How do you sex or tell the differecnce in Male and Female Guinea Fowl?

[soldier]

females will call Buckwheat buckwheat buckwheat.
Males just scream and have larger waddles. They are also more aggressive
Females are generally smaller and follow; males larger and lead and charge about talking about things that make no sense at all

 

[BusyBearMama]

I have 10 male guinea and one guinea hen. Since they grew to almost full size the only distinct difference was that the hen makes a sound that is almost like a goose honking and she always feels the need to say something. We noticed early on that the one bird was different and thought that was pretty clearly the only female. When they were full grown and running around I find she has smaller jowels or waddles or whatever than the males that follow around her, she is distinctive enough that it is easy to be sure that at least she is in at night. When we moved them from their brooding pen to their coop she was really upset, most of the males were in and when my husband picked her up she was honking and honking and they had been very quiet being moved but instantly flipped our and all left a big space around her in the coop for her to roost and settle in it was really funny. Sadly I don't have any pictures that highlight the difference, its clear with just the one hen... but if you didn't know from her call, just looking at the birds and if there were more females it would be pretty hard to tell. This is our first year and tonight I have one bird out of his coop, he wouldn't go in last night and won't tonight, he's sitting under it like he knows best and we are a bit worried about him all night again... good luck with getting the birds you'd like in in and hope everyone stays safe.

 

[duluthralphie]

Hi..

I have read this thread and I still have no idea who my boys are. I think I only have 3 that say buckwheat out of 15, that seems a tad off.

I have looked at the waddles and they really look the same between those that say buckwheat and those that don't.


I want to eat a couple of the boys if I am that out of balance. BUT I would hate to cull a girl.

 

[R2elk]

Hi..

I have read this thread and I still have no idea who my boys are. I think I only have 3 that say buckwheat out of 15, that seems a tad off.

I have looked at the waddles and they really look the same between those that say buckwheat and those that don't.


I want to eat a couple of the boys if I am that out of balance. BUT I would hate to cull a girl.

If you cannot tell by sounds and actions the one sure way to sex mature guineas is by vent sexing them. I find that I have to wait until they are about 6 weeks old to be able to accurately vent sex them but it is relatively simple on adult birds.

A male will have a two headed penis located on the side of the cloaca facing the head. A very young male's penis may appear to simply be a couple of small bumps on the side of the cloaca facing the head. An adult hen will not have the penis and will have what I assume to be the shell gland visible which has a more reddish color than the rest of the inside of the cloaca. On a younger hen the shell gland will appear to be on the tail side of the cloaca.

 

[BusyBearMama]

We discovered a second female mixed in with the males, she rarely vocalizes.. See if I can add a photo you might see the difference

 

[BusyBearMama]

The front bird is our big hen, the one to the left is the little hen, the others are males, we also have mostly males

 

[BusyBearMama]

2 males

 

[prepperchickens]

I have some weird sixth sense for sexing chicks and keets, I've come to realize that the ones I pick out first are always male. Male keets have bolder personalities, go absolutely insane for treats (even moreso than the females who also go crazy) and are more affectionate I that you don't have to work as hard to make them accept being pet and held. All my boys were the ones to make the "we-jip" baby noise when I held them and pet or kissed their foreheads whereas the females learn to like it but are nervous at first. My boy keets always ran at my hand when I reached into the brooder, the females would tag along but the boys ran right to it honking all the way and even jumping into it. The boys are more rambunctious and silly. The easiest difference to spot is size: so far for me at least all boys have been noticeably smaller. In the first few days the ones who sprout feathers on those painfully adorable little winglets are the females and the boys are usually a day or so behind.
The boys make the most adorable, goofy, loving pet birds. The girls are sweet too, my Ducky is full of it and she even flies into my lap and chases me as if to play tag but the boys fall all over themselves to be around me and get worms. The boys even learn to jump in the air like dogs doing tricks for more worms. ANYTHING FOR WORMS. Lol. God I love guineas.
It's worth noting that my guineas have honestly tamed much faster and more naturally than my chickens. Guiness are so curious and playful that as long as you spend time with them each day and hand feed them their favorite treats (mealworms) they will worship you. Nothing makes me smile the way my little boys honk and flap and scurry over to me as soon as they see me each day.
So far for me at least the chickens have been more prone to bullying than the guineas, guineas are very pushy about treats and stuff but not to where they peck other birds they just hog everything and are much faster than chickens. Still, my guineas tolerate great insult from tiny chicks, my barred rocks used to stand on my guineas heads as they were eating from the feeder so they could steal food lol, the guineas just let them do it. It's like they love their flockmates very deeply and are concerned for others. But they're also goofy and silly and in some ways very naive/dumb but in other ways very clever and quick to learn things.

Also there's the hair test. For some reason my boys go crazy when they're tiny keets and you put them near your beard or hair, like if you have them on your chest they will run to your hair and make all these crazy sounds and nuzzle ferociously until falling asleep. The girls not so much. It's very weird but seems hard wired.

 

[Rock Sister]

Hi....

So, my French Guineas are 6 weeks old. I checked nostrils and I have one that is open wide and two that are almost closed. Today, I started playing sound clips of male and female calls to them. I try to stay true lol. Anyway, played both sounds. On the male call, I get one of them to brace while the other two immediately go low into the grass. The guinea bracing because of call then climbs to top of cage. That guinea has the larger hole.

Mmm.

When I play the female call, the male will join the other two, all 3 standing investigating but "????? "females" guard the one "male" at his chest.

Mmm

Which could mean, if I had only one sex, I could train them to come using reverse call.
Interesting to me, thought it might be useful to some, so I am sharing.

 

[ludwing]

the most common way to sex guinea fowl is by there sound...Most females will go buck-weat buck-weat alot (and for no reason), and the males will only speak on an alarm call (like chi-chi-chi).

Female sound:

Male sound:

EDIT: Cowgirl71, you posted a min before me!