A few questions about my guinea's behaviors.

[cupman]

I have a few things I am wondering about so I will try to be as clear as possible. I have 4 guineas. They are about 4 months old. They free range with my chickens and turkeys but over the past week they have been locked up(I'm trying to teach them to use the new chicken coop I built). It has been successful, the guineas perch next to my chickens and they put themselves to sleep at night. So for my questions:

1) I noticed one of my guineas really harassing some of the chickens and even the rooster that is twice its size. Does this mean the guinea is probably male? Will guinea hens mess with roosters? Will roosters ever try and mate with guineas?

2) My fence around my coop is roughly 7 feet tall. I have only seen one guinea fly over it and that is because I spooked her and she panicked. My birds are not fully matured but they are really close.. will flying over the fence be a big problem? (their run is 60'x40' and they are only locked in the run on days when I'm not going to be home.. run is a little too big to cover).

3) I searched other threads that said guinea birds begin to lay at about 6 months old but are also somewhat seasonal layers. When they do begin to lay where would I expect to find their eggs? Will they use nesting boxes? If no, can I build anything to encourage them to lay in a certain spot?

I've decided to transition from chickens to mainly guineas and turkeys. I just want to see how well they do this year and if everything goes smoothly I plan on getting about 15-20 early next year. I still don't know what I'm going to do with all my chickens, it's going to be tough re-homing them. I might keep a small flock of 6 or 8, I do love the rooster crows.

Thank you.

 

[Medo]

I had 8 guineas, of which im down to 1 male and 1 female, they are POWERFUL fliers once they get fully grown.

The males are terrible bullies. I dont allow them to be with my chickens at all.
The female is all brooded up, and very aggressive now.
The males are so darn noisy, that im done with them after these two find a new home, they do nothing but PO the neighbors and myself with the incessant squawking at 5 am, and they are SO loud its unreal, they're literally wake the dead loud.
they are keeping the ticks at bay but i'm not sure they're worth the effort.

Im sticking to chickens..

 

[JLeigh]

Yes guineas and chickens can cross breed. Sometimes there is offspring, but they usually don't live very long. There are internet articles if you want to read up on it. Just key in 'Guin-hens' on the internet and info should come up. I find the topic fascinating, but wouldn't want hybrids because they aren't hardy. But if you have chickens and guineas, I don't see how you can stop it unless you segregate them all the time.

Bully guineas are common, but you don't have to live with it. You can re-home them if it's a real problem. I've never heard of a female guinea being a bully, but I don't doubt it can happen. It all depends on how aggressive they are. Generally I judge by "If there's blood, it's a problem" If they're just chasing and making a lot of obnoxious noise, I let them work it out.

Guineas are strong flyers. That said, they'll usually go where they want, on foot or by flight, and if over the fence is where they want to go then that's where they'll go - the reason doesn't matter. If you want to keep them secure in the run when you're gone, you'll have to cover it. Maybe you could make a smaller section of the run and cover that? One advantage to that is it keeps predators out of the run, the other advantage is that they'll be there when you come home. .

There are others on this forum who have a lot more experience than I do with laying season, but I've been told they lay from spring to fall. Most free-ranging hens will find a secluded spot for a nest of her own choosing. I've read of some lucky people (of whom I am extremely jealous!) whose guineas make nests in their runs/coops, but I think that's the exception. If you want to free-range, you can find their nests and steal eggs.

 

[cupman]

Hey good to know. I am kind of torn. The four guineas I have now are content in their run and do not attempt to escape. They are a couple days shy of 16 weeks (I just tallied it up, maturity) so I expect eggs soon. I know I have heard both male and female calls but I still don't know the exact ratio of males to females. My guineas don't fly out ever and they also put themselves to bed in the coop at night.. I've been told I was really lucky in that regard. I am a little nervous that getting rid of 20 chickens and picking up 20 guineas might produce mixed results.. like guineas that DO fly out. I sort of suspect I could construct a T shape fence to keep them from flying over but that would be kind of a pain... I guess I will see how my birds act over the next six months. I like them but my neighbor's dog has killed at least two of my chickens(kind of irks me I never learned this until I asked.. a phone call would be nice, I wasn't angry, my birds in their yard.. I know it's my fault). I just wouldn't want my birds to be slaughtered for flying into the wrong area. I'm not very hands-on with my birds, so wing clipping probably isn't a solution. I love the guineas and I am sure I will find some solution to keep a large flock of 30(ish). I think the reason my guineas put themselves to bed now is by learning from my chickens, but this is just a guess.. I'm still very new to guineas.

 

[racuda]

I have a few things I am wondering about so I will try to be as clear as possible. I have 4 guineas. They are about 4 months old. They free range with my chickens and turkeys but over the past week they have been locked up(I'm trying to teach them to use the new chicken coop I built). It has been successful, the guineas perch next to my chickens and they put themselves to sleep at night. So for my questions:

1) I noticed one of my guineas really harassing some of the chickens and even the rooster that is twice its size. Does this mean the guinea is probably male? Yes, it probably is a male. When you get more Guineas, chicken harassment will be less of a problem. They will harass each other!
Will guinea hens mess with roosters? Mine never have.
Will roosters ever try and mate with guineas? It's possible.

2) My fence around my coop is roughly 7 feet tall. I have only seen one guinea fly over it and that is because I spooked her and she panicked. My birds are not fully matured but they are really close.. will flying over the fence be a big problem? (their run is 60'x40' and they are only locked in the run on days when I'm not going to be home.. run is a little too big to cover). No, guineas are not smart enough to fly over a 7 foot fence on purpose. A 2 foot chicken wire fence keeps them out of my garden.

3) I searched other threads that said guinea birds begin to lay at about 6 months old but are also somewhat seasonal layers. When they do begin to lay where would I expect to find their eggs? Maybe in the coop, maybe under a bush or a depression in the ground.
Will they use nesting boxes? Some of mine lay in nest boxes. They wait in line with the chickens.
If no, can I build anything to encourage them to lay in a certain spot? A piece of plywood in the corner of the coop can be very attractive to Guineas. Put some hay, straw, leaves or wood shavings there.

I've decided to transition from chickens to mainly guineas and turkeys. I just want to see how well they do this year and if everything goes smoothly I plan on getting about 15-20 early next year. I still don't know what I'm going to do with all my chickens, it's going to be tough re-homing them. I might keep a small flock of 6 or 8, I do love the rooster crows.

Thank you.

 

[Leghornmum]

1# Yes, it is most likely a male. ESPECIALLY if it drives off the other birds with beak open and wings a little above its back.
2# They WILL try to fly over it! I don't know your exact coop design, but I suggest putting chicken wire over the top
3# Guineas like private, secluded places with comfy bedding, but not too much.

 

[ollievee]

I agree with JLeigh -- you may want to put a cover over part of the run so they can be herded in there and safe if you are going to be gone for a bit but you still would like them to be outdoors. Reason being, with a good enough start, they could fly out of a 7' enclosure (I know this cuz mine roost on something that high often). But mainly, I find guineas forget they CAN fly and if a predator would get in the run, a good number of the guineas will probably get all bogged up in a corner together and will not be able to get to safety at all. The forgetfulness is helpful as evidenced by a 2' fence keeping them out of a garden (as per racuda), but it is comical to see mine on the wrong side of a 4' fence and pacing up and down and calling to the others in a panic before they decide to fly over.

As for laying eggs, I got my guineas last June as three-day-old keets and did not see eggs until this May. They laid quite a bunch, hatched some, and now in July I am seeing an egg here and there. Am also missing a hen who may be on a nest I haven't found yet.