Top 50 Curiosities about the Guinea Fowl

The guinea fowl is a domestic bird the size of a chicken, which is part of the Numididae family. It originates from the African continent. Sometimes called “pet speckled hens” or “original fowl”, they are close relatives of the quails, turkeys and chickens. The guinea fowl has over 20 subspecies, but the most well-known is the mottled variety, which has three other varieties: the mottled white, black and blue.
The helmeted guinea fowl lives in Africa, in the regions to the south of the Sahara. Its scientific name is Numida Meleagris and it is not a migratory bird. Its feathers are dark with white spots, its body length of around 55 cm and its weight averages 3 lbs, or 1.5kg.
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The vulturine guineafowl is a species from the East of Africa with the scientific name Acryllium Vulturinum. It prefers the savanna regions and African forests from Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia and Kenya. This bird can easily be domesticated by the locals. Its body is fat and thick, with a small head, strong legs, short wings and a small tail. Its body length ranges between 40 and 72 cm with a weight between 1.5 and 3.5 lbs, that is between 700 grams and 1.6 kg.
The common guineafowl are large birds, reaching 58cm or 23 inches, having a round body and a small head. Their feathers are of dark grey colour, mottled with white spots. The bare head is provided with a bony helmet which can be yellow or red in colour. The head skin has blue and red spots. Its wings are short and round, with a similarly short tail. The guinea fowls are fast birds, easy to maintain and they help a lot in the household against pests, and particularly against ticks. They are dominant birds and they make sure their presence is fully felt in the shelter. They become tamer when they can interact with other birds such as the chickens. These birds communicate permanently between each other and they do it in a loud manner. They can be considered very good guardians in the household, signalling in the loudest possible way any foreign presence. They will guard the rest of the birds in the yard from other predators as well as from other people who are not part of the family. They will also kill any snakes that come into their shelter or at least force them to leave the property. Old people say that where there are guinea fowls there are no rats either.
Guinea fowls are also raised for their eggs and for their nourishing meat. They lay eggs for much shorter periods than chickens, but their eggs taste much more delicate than chicken eggs. One guinea fowl can lay between 60 and 90 eggs in a year with a maximum of 120 eggs a year. The birds that are raised for meat can reach a medium weight of 3 -4 kg, that is between 6.6 and 8.8 lbs. Since they are heavy birds, they don’t fly, and they don’t even bother flapping their wings. However, wild guinea fowls can fly.
The guinea fowl meat is darker in colour and tastier than chicken meat, like pheasant or quail meat, with less fat and very little cholesterol. It is considered a delicacy in Europe and in some deluxe restaurants in the United States, where the number of guinea fowl farms reached 14000. Guinea fowls lay their eggs in hidden places, making their harvesting quite difficult.
In comparison with chicken and other domestic birds, guinea fowls are much more resistant to illnesses or to parasites. Their eggs are smaller than the chicken eggs, of a light grey colour and weigh around 43-44 grams, that’s around 1.55 ounces. They are pear shaped, with a thick and resistant shell and are resistant to transportation over long distances while retaining their taste for about 6 months when stored between 0 and 10 degrees Celsius or 32 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The eggs are renown for not causing allergies in children or adults. One guinea fowl egg contains as many calories as four chicken eggs. Guinea fowls start laying eggs when they are around 6 months old. They are kept in families, about 4 females to one male. Males have a large head and whiter feathers.
Females are not good mothers, being able to completely forget about their young while roaming around. Their food is wheat, maize, concentrated feed but also insects, wasps, bees, spiders or worms. Even though it has its origins in Africa, nowadays the guinea fowl is found all around the globe. It was brought to Europe in the 15th century by the Portuguese explorers. Guinea fowls can mate with other domestic birds, roosters, pheasants or peacocks, but their offspring will be sterile.
The guinea fowl average lifespan is between 10 and 15 years.
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[@debragrogan6235]

Excellent information! I learned a lot, even after living with 10 guineas.

[@beverlyjordan8957]

My daughter has witnessed them in a freshly cut field catching and eating field mice. That’s probably why mice tend to make themselves scarce around barns when guineas are present.

[@castertroyar5526]

Their sound's in the early Morning seems to be so noisy especially the male Guineas but in the other sides of their appearances, it looks so intimidating like your eyes will be keep on chasing while doing some rapid movement, I'm so impressed with this exotic birds. The colors on the gray and and navy blue will surely invite you to look at them. I've got 4 Guineas in my backyard farm..

[@nbfarmandpets]

Thanks for sharing ideas about guinea fowls.love this birds, so adorable

[@hazelhare9704]

I got my first guinea this winter. She just moved in. I love her. Gonna get more this spring. She's fallen in love with my rooster. She lives with the chickens Lolol

[@lalady59]

They also keep fleas and ticks down. Excellent bug eaters

[@hazelhare9704]

Fleas? Hope so. That's a great point thank u

[@annahumes2865]

I have a female she is better than a dog when it comes to something being in the yard you always know if something is out there.

[@tonylora13]

I hunt Wild Guinea Fowls, one of the most difficult bird to hunt, that meat taste delicious.

[@Captain_Bri]

We were given 7 guinea. So far we've collected about 25 eggs that I put into incubators yesterday. I hope we get keets in a month or so.

[@9572tijvik]

Inubation time is 28 days.

[@ronkain8905]

Did you get any keets?

[@Captain_Bri]

@@ronkain8905 Yes we hatched some keets. Our first adult guineas mostly ran away however we did get eggs from the remaining ones. We took several from the hens and put them in the incubators. Many hatched but none of them hatched that the guineas were sitting on. They did great after we let them out in the chicken run and then let the few remaining adult guinea hang out with the young ones. They were a crackup. Then last week a neighbors dog got into the run and terrorized them pulling feathers and who knows what else. Now we have no guineas left from that batch, they headed for the hills and have not been back. The older guineas had laid more eggs and some of those hatched. Our chickens found them and killed some so we put them into our brood box inside. There are now 3 keets in good shape on one who's not doing so well.

[@ronkain8905]

@@Captain_Bri wow! What an adventure!

[@Amongus-ej2vq]

I have 3 guinea fowl.

[@jhb61249]

Give me one!

[@georgettefaroul3199]

I love guinea fowl I was a very large amount of guinea fowl we call a pentarde . French birds Name.

[@karventhansmart8536]

need guinea fowl eggs 20000 pcs

[@camerong5513]

yea, needs a different narrator

[@johnwyskochil463]

Maybe find a different video

[@camerong5513]

@@johnwyskochil463 pff , okay genius..