Given a chance, guinea fowl will live happily in the trees, but you are likely to keep them longer if you can persuade them to live in a secure house. Not only are tree-dwelling birds at the mercy of any flying or climbing night-time predators, but they will also descend at first light in time to meet returning nocturnal hunters on the ground.
If the guinea fowl are obtained as youngsters (keets), it should be possible to get them used to living in a house. A shed or outbuilding can be easily adapted for their use and is likely to be more successful than a standard chicken coop.
Allow more space than for chickens and extra room on the perches, too – the higher the perches, the better they will like it. Either provide two pop-holes or make their doorway large enough to prevent bullies from keeping out the lower-ranking birds. Unlike chickens, the shyer guineas won’t wait their turn to get into the house but will fly upwards. Once a few have tasted the delights of outdoor life, the rest are likely to follow, and you will lose the battle.
Guinea fowl dislike going into dark places, so sticking a battery-powered cupboard light in their house will also be helpful.
- Invest in our agrieconomy, Agric minister tells Saudi Arabia
- How smallholder farmers in Benue are picking up
Nest-boxes aren’t necessary, as they won’t be used – guinea fowl like making their own secret nests. Your challenge is to find them!
An alternative is to keep the birds in a large run to have no choice but to live in safety. Give them as much space as possible, but roof the run, or they will fly out (unless you clip their wings). It is said that fertility drops when guineas are kept confined, so they are probably much happier if allowed free-range.
Source: poultrykeeper.com
