Keets arrived from Guinea Farm of Iowa. Pics included.

[Bicoastal]

That right “ankle” joint looks like it may be swollen? It’s encouraging that it’s putting weight on it! Hopefully some cage rest will help it heal itself.

Good eye. Yes, I think there may be some very mild swelling. Sometimes it looks like a trick of the eye, so it is pretty mild. Fingers crossed she shows as much improvement tomorrow.

 

[Bicoastal]

She is standing and moving better. Still off loading the right and not as active as her buddy bird, so she’ll stay in confinement a bit more. Good appetite. I haven’t witnessed her drinking but she’s alive and the water level goes down a little so she must be.

Her buddy bird came at me with talons out when I attempted to clean their bedding. Booger! So I had to quickly stuff straw on top and slam the door.

Neither the captives nor the group are brave enough to try the watermelon and cantelope I shared with them.

In reading another thread, maybe she’s not a coral blue. She is a very pretty light blue. Maybe sky blue. She truly is the color of a clear Sunny sky.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

She is standing and moving better. Still off loading the right and not as active as her buddy bird, so she’ll stay in confinement a bit more. Good appetite. I haven’t witnessed her drinking but she’s alive and the water level goes down a little so she must be.

Her buddy bird came at me with talons out when I attempted