New Guineas: Your patience is appreciated

Elvis is a handsome fellow, maybe Gerdy finally realized that! I'm glad to hear that you are having good luck (for the moment, as things change with Guineas) with your flock integration - and that Ginny sure is lucky to have Rufus! YES.... always carry a camera, because there is always a photo opt just waiting to happen with Guinea Fowl. They just create that joie de la vie - joy of life - that you want to capture if you can - it's usually done in a fleeting moment.

What a great set up you have inside the coop. There are a lot of options for roosting and just bopping around. Everyone looks content and that's a fine reflection on you and your wife for the security and attention you provide for them.

Beautiful birds!
D.gif
 
Thanks for the compliments. This new coop was kinda an emergency build. "We" decided to increase the flock to 40 birds this spring. For the last couple years we've had about 16 or so in a 8x8 coop on a piece of the property 1/4 mile from the house. The flock had dwindled down to 2 hens and a rooster so getting 15 new chicks was no problem in March. Then "we" decided to get another 20 chicks 2 weeks later and needed a 2nd coop. I planned to build another 8x8 but closer to the house. The 2nd day in to the new build, "we" decided to make the new coop 16x16 and just abandon the old coop. So the new coop was built with the future in mind. I have roosting space for up to 70 full sized chickens. The coop has only 3 sides to it so basically the run and coop floor space are all the same. There is a covered area of the run that is 16x8 where the feeders and waters are, this is the "dining room". Then another 32x16 of the run with wire over the top. Lots of room for extra birds when "we" decide to get more and more. With the new Guineas we have 42 in the flock now and my oldest game hen has been brooding on a couple eggs since 8/1, poor baby. We are supposed to pick up some new chicks for her tonight from the same breeder who sold us Gerdy and Gertrude. Hopefully we come back with only a couple new babies.
 
Holy crow! Roosting for 70? That sounds like one heck of a party barn or coop. It's huge and you are right - lots of extra room for growth and expansion. That's amazing! Well for it being an emergency, it seems as though it was well thought out and it looks great and will serve you and your birds well. Let us know who you end up adding next - your "couple of new babies". Maybe a baby elephant?
lau.gif





Edited by Staff
 
Last edited by a moderator:
One month later and things are better. All 3 of the Guineas are getting along now. They hang out together during part of the day and roost near each other every night. Gerdy and Gertrude go off by themselves sometimes. I assume there is a huge stash of eggs somewhere in the woods. The heat and mosquitos are still too bad for me to bother hunting for that nest. We have had at least one triangular egg in the coop nesting boxes though. I'm not sure if it was a malformed chicken egg or one of the Guineas.
Ginny still hangs out with Rufus and his sisters too. I have witnessed him mounting her a few times. She seems very satisfied with the relationship. His romantic advances towards the other chicken hens have been met with much resistance. He is the lowest of the 3 roosters and they all let him know it.
Gerdy no longer attacks everyone who looks at her wrong. She and Gertrude take morning and afternoon treats right along with everybody else, with no fussing. They haven't even bothered with the new baby chicks or their mom. I was really worried they might be aggressive, but there has been no trouble at all in that area.
We have only heard them do the predator alarm once. A hawk flew overhead chasing a crane through the airspace near the coop. It was definitely a different scream than the usual cacophony they make during the day if they lose sight of each other.
The only "problem" I have with them is that they are really dum.... I mean, not smart sometimes, sorry. Almost daily, one of them will get lost inside the coop. It's a different one each day, but somebody gets left behind in the coop when all the others are out wandering around. That one never seems to be able to find the huge, freakin' door so they can get out too. They pace back and forth along the fence trying to get through the wire to their sister on the other side.
None of them have wandered off and stayed gone. Actually they are among the first to roost up every night. I guess they want to get the prime sleeping spots. All in all it has been a pretty good month with them.
 
