I have mostly Barred Rock chickens (except one itty bitty little Banty), and Guinea eggs are smaller than the Rocks'......'tho larger than Lil' Red's (the Banty). And yes, Guinea egg's shells are, from what they say, 3 times thicker than chicken eggs - gotta crack a Guinea's open with the backside of a dinner knife's blade.
Had the Guineas first - 8 of them - then throughout the course of that first year a number of friends decided I needed chickens too, so the addition of 6 chickens were added (5 hens, 1 rooster). 2 Barred Rocks and a couple of like-sized mixes. The chicken flock changed throughout the years with replacing a few aging ones that'd passed on, but, the chickens & Guineas have always shared the same undivided coop without *ever* having any problems amongst any of them - they even all huddle together on particularly cold mid-WI nights. When some chicks were hatched here, the mother hen took very good care of them & the Guineas respected her verbal warnings that "her" babies were to be left alone & not picked on. So maybe that goes to say that the environment makes a difference? I dunno - have just never had any issues between the Guineas & chickens. In fact, Nubby (one of the Guineas, protector of my property, LOL) has run off a cat once or twice that he'd determined was "getting too close to his flock (chickens)" when they were out freeranging, LOL.
I wouldn't call them useless - the female Guineas give eggs, they all act as warnings to intruders of any unusual kind ground or air, and I haven't seen a tick - or rarely even a fly - since having Guineas. LOL, they even turn horse poo into compost in less than a day's time, scratching after the little flies to eat that the poo usually attracts.......a bonus that I'm absolutely thrilled to have!
:-)
Kate in northcentral WI
<< Posted by: "zilla963"
We had guineas, the eggs are smaller and the shells are thicker.
They are comical as they run around alerting to every little thing...
(we called them the keystone cops)
we had to watch their numbers ... as long as there were fewer of them than of the chickens we were ok... but as soon as they were about even they became bullies... they terrorized our rooster ( we then took down the head male)
then they brutally murdered a chick ... they did not see the sunset that day...
they are funny, and useful, but unless I had the means to keep them seperate from my chickens, I would not have them again.
meat was tasty too...
--- In CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com, Charlene <akcamping@...> wrote:
>
> I am wondering what a Guinea is like. I have never seen one. What size eggs do the lay? Oh btw, 14 degrees at 2:00 pm here in Anchorage.
>
> Charlene >>
They are comical as they run around alerting to every little thing...
(we called them the keystone cops)
we had to watch their numbers ... as long as there were fewer of them than of the chickens we were ok... but as soon as they were about even they became bullies... they terrorized our rooster ( we then took down the head male)
then they brutally murdered a chick ... they did not see the sunset that day...
they are funny, and useful, but unless I had the means to keep them seperate from my chickens, I would not have them again.
meat was tasty too...
--- In CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com, Charlene <akcamping@...> wrote:
>
> I am wondering what a Guinea is like. I have never seen one. What size eggs do the lay? Oh btw, 14 degrees at 2:00 pm here in Anchorage.
>
> Charlene >>
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