Each miside has a headman who handles village affairs and answers to a chief. Houses belonging to the settled Fula Macina are typically round with mud walls and thatched roofs. Each hut has an encircling veranda. The nomadic Fula Macina live in open, beehive-shaped huts with no walls or verandas. Each hut is surrounded by a cattle corral.
Daughters remain with their mothers until they marry.
However, as soon as a son reaches puberty, he leaves the family compound and lives alone in a nearby compound, usually with some cattle. This new compound will become the home of the son and his future wife. The first marriage of a man is usually arranged by the man's father. A bride-service of helping the girl's father with his livestock is performed by the man, who usually marries while he is in his early twenties. There is one chief wife, however, who has authority over the other wives.