We met a farmer the other day, and some curious kids came to ask him if guinea fowls could see in the dark.
We all learned that guinea fowls couldn’t see in the dark at all.
This was sad because we now knew that guinea fowls are easy nighttime snacks for predators searching for something to eat in the absence of sight.
This is why we created this article. To talk all about how guinea fowl see during nighttime, what happens to them at that hour, how to care for your guinea fowls at night, and other associated nighttime activities on your guinea fowls.
Which ways could you use to catch your guinea fowls at night?
If you want to catch your guinea fowls at night, you should make sure you keep them inside their coop for around seven days after you started raising them.
Guinea fowls cannot see at all in the dark. They do not fly at night.
This is why it is simple for predators to quickly pick them and kill them if they are not in their coops at night.
When you are letting them go out of their coops for fresh air, do this for around thirty minutes before everywhere gets dark.
This way, you know they don’t go too far. Your guinea fowls would not see in the dark, and when they don’t see, they can’t go anywhere.
This way, when everywhere gets dark, you could easily catch them, and they won’t see you coming.
Do your guinea fowls roost during nighttime/darkness?
They usually prefer to roost or sleep outside when night comes.
Typically, all of your guinea fowls are known to be entirely independent.
How they roost is that they would perch for an extended period through a trees limb or climb to the top of their coop and stay on the roof.
There, they would not be safe from owls and other horrible night-moving predators.
What happens if your guinea fowl don’t sleep in their coop when it gets dark?
Night prowling predators would get them.
It is said that guinea fowls that have been trained to roost inside their coops in the dark would live a lot longer than those that love to roost in trees.
Do you know there are guinea fowls that have been reported to live for around seventeen years and some even older?
Sadly, some of these guinea fowls end up being killed by predators instead of growing to live and die out of old age.
How should you take care of your guinea fowl in the dark?
When darkness comes, you need to be intentional about taking care of your guinea fowl.
It would help if you guarded all your guinea fowl against predators by either getting a guard dog or making sure they all sleep in their coop when darkness comes.
If you don’t do this, you might wake up and realize half of your guinea fowls are gone.
Do Guinea Fowls Eat in the Dark?
Guinea fowls eat things like insects and ticks. It doesn’t matter what the time is or if it is dark or not.
As long as they could peck around, anything their mouth touches, they could try to eat it.
They also help in keeping little snakes away because they try to eat them.
The giant snakes end up killing the guinea fowls if they ever get in contact with one another.
Which type of coop should you create to guard your guinea fowl?
The type of coop your guinea fowl needs doesn’t need to be unique or elaborate.
You could get any old outhouse or a shed from your garage or barn or a trailer you could easily convert to a coop.
The essential thing is that your housing provides a proper place for your guineas to sleep.
This place needs to be predator-proof, draft-free, and adequately dry.
It would be best if you had the coop of your guinea fowls to have enough space for each guinea fowl, it needs to be ventilated, and you should have bedding that could hold normal water.
You should also provide enough feed for your guinea fowl.
This is essential for their growth to keep all of your guinea fowls safe and healthy as they are confined in their coop.
What should be the size of your guinea fowl coop?
If you have little guinea fowl (keets), you might think creating a big house would be too much for your little birds.
The thing you might not understand is that these keets grow up very fast, and before you know it, they would need around 3-4 feet of space for just a single guinea fowl.
How should you guard your guinea fowls in cold areas in the dark?
When darkness comes when you live in cold places, you need to keep your guinea fowls confined to remain inside your shelter for weeks straight up during the freezing winter days, especially during periods like blizzards, deep snows, and icy storms at night in the dark.
If you don’t want your guinea fowls to be bored and want to provide comfort for your birds, you need to have around four square feet per single guinea fowl.
Things you should consider as you create your coop to save your guinea fowls in the dark?
You need to calculate the space one of your guinea fowl would need.
You also need to think about the amount of space shelving. Roosting bars would need.
Having a shelter like a shed instead of using something like a barn with a very high roof could help your guinea fowls remain safe inside and help them hold their body heat (that’s if your area is cold or chilly).
The temperature inside the coop after doing all these things above would be comfortable for your guinea fowl.
How to protect your guinea fowl in the dark when you’re free-ranging them?
You need to provide substantial roosting bars. These are necessary for your guinea fowls to fluff all of their feathers properly.
This helps air enter, which aids in cooling off all of their bodies through a season like summer.
If your guinea fowls are free-ranging, you need a large fence where they could all free-range inside.
Make sure you have traps and guard dogs that would protect your guinea fowls from predators.
Or you could put a gate to guard your guinea fowl against predators.
Which predators would like to attack guinea fowls in the dark?
Several predators would love to disturb your guinea fowls in the dark.
These predators include foxes, giant snakes, bears, hyenas, wild cats, and several others.
If given a chance or in the absence of any guard or protection, they would enter your space and get any one of your guinea fowls that are outside, not in your coop, and eat them.
Why do you need a ventilated coop for your guinea fowls in the dark?
Guinea fowls cannot see in the dark, but they need to breathe.
They need their coops to have proper ventilation so they could survive and live through the next day.
Ventilated air helps in aiding moisture and getting rid of smelly odors.
Ensure you cover every opening using some welded fencing wire.
This would keep things like snakes, mice, rats, and other tiny predators out of your guinea fowl coop.
Conclusion
Guinea fowls cannot see in the dark.
This is why you need to do all you can to protect and guard them against all types of predators who want to make a meal out of your guinea fowls in the dark.
You should have a large fence if you want to free-range your guinea fowl.
If you’re not free-ranging them, then make use of a well-ventilated coop.
To guard your guinea fowls in cold weather during the dark, keep them in for weeks and make sure you feed them and give them enough water.
