Guinea Fowl

Guinea fowl are native to Africa and are a ground nesting bird that resembles a partridge except they have featherless heads. They can eat chicken food and will also eat lice, worms, ants, spiders, weed seeds, ticks, and bees while out in the field. Guinea fowl are very noisy birds and will often lay their eggs out in the field and raise their young themselves.

It is hard to sex Guinea fowl by looking at them; however adult males have a larger helmet and wattles. The easiest way is by voice they both make a one syllable alarm call but only the females have a two syllable call. They sound like they are saying “buck-wheat”. New guineas should not be let out right away or they may disappear, it is best to pen them where they can see the pen where they will be living, after a week or two let one out. It won’t go far as guineas hate to be alone but it will learn its way around, and then let another out with it; if they stay usually you can let the rest out with them.

If you want your guinea fowl to be calm around you it is best to start with keets. They will need to be handled a lot however if you are willing to put in the time it is possible to have guineas that are not flighty around you. It works best to start guineas off with turkey starter instead of regular chick starter. If you let your guineas free range once they are old enough they will be able to forage for much of their food themselves. Keep in mind if you let your hens free range that at some point they will likely try to set. This will make them very susceptible to predators. They will usually nest in tall grass or along a fence/barn.

Duckopolis has the following varieties of guineas available:

Lavender, Pearl, Pied (Lavender & Pearl)

Guinea fowl are sold as day old keets or juvenile/mature guineas.

Day Olds:

Keets are sold straight run (unsexed). The minimum order for keets being shipped is 8, this number can be made by combining with chicks.

Hatch dates are on Tuesdays. Keets ordered for pickup can be picked up between the Wednesday to Saturday following the hatch. We are not able to allow pickups on the actual hatch date. You will be emailed prior to the hatch to schedule a pickup appointment. An appointment must be made to ensure we will be available to help you.

Pre-orders for hatch dates will begin on the Wednesday 3 weeks prior to the hatch. Please sign up to our email list (sign up form is at the bottom of the page) if you want to receive emails with updates on availability.

THE FIRST HATCH DATE FOR 2022 WILL BE APRIL 5TH. SUBSEQUENT HATCHES WILL BE EVERY TUESDAY.

 

Juvenile/Mature Poultry:

Juvenile and mature poultry are posted for sale once they are ready to go, whether by pickup or to be shipped. After an order is received we will contact you within 1-2 business days to make arrangements for pickup or a ship date.

Juvenile and mature poultry are available on a first ordered basis. Please sign up to our email list (sign up form is at the bottom of the page) if you want to receive emails with updates on availability.