Mistaken identity

Steve Cordle
ECB Publishing, Inc.

It was a case of mistaken identity. When I saw the birds, I thought they were small turkeys, but they weren’t. They were a distant cousin originating in Africa. The Guinea Fowl are one of several African, gallinaceous birds of the subfamily Numidinae, especially common species, which is now domesticated and raised for its meat and eggs.
Guinea fowl species are found across Sub-Saharan Africa, some spread across the entire area, others more localized, such as the plumed Guinea fowl in west-central Africa and the Vulturine Guinea fowl in north-east Africa. They live in semi-open habitats such as wooded wetlands or semidesert areas. Breeders raise them for food or pets.

Richard Youtzy has been raising Guinea Fowl for quite a while. He started raising them several years ago, took a 20-year hiatus from raising them and once again has a full coup. His first venture into raising fowl was with Serama chickens. Native to Malaysia, Seramas are the smallest species of chicken in the world, and Youtzy tried to raise them for commercial purposes. That venture was not successful and we eventually gave it up after some stray dogs got into his coup. “The coup was built to keep the chickens in, not dogs out,” Youtzy said.

Although distantly related to chickens and turkeys, the Guinea Fowl are not the same. Chickens are very domesticated birds that humans can raise in coops, free range, or both, half and half.

Guineas are also escape artists. As small as the chicken wire is, they can squeeze through it and make a break for it. In her article “12 Things I wish someone had told me before I got my first Guinea Fowl,” author Jennifer Poindexter states that “Unless you clip their wings extremely short, they are going to get out of the coop.”

Guineas are also very dominant. Youtzy calls them “little bullies.” Poindexter stated, “When we first got our guineas, they not only took over our yard and chicken coop but our neighbor’s too.” Thankfully, he was a good sport about it. As small as they are, they make good “watch chickens.” If they see something, they say something. When an intruder comes near the property, whether it be friend or foe, Guinea Fowl will make noise, alerting the homeowner.

Overall, the guineas are low-maintenance, they do not require a lot of attention. They wander or fly around their homeland and eat bugs, which makes them a natural pest control, making them a genuine asset.