Housing your guinea fowl securely is vital if they are to be safe and happy. Buying a house is usually the first thing you should do before you get your guineas.
Guinea fowl like to perch, so you really need to buy a house with perches in it. That or if you are prepared to buy add perches into the house you buy you can do that.
For laying boxes you need to have a dark covered area in the house. Guineas will quite happily lay in brambles patches and nettles if there is no where in the house they redeem suitable for laying in. There are lots of things you can make nest boxes out of if there is none in the housing unit you buy. When making nest boxes think about how many birds there are. For 3 birds you can get away with 1 nest box. For 6 you need 2, and so on. Try to put them in the darkest area of the housing unit. You could also try covering the tops iof nest boxes to make them darker, and out dividers between each 1.
Actually chosing the right housing unit is also vital. You don't want 1 to small for the number of gineas you buy, or to big that it is going to be massive, and the guineas not use it all. I deally for 2 birds you need room for 1 nestbox, a perch and room for them to walk about in it a bit. 3 foot x 3 foot is a good size for a housing unit.
My Guneas House
The Shed In Which My Guinea Fowl Sleep, Along With My Chickens. If You Already Have A Shed Or Barn, These Can Be Used To House Your Guinea Fowl In.
Runs, Enclosures, And Freeranging
Guinea fowl do not like to be cooped up all the time, and so they need somewhere to strech their feet. Here I shall go through all the different ways of keeping them, pointing out advantages and disadvantages.
RUNS
Runs are easy to get hold of, and come in a variety of sizes. They are easy to move to new ground, and come in a variety of different designs. They aren't to expensice either. Howevere they often do not allow for much ranging. Guinea fowl are not lovers of confined spaces such as a run. Frankily I would not recommend runs to anyone
ENCLOSURES
Enclosures are a much better opition than a run. They can be made as big as you want them to be. This is the safest opition with guniea fowl, as if they are left to free range where they please, they can quite often end uo going off and not coming back, or roosting in trees. Guineas can fly well, so ideally enclosure fences should be made high, and if possible if guinea fow are nervous clip their wings. I keep my own guinea fowl in a large enclosure, about 50 metres long, and 25 metres wide.
FREERANGING
Freeranging is a lovely opition for your birds. This way they can cover amole ground, scratch anywhere they please, eat anything, and generally have a good time. However they do like to fly into trees, and alsohave a tendancey to fly off if they are not used to it. If you have a large area it is quite easy to lose them in it. Therefore fif you wish to let guinea fowl free range keep something like chicens with them, whom will encourage them to return to the hosue at the night. My own guniea fowl are allwoe to free range in our large garden with the chickens whilst we are at home. They stick by the chikens and follow them to bed.
Bedding, And Nest Box Material
Even though guniea fowl like to prech it is important that you put something on the floor to make it softer and warmer. Sawdust is a great opition for bedding. It isn't expensive to buy, and provides warmth. It also soaks up any mositure, and will prevent the gunieas from trailing water all over the house.
For nest box material the best opitions are either straw or hay. Both are soft, and are warm, and comfortable for the bird to sit on to lay. Both are also inexpensive. I myself prefer hay to straw, but its generally your own descission.
