can clip their wings one or both, try clipping one wing on them and if it doesn't work, then clip both wings.Also, people say at least 7 is a good start(you can get less I would suggest 4)but I would go 8 so it's even.Remember, don't get adults or they will fly away.

No you do not clip their wings unless you absolutely have to as a last resort because of predators. If you have to [not recommended] then ONLY 1 wing NEVER both as they will have flight if you do both. Your last comment is covered in my replies above but its complete nonsense.

Sorry some of my advice comes from other people. :oops:

PlayingGames · **Joined:** Sat Dec 15, 2012 3:35 pm **Posts:** 121

chooklover101 wrote:

miller2345 wrote:

Hi there everyone, we are thinking of getting Guinea Fowl. Would love your expertise please.
Are they good with children & large dogs? we have a yard about 1/4 of an acre well fenced with 5ft colour-bond.
the reason we are thinking of it is we had two chickens to help clean up the leftover seed from our 8 meter long pigeon cages & now they have gone back to there farm home, we heard fowl may be the way to go

If you raise from babies, they are(probably) ok.If the dogs are hunting dogs, they will chase them.Also, if there is a larger flock of guinea fowl in your area, they will just fly over(it will take them a while to figure it out :-D

)and join the larger flock.Also, don't get them as adults, or they will fly back to their old home.Even of it's really far away, they will fly and probably get lost on their way.They are fine with kids if you handle them as babies(Just be prepared for a peck every now and then. [smilie=welcome.gif]

bit of a problem if their home is 100k's away, no they wont, dont stress

miller2345 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 04, 2013 6:30 pm

ok so far i should get even number about 4-8 (4 sounds better in our yard) clip only one wings ( predators are not a problem as our dogs protect our yard & other birds/ they would be locked up at night)
Sounds like no one has had them as a backyard animal before.
Our dogs are great with our pigeons & where great with the chooks we had, as for the disease our pigeons are well taken care of & are worth $1000's of dollars - there is rarely anything wrong with them that we don't treat straight away just like i am guessing all of you poultry breeders do. .
Their seed is corn, peas, wheat etc that is knocked out of the cage.
If you think Guinea fowl would not suit what would? back to chickens maybe?

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