I n the book The Homesteaders Handbook to Raising liestock By J.D.Belanger it says "Guineas will cross with chickens,but the offspring will be "mules",or sterile." Has anyone had this happen? I wondering about egg production and which way do you cross them,male Guinea to hen or rooster to guinea. Sounds like it could work out to be a nice cross. What do you all think?

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), February 08, 2001

Answers

I got the title wrong its The Homesteaders Handbook to Raising Small Livestock

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), February 08, 2001.

I hatched some guinea eggs under a hen one time but they all disappeared but one. The one that was left took up with the little chicks that were around but it sure made a lot of noise. When it was about grown a rooster killed it-I don't know why. Maybe it was a male.Let us know if the cross works, I'd have to try it.

-- Don (hihilldon@yahoo.com), February 08, 2001.

In 38 years (well nearly) of raising and trading Chickens and other poultry I have never seeen or heard of a Guinea/Chicken cross. I find myself hesitent to question J.D.'s vast knowalege, but that is defintly a new one to me! I have seen Roosters mount Guineas and vis-versa but have never seen any offspring. I do know that it i possible for a Pekin Duck and a MUscovy Duck to mate ad that their offsprings are called "Mules". The Chicken and Guinea speices seem to have a lot more differences than the Pekin and Muscovys. Again I find it hard to doubt`J.D.

-- Mark in NC Fla (deadgoatman@webtv.net), February 08, 2001.

I agree with Mark.If anyone but JD had said that, I would say not a chance.

-- JT in Florida (gone2seed@hotmail.com), February 08, 2001.

Check out this site. It has a bit of info on Guin-Hens and a few pictures. We actually have one hen that I am wondering if it may be a cross between a guinea and barred rock. It looks a bit odd for a chicken, shaped much like the one in the picture but grey with fuzzy barring. Good layer - but I haven't tried hatching any of eggs.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/9463/GuinHen.html

-- Trisha-MN (tank@Linkup.net), February 08, 2001.

I don't doubt that they could mix, but I certainly wouldn't count on getting them to. YOu know what they say, birds of a feather flock together. My chickens and guineas don't have any interest in one another.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), February 08, 2001.

I second Mary's post. Have kept the two birds together for years, and they never intermingle at all.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), February 09, 2001.

My chickens don't want anything to do with my guineas either. Maybe they all need to be raised together...

-- Eric in TN (eirc_m_stone@yahoo.com), February 09, 2001.

My guineas were hatched and raised by my chickens. They roost together, but that's it.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), February 09, 2001.

We, too, have had several breeds of chickens and guineas co-mingling in our barn. Never a single cross-breed! I'd like to hear from anyone who has had a cross-breed. What do they look like? Are eggs fertile, or do they even lay eggs? Any info would be interesting, so please don't be bashful, and here I am especially addressing the "lurkers"! Come join us, lurkers!! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), February 10, 2001.

This isn't about chickens cross breeding, but another chicken ??? When we allow our brooder to sit this spring, do we need to keep her separate from the other hens/rooster? We haven't done this before, just snatch the eggs from her and don't allow them to hatch. Just looking for ideas. Yes, I'm one of those "lurkers" you heard about earlier. But we do subscribe to Countryside in upstate NY.

-- Cheri Asprion (t.asprion@att.net), February 13, 2001.

Cheri, If you are interested in encouraging a hen to go broody, I have found that putting a couple of nesting boxes in a more quiet, secluded part of the coop really helps. I don't separate them out, just give them the opportunity to separate themselves out.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 13, 2001.

I never saw anything like this either, although I had guineas and chickens "co-habitating". They got along alright, even though the guineas were trying to be dominant nasties. They didn't make it, in spite of their ugly approach (WHOA! I am getting an ALGORE/DESPICABLE BILL hologram here!). Get carry permits for the hens to fend off date- rape, and I think you'll be OK! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), February 14, 2001.

I have no info on the cross breeding but I need to ask a question. I have two hensI raised from chicks. I don't know the sexes. But the problem I am having is the asmost constant noise they make. They run free and like to get under a window of my house. Then they just squawk until my nerves cant take it any longer and I chase them away. Can I do anything to deminish the cacoph

-- Ernest Giovanoli (ejggio@aol.com), September 04, 2001.

Chickens absolutely WILL cross with guineas; I've seen the results in both a poultry book (a guinea crossed with a Dominique hen) and just recently on the internet when a rooster crossed with some guinea hens. The results is that the head looks more like a young turkey as does the body. My understanding is that the eggs from these guin-hens will be sterile.

-- B.J. (ourfarm@earthlink.net), February 24, 2002.