Wow! That's great progress. Everyone is playing nice, nice. They sure have come along in the past month. I'll bet your right about Gerdy and Gertrude. I wonder if they'll end up going broody and sit on them or if they'll just keep laying. You never know, they may come home with keets in tow one of these days. Maybe Ginny thinks she's a chicken, and I'm sure Rufus is happy about it as well!

I don't know if they are dumb, but some are challenged with entrances and exits. They will get it, but it takes them a lot of time and practice and they get so agitated (like pacing when they see others through the fence) that they are in reptilian brain mode and can't get beyond that. I used to have to circle around them and come up behind to break that behavior and get them moving around the corner where they could see the door. AND I had to put a plant by the door for them to go around it to go in or they would get stuck in between the door and the fence. They think because they can see through fencing, that they can just go through it - I call it "superguinea" syndrome. It took mine about 3 months before they all figured out how to go around the run and enter through the door. We're in the process of transitioning them into a new barn, so it will be like starting over again from square one! I think they'll "get" going in and out of the barn doors, but maybe they will be like yours and get stuck inside. I'll have to let you know.

Good to hear they are roosting well for you too. That can be an issue for a lot of people. Seems like they have settled in nicely and you all have encouraged and supported that process. Congrats! Thanks for keeping us informed. We'll look forward to another chapter....
 
Wow!  That's great progress.  Everyone is playing nice, nice.  They sure have come along in the past month.  I'll bet your right about Gerdy and Gertrude.  I wonder if they'll end up going broody and sit on them or if they'll just keep laying.  You never know, they may come home with keets in tow one of these days.  Maybe Ginny thinks she's a chicken, and I'm sure Rufus is happy about it as well! 

I don't know if they are dumb, but some are challenged with entrances and exits.  They will get it, but it takes them a lot of time and practice and they get so agitated (like pacing when they see others through the fence) that they are in reptilian brain mode and can't get beyond that.  I used to have to circle around them and come up behind to break that behavior and get them moving around the corner where they could see the door.  AND I had to put a plant by the door for them to go around it to go in or they would get stuck in between the door and the fence.  They think because they can see through fencing, that they can just go through it - I call it "superguinea" syndrome.  It took mine about 3 months before they all figured out how to go around the run and enter through the door.  We're in the process of transitioning them into a new barn, so it will be like starting over again from square one!  I think they'll "get" going in and out of the barn doors, but maybe they will be like yours and get stuck inside.  I'll have to let you know.   

Good to hear they are roosting well for you too.  That can be an issue for a lot of people.  Seems like they have settled in nicely and you all have encouraged and supported that process.  Congrats!  Thanks for keeping us informed.  We'll look forward to another chapter....

I checked out the new barn you are moving them to. Very nice! How's the progress going?
 
I just combined 4 new Pearls (have had them here quarantined for 5 weeks) with the existing flock of French Guineas today. Back up to 14 in the flock now - very happy about that.
big_smile.png
Depending on how they do, I might move them in over the next few weeks. There are parts about their current coop / run that works well for them as long as the weather is temperate. As it gets colder, they will need to be moved into the enclosure of the barn.

There's also an issue with the sun heating up the new structure - it can cause the inside to shoot up an additional 15 to 20 degrees hotter than the outside temperature. We're going to be heading out on vacation and I have a couple of neighbors taking care of things here, so I want to keep it easy for them. If the temperature hits 70, it will be close to 90 in the barn and you know where I'm going with this, because I'm nuts... we put in a greenhouse fan AND an air conditioner! I had to do something when I saw the thermometer hit 105! So... I think I'll wait and transition them in later in October. I'll post some more pictures of the inside when I do.

I have some areas set up to encourage nesting in the barn... time will tell on how successful that is, but I had some good ideas given to me from guineapeeps, Sun and Pattihen. Very lucky to have such knowledgeable ladies helping me as a newbie here...

Love your eggs, what a beautiful basket full! Such rich shades of brown and they are all nicely uniform. It's good that you can deal with all their shenanigans and keep laughing. That's a true sign of being "owned by the Guinea Fowl" - we are as eccentric as they are! Enjoy!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom