We love having guineas here as they serve several important purposes. First and foremost they are tick eating machines, with all the tick borne illnesses out there this more than earns them a place here. Second, they are excellent watch birds who make a earsplitting racket every time something out of the ordinary makes an appearance (fox, hawks, eagles, cars, clouds, a strong breeze, etc). Item two gets old and can earn you the reputation as “the bad neighbor”. Guineas are also territorial and the males will attack (or try to defend the flock, chickens included) predators if they make an appearance.
Unfortunately guineas are also night blind and easy prey. The are favorite targets of anything that is hungry. We started the Spring with 2 girls and one male, then the mysterious stranger arrived for the second straight year. We had high hopes for the two breeding pairs, especially when one nest was set up in the sheep barn and the second was in the injury recovery coop. Sadly I think the fox grabbed one of the girls leaving Juliet (the last original guinea) sitting on 30+ eggs in the safety of the sheep barn.
We weren’t sure if we could find the nest this year so any eggs we found were saved for the BrinSea incubator. This incubator has seven slots and we have had great luck with it every time it has been used. I highly recommend it!
We hatched out six of the seven eggs! Unfortunately none of the chickens have gone broody yet so these will be raised the hard way, in the garage. Once Juliet’s keets hatch we will try to catch as many as we can and add them to the brood. Guinea keets don’t survive very well around here unless the spend the night in the coop.
This is a little trick I read about and decided to try. This is a great place to keep little ones safe and warm!
Homestead......From Scratch 
that’s my girl! that’s just how to get ‘er done! *beams with radiant pride*
OFG – This may become the new fashion trend, you need to go to the Mall and checkout the teenagers.
hehehe…I raised squirrels in my bra on year….I will forever be knows as squirrel cleavage now 😛 It is a great place to raise little things though..except for the mess…:D I hope your fox leaves the new babies alone.
Stace – I’m guessing squirrels would also keep wandering hands away too!
I have the Brinsea Mini-Advance and highly recommend it, too. We’ve never had guineas, we have an old guinea-eating dog and need to wait until she has crossed the bridge.
Mary Ann – The Brinsea really is great for small homesteads and is so easy. The dogs here are very wary of the guineas as the guineas like to charge and nip at them when they aren’t looking.
Let’s hope that the predator has moved on!
Ian – I hope so too but I’m not holding my breath. Too many easy targets here. The dogs have been out extra long lately so maybe that will make the fox think twice.
I’m afraid to ask where you put the other 5 hatchlings… 😉
Tammy – Too funny. They are safely put away in the garage.
So glad you hatched some keets! I have never had luck raising keets from my own eggs.
Lynn – We have had very good success, especially when we can get the chickens to raise them. Hopefully one goes broody soon.