Guineas mixing with chickens

[GarthRyan]

I'm thinking about getting a pair of Guineas but my problem is that the only place I could put them after they grow up would be in the same run with my chickens, two of which being roosters. And they're all around two months old now.
Would it be okay to add the Guineas in with the chickens after the Guineas grow up?
Or would the Guineas be okay to just let run free when they grow up?

 

[DanasChicks]

Hi GarthRyan,
My experience with raising my backyard flock of New Guinea Fowl and Chickens, Ducks and Geese together has been interesting to say the least. My backyard flock free-range during the day and they all coop together at night. The Guinea will explore boundaries that contain the chickens because they can fly much better than all the other birds, but each night they return to the safety of the coop. Guinea are well equipped to escape dangerous ground predators, including neighboring dogs and overhead hawks and eagles. They are great watchdogs. They will protect the flock by alerting to danger. A broody Silkie hen raised our 3 young (week old) New Guinea keets until fully feathered. Once she raised them and they were on their own, we purchased 2 more Guinea hens about the same age. The five of them hung out with the Silkies during the day, sometimes exploring on their own, but most of the time stayed in the back yard for the majority of the day. Everything was going well until I rehomed a few of "their" Silkie family members, The very moment they realized those chickens were gone and new chickens had arrived, the pecking order changed. The Guineas became the head of the pecking order. Now they attack every new bird, regardless of age, sex or breed. They chase off mothers brooding their young, and have even chased our young cats who are experiencing the outdoors for the first time. They pluck out the feathers of new birds, regardless of rooster or hen and chase them off into the sticky bushes. After loosing one young cockerel to the vast woods never to be found again and getting myself all scraped up by blackberry to retrieve a few roosters from the brambles, did I decide that I had to intervene. The adult Guinea will take on everything that is new to the property so I now oversee all new introductions for up to a week. I run off the Guineas and keep the newbies in a large pen for a period of time while everyone gets acquainted. I continue to oversee for the first few days when the newbies are then released into the freedom of the backyard flock. Only on occasion do I then need to intervene, and it's usually someone chasing off another over food at that point. I enjoy my Guineas and believe they are a great addition to a back yard flock. I don't believe they would do well confined in a chicken run, because they would just pace back and forth endlessly looking for a way out, but if the could be let out each day to free range, they would coop with your chickens at night if you trained them to do so from the start. Note: There are a few occasions where they refused to coop at night and in those cases, we are usually able to catch them and place them in the coop (we grasp their wings and bring them together behind their back and then use one hand to hold both wings fairly close to the back while transporting or if you grab them any other way the Guinea will flare and scream and release all their feathers and you might end up scratched up and left empty-handed... lol... and the poor Guinea will be missing many-many feathers). Others might have a different experience, but for the most part everyone in my flock gets along with proper introductions. Happy Raising!

 

[GarthRyan]

What do you think would happen if I introduced the Guineas into my flock of birds with the Guineas being younger? Would the chickens take control over the Guineas and then it be kind of peaceful from then on? Or would it just be better to let them go on their own?

 

[DanasChicks]

You mentioned your current flock is only 2 months old. If you could locate Guinea Keets of about the same age or slightly younger, fully feathered and able to be outdoors, you should be okay putting them in with your flock. The keets are much more active than the same aged chicks, so if they are slightly younger, they will be just fine. Having your keets grow up around your chickens may make it easier for everyone once they all reach full maturity.

 

[PeepsCA]

IMO, if you only have room for a pair of Guineas... you might want to rethink getting them. They require more coop/pen space than chickens and a lot of free range area (they don't do well penned up full-time)... they roam/range a lot farther than chickens, and they do not respect fences. Plus (and this is the main issue, or will be) Guineas are very flock oriented birds, they need a lot (10 or more) of their own kind to be happy/content and not become aggressive towards your chickens/other poultry once they mature and their hormones kick in for their breeding season. Males tend to lose their minds being protective and territorial over their Hens, and if you end up with 2 males, your chickens will most likely be terrorized by them. 2 Guinea Hens may work out ok, but even some Guinea Hens are mean/cranky and can become chicken aggressive as well. Guineas are haters, lol... so they just need plenty of other Guineas to hate on.

This is JMO, but save yourself and your chickens the grief and build a separate coop/pen for Guineas, and get a decent sized flock of them, not just a pair.

 

[PhilH]

What She Said..

I only have 9 adult guineas & they terrorize my chickens..

 

[GarthRyan]

Okay thanks everyone.