Aggressive male guinea.

When the subject of Guinea foul being aggressive towards people has come up, I haven't read where anyone has had this experience. I have 6 guinea hens and 8 males. The males are very aggressive towards each other and now they are charging me. Today I hit one with a stick that I threw and he actually came at me again and another male joined in. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. It wasn't a good feeling. I finally made it to my water hose and a good spray of water drove them away, but I wonder now about the safety of my grandchildren when they are out playing. I plan to get rid of the males one way or the other. The females are no problem except when they get stubborn about going into their run at night.

It's just their hormones. One of my males does that too. I wouldn't get rid of them though. The best way to deal with them is by a cuddle. Pick them up, stroke under their chin, and then cradle them upside down like they're a baby. "Fighting" them with a stick is probably the worst way to deal with them - as they think they challenged you, and you fought back, so they want to challenge you again. But if you cuddle them then you let them know who's boss, and every time they challenge you they will get slightly less aggressive.

Yeah right. These guineas are not the cuddling type believe me.I appreciate your response though and your opinion. I'm sure your right about their hormones being the season for mating an all, but I think there may be too many males in the group. They wouldn't let me catch them if I wanted too.

I always have equal male to female ratio. If you have more males than females get rid of the extras.If you want guineas just for eggs then leave only about 1 male for every 2-3 hens or get rid of them all.

gguineasfamily's method only works for tame guineas. Thats how I deal with the aggressive males too. I pick em up and cuddle them against their will.

From my experience when you chase the guineas they just come back to attack you. Like what gguineasfamily said your only challenging them. My male guineas really have a vendetta against my mother. When ever she is over and out with the guineas they like to attack her legs. She just chases them and hits them back and they wont stop. Seriously,this feud has been going on for along time and my mother wont listen to me.
Also i noticed there are some things that trigger aggression in the males, not just hormones. I dont know if its just my guineas or all are like this but if you wear bright colored clothes or baggy clothes they will attack. If you move to fast or make a lot of noise they will attack.

Im going to assume your guineas are not tame so the best thing to do would be not allow them to attack you. Look the perpetrator in the eye and walk right past him. Dont move around him, make him move out the way. This shows that you are dominate. If that doesnt work carry a small stick with you and when they run at you to attack raise it and show them you mean business. Im not very experienced with untame guineas but thats the method I used for aggressive roosters.

Hope this helps.......

Thank you so much for the advise. I will remember and try all your suggestions. I think I will end up getting rid of the male guineas though as I'm not interested in adding more guineas to the group. The hens (female guineas) are a pleasure to have and give me eggs everyday practically. I also have a gander and two female ducks. The ducks are good layers also. The main reason we got the guineas was to control the tick population and it is working. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with aggressive guineas.