Rock Sister
In the Brooder
It's an old wives tail that my dad gave me. I currently have 3 new 4 week old French Guineas. From the beginning, two were submissive to one and that same one carries itself with a stretch neck while the other two lay in front underneath him. This week, there nostril features are changing and the dominate one has larger holes!
I am glad to share what I know, found sometime when I first got into Guineas.
The guinea fowl are different chickens, geese and ducks. Although some guinea fowl are raised for their meat and their eggs, many are domesticated and serve the same purpose as guardian dogs. Guinea hens also offer the benefit of controlling rodents and reptiles and removing ticks. These birds are also kept as pets for the amusement of humans. Socially similar to humans, guinea fowl are monogamous. The female chooses her mate partner and the two mate for life. (I have success with 2 hens and a male because I find they will share nesting responsibities which keeps them from being energy drained. )
Called
Although almost indistinguishable, the calls of male guinea fowl joints are monosyllabic sounding "whit-whit-whit" or "chit-chit-chit". The females are called multi-syllabic and sounds similar to "bock-bock-whit-whit-whit-buck", "track-qua-qua-track-qua-track" or "put-put-rock-rock". Each bird emits these calls in short, quick successions. Both sex begin to call the reach between 6 and 8 weeks, but females take longer to start doing it.
Head
Both sexes have short, broad heads. The helmet on his head, a short ledge and bone in the part of the head is a way to distinguish the sex. All helmets are guinea fowl, guinea fowl except vulturina East Africa. The helmet in male birds is triangular and more elongated and wide at the base than the female. Instead of a triangular hull, females have a pointed crown on top, which is called hull, knots or combs. Helmets males are always larger than those of females.
Nostrils
The nostrils of the guinea fowl are found on both sides of the peaks. The pits are open and prominent in both sexes. However, the trained eye can use the size of the pits to detect the gender, since the females are less prominent than those of the males. ( pretend your looking at an eye instead. Hers are closed and touching and his is open!)
Beard
Beards are flaps of skin that hang below the peaks of both sexes of the guinea fowl. In both cases, the whiskers are rigid, wide and free of wrinkles. The male has more rounded beards, while females are flatter. Another way in which farmers use the beards to distinguish sex is trying to gird beard below the peak or cradle her in your hands. The beard of the male can be cradled or placed at an angle of 90 degrees to one side of the head. The females may or cradled or tight. The tight beards are placed flush with the side of the bird's neck.
Bearing
Guinea fowl male has a distinctive upright posture while walking. Females tend to have a less raised position. The crouch female guinea fowl placed his body closer to the ground. ( picture this, even at an early age, males will be fluttering around and the females will look like feathered armadillos lol in the way they walk and waddle low to the ground. It's like she is ladi dadi dee and he is "oh
My God , oh my God, the sky is falling while fluttering trying to distract you from her. Lol)
My two favorite are nostril holes and Bearing BECAUSE at 4-5 weeks these are your earliest traits and if you buy its nice to have this to help you get what you want lol. Like I said, I already have one bearing at 4 weeks. And his nostrils are opening. I spend as much time as I can with my wee ones. They are going to start calling in about 4 more and the back porch will sound again! I just lost two Lavendars so really see HUGE difference in the amount of crawly things... And I don't like those lol.
I am glad to share what I know, found sometime when I first got into Guineas.
The guinea fowl are different chickens, geese and ducks. Although some guinea fowl are raised for their meat and their eggs, many are domesticated and serve the same purpose as guardian dogs. Guinea hens also offer the benefit of controlling rodents and reptiles and removing ticks. These birds are also kept as pets for the amusement of humans. Socially similar to humans, guinea fowl are monogamous. The female chooses her mate partner and the two mate for life. (I have success with 2 hens and a male because I find they will share nesting responsibities which keeps them from being energy drained. )
Called
Although almost indistinguishable, the calls of male guinea fowl joints are monosyllabic sounding "whit-whit-whit" or "chit-chit-chit". The females are called multi-syllabic and sounds similar to "bock-bock-whit-whit-whit-buck", "track-qua-qua-track-qua-track" or "put-put-rock-rock". Each bird emits these calls in short, quick successions. Both sex begin to call the reach between 6 and 8 weeks, but females take longer to start doing it.
Head
Both sexes have short, broad heads. The helmet on his head, a short ledge and bone in the part of the head is a way to distinguish the sex. All helmets are guinea fowl, guinea fowl except vulturina East Africa. The helmet in male birds is triangular and more elongated and wide at the base than the female. Instead of a triangular hull, females have a pointed crown on top, which is called hull, knots or combs. Helmets males are always larger than those of females.
Nostrils
The nostrils of the guinea fowl are found on both sides of the peaks. The pits are open and prominent in both sexes. However, the trained eye can use the size of the pits to detect the gender, since the females are less prominent than those of the males. ( pretend your looking at an eye instead. Hers are closed and touching and his is open!)
Beard
Beards are flaps of skin that hang below the peaks of both sexes of the guinea fowl. In both cases, the whiskers are rigid, wide and free of wrinkles. The male has more rounded beards, while females are flatter. Another way in which farmers use the beards to distinguish sex is trying to gird beard below the peak or cradle her in your hands. The beard of the male can be cradled or placed at an angle of 90 degrees to one side of the head. The females may or cradled or tight. The tight beards are placed flush with the side of the bird's neck.
Bearing
Guinea fowl male has a distinctive upright posture while walking. Females tend to have a less raised position. The crouch female guinea fowl placed his body closer to the ground. ( picture this, even at an early age, males will be fluttering around and the females will look like feathered armadillos lol in the way they walk and waddle low to the ground. It's like she is ladi dadi dee and he is "oh
My God , oh my God, the sky is falling while fluttering trying to distract you from her. Lol)
My two favorite are nostril holes and Bearing BECAUSE at 4-5 weeks these are your earliest traits and if you buy its nice to have this to help you get what you want lol. Like I said, I already have one bearing at 4 weeks. And his nostrils are opening. I spend as much time as I can with my wee ones. They are going to start calling in about 4 more and the back porch will sound again! I just lost two Lavendars so really see HUGE difference in the amount of crawly things... And I don't like those lol.
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