Guinea fowls are usually reared by keepers with other types of poultry.
Geese are often peaceful and more quiet however they can live together with guinea fowls.
If you are a first time flock keeper or you are planning to introduce either bird to your flock, then you should know that guinea fowls can be raised peacefully with other poultry animals however they love ruling the flock and might intimidate the other birds.
Raising them together from chicks can reduce this problem, and this article will explain how you can successfully raise guinea fowls with geese, whether they can cross breed and if you can house them together.
What Is The Housing Situation? Can They Be Housed Together?
The most important thing to know when rearing guinea fowls and geese together is that they should be allowed to range freely and not kept in the same space all the time.
This way the loud guinea fowls would not disturb and alarm the peaceful geese.
Cooping them together in the same space can cause unnecessary problems. The female birds of both species can share the same coop, they would live together.
However, the male guinea fowls are always causing problems and fighting with the male geese majorly because they want to mate with the female geese.
They disturb the male geese by chasing them around till the geese are tired.
So to avoid fights and bloody fights, do not house the males together. Build a separate coop for each male species.
You can also put them in the same space but ensure you created perches from tree limbs or branches high up for the guinea fowls.
The guineas like being high up since they prefer to perch on trees anyway, and this will reduce issues between them and the male geese while they are in the coop.
When housing both animals together, there should be enough space in their coop, when there is enough space, they are able to walk freely without getting in each other’s way and this reduces the amount of fights and loud squawking.
Related: Here is an article I wrote on do guinea fowls attack humans
Can I Give Them Water Together?
While housing guinea fowls and geese together please understand that they are two separate types of birds with different behaviors and characteristics.
geese are usually called Water fowls because they love to play in and with water.
They can jump in the drinking trough and play with water even while drinking.
This poses a problem when you give them the same water with the guinea fowls.
A solution to this is using an auto waterer to provide water for them however this is best used with baby ducklings so they can drink comfortably.
You can also have them drink the same water bowl, but ensure the bowl is elevated, probably sitting on a stack so the water fowls are unable to jump into it.
It also serves the purpose of keeping the litter from the other birds out of the water.
Once the bowl is big enough and the birds are able to dip their bills in, they would all drink water from the bowl peacefully.
What About Feeding? Do They Eat The Same Thing?
You can feed adult guinea fowls and geese the same feed and they can eat from the same food trough basically.
However you should note that birds have a natural pecking order and the weak birds might not be able to get food if they are all eating from the same trough.
A poultry keeper reported that an easy way to solve this problem is by having more than one feeding trough for the birds depending on the number of birds you keep.
Also throwing food on the floor around the feeding trough will also encourage more space when feeding and as such there is enough to satisfy every bird and the weaker birds are not bullied by the stronger ones.
If you also allow your birds to free range they will eat less food than when they are cooped together and as such save you the stress of buying large quantities of feed regularly.
However ducklings and keets should not be given the same feed as keets require a feed mixture higher in protein which the geese don’t need.
So giving them the same feed will mean giving the keets less protein than they need or the ducklings more protein than they require.
Feeding the babies in separate batches till they reach a certain age is the best means to avoid feed deficiencies among them.
Also check out this article I wrote on can guinea fowls be pets
How About Sleeping Arrangements?
If you allow your birds free range during the day then you have to ensure there are proper sleeping arrangements for them once they are back to nest.
Once geese are acclimatized to their coop they would always come back to rest by evening.
However for guinea fowls who are more flighty in nature, it might be a bit difficult as they prefer to nest in trees for the night.
If the guineas are not used to the coop, they won’t come back and sleep on the trees or simply fly away.
However if they have been raised with the other poultry birds from keets they would be easier to handle and would recognize the coop.
Adult female guinea fowls and geese can have the same coop for sleeping.
However the males should be kept apart as the male guinea fowls will stress and bully the male geese.
They can be kept in the same coop but the poultry keeper should make high perches for the guinea fowls.
These perches will be made from tree limbs or branches and the guinea fowls will be more comfortable with sleeping on those.
It is also important that there is enough space in the coop, when confined guinea fowls can be loud and disturb the geese with their noise.
If there is enough space however they can go about peacefully.
Can Guinea Fowls And geese Cross Breed?
Both guinea fowls and geese are social birds and as such they can cross breed.
The male guinea fowls are very notorious for fighting with the male geese for the attention of the female geese.
This is due to their nature, male guinea fowls get their females by chasing each other around and the last man standing so to speak gets to mate with the females.
As such they will do the same to the male geese who do not have the same nature, thereby stressing them.
When a guinea fowl and duck mate they produce a sterile hen known as the Guin-geese. The Guin-geese are not able to reproduce and would not lay eggs.
As such mating between both breeds is not encouraged by poultry keepers and most times the males birds are housed separately from the females.
How About Predator Protection?
One thing guinea fowls are known for is they are fearless to an extent and would protect your poultry animals from snakes and cats.
Unlike chickens that are easily intimidated by predators and can easily be picked on, guinea fowls can be fierce when needed.
Guinea fowls usually protect other poultry birds indirectly as they will chase away snakes and run off cats that come to disturb the flock.
Little predators of poultry like mice, rats, snakes and snakes can be easily killed and eaten by the guinea fowls thereby protecting the quiet geese from much harm.
They are also known to eat bugs that would usually cause diseases among the flock.
When guinea fowls are faced with predators and threats they can’t handle they would immediately start yelling and squawking loudly to alert you to an intruder’s presence.
Some farm keepers raise guinea fowls specifically for the purpose of serving as an alarm when there is a dangerous presence around.
Conclusion
There is no reason why you shouldn’t raise guinea fowls and geese together.
The most important thing is to know the specific peculiarities of each bird and taking that into consideration when planning to start.
If you have not raised poultry together before, it might be a difficult process especially if you don’t know about either breed of birds.
We hope this article has been able to answer some of your questions to an extent and you can raise your birds hassle free.
