Do Guinea Fowls Need a Pond?

Guinea fowls need water to survive like other birds. It’s imperative to ensure a pond in your yard to provide your guinea fowls with clean water throughout the day. While Guinea fowls don’t drink plenty of water, they usually take occasional baths to cool their bodies. Having a pond in your backyard is thus essential to allow your birds to swim whenever they want to take a bath.

Do Guinea Fowls Like Water?

Yes, they do like water like other birds. These birds will occasionally drink water throughout the day to cool their bodies and also enable them to maintain proper digestion. Nevertheless, Guinea fowls strictly drink clean water, and they won’t go near dirty water.

Keep the water in the pond clean for your birds. Besides, clean the pond each time before changing the water in the pond.

Can Guinea Fowl Swim?

Guinea fowls don’t like swimming like ducks. These birds aren’t natural swimmers. They can, however, swim when necessary and when they need to clean their bodies. At times, your birds will try to swim across the pond, but they won’t swim halfway through the pond, especially if the pond is too big and full of water to the brim.

Do Guinea Fowl Like Bathing?

Guinea fowls of all sizes and ages love bathing, although not with water. These birds love bathing with dust, and you will notice your Guinea fowls dust-bathing in your lawn. Nonetheless, it is unusual for these birds to take water baths occasionally.

Even though these birds hate getting their feathers wet, they will occasionally dip themselves in the water to cool their bodies. Dust baths are essential for Guinea fowls since they help these birds eliminate fleas and other pests that infest birds. Make sure there is dry dust in your yard whereby your Guinea fowls can dust-bath.

Will Guinea Fowls Drown?

It is hard for adult Guinea fowls to drown in water since they are capable of withstanding water. They will conveniently swim through a water pond if the pond is shallow enough. Their keets can, however, drown easily in water. Consider giving your keets water through shallow water bowls to protect them from drowning.

Most importantly, ensure the pond in your yard isn’t too deep. Even adults can drown in deep water if they are unable to swim through.

Do Guinea Fowl Catch and Eat Fish?

No, they don’t. Guinea fowls don’t catch and eat fish. They prefer foraging for insects, seeds, and fruits. Their bills can’t catch fish inside water since they aren’t strong enough to catch and tear through fish. Furthermore, these birds aren’t more carnivorous but rather omnivorous.

What to Feed Your Guinea Fowl?

Check this list of the best foods to give your Guinea fowls.

– Poultry feed

Adult Guinea fowls love feeding on poultry feed. The best poultry feed for adult Guinea fowls should contain at least 16% of protein.  Nonetheless, don’t provide your birds with medicated feed. Such feed isn’t healthy for Guinea fowls.

Furthermore, it doesn’t contain any beneficial ingredients that your Guinea fowls need for optimal growth. Supply your keets with feed that has a high percentage of protein. Keets need more protein than their adults to facilitate their development.

– Seeds

Seeds are some of the best food choices for both keets and adult Guinea fowls. Keets, however, lack a robust digestive system like adult Guinea fowls. They need some softer seeds that won’t be hard on their digestive system. Get smaller seeds for your keets since they won’t have difficulty eating and digesting such grains.

– Vegetables

Vegetables are suitable for both adult Guinea fowls and their keets. Also, vegetables like broccoli and lettuce can provide your birds with vitamins and a decent amount of calcium. These two essential nutrients help in enhancing proper bone development in your Guinea fowls.

– Insects

Guinea fowls are insect lovers. They will explore your lawn, searching for insects such as worms and crickets. Try purchasing frozen insects for your birds from a poultry store. Insects are an abundant source of protein for birds, including Guinea fowls. Your birds will grow healthy once they feed on a couple of insects each day.

– Fruits

Fruits also make part of Guinea fowls’ diet, particularly captive Guinea fowls. Sugary fruits are especially good for Guinea fowls since they are delicious. Fruits further provide Guinea fowls with essential nutrients. Throw a couple of fruits in your yard, and your birds will eat them once they notice the presence of fruits in the backyard.

– Plant material

Guinea fowls also plant material, whether in the wild or captivity. Nonetheless, these birds prefer feeding on softer plant material.  Consider providing your Guinea fowls with plant material to supplement their diet. Nevertheless, ensure they aren’t any toxic plants in your yard. Such poisonous plants can quickly kill your birds.

Foods To Avoid Giving your Guinea Fowls

Not every food item is safe and healthy for your Guinea fowls. For instance, processed foods can be dangerous for your birds in the long run. The synthetic ingredients in such foods will jeopardize your birds’ health. Furthermore, avoid giving Guinea fowls fatty foods. Such foods will put your birds at risk of becoming obese. Foods with too much sugar aren’t also suitable for Guinea fowls. Sugar can make your birds susceptible to heart problems.

Do Guinea Fowl Eat Aquatic Insects?

Guinea fowls can eat a wide range of terrestrial insects. Guinea fowls will rarely swim in the water to search for aquatic insects, though. These birds cannot dive deep in water to hunt a variety of aquatic insects. However, they will occasionally kill and eat aquatic insects if they come too close to these birds.

Conclusion

Guinea fowls might not be excellent swimmers of all the birds. These birds, however, need a pond to provide them with water. The pond will be essential in helping the birds cool their bodies in summer and during hot days. As indispensable as a pond is for your Guinea fowls, ensure it is clean throughout to stop fungi and bacteria from growing in the pond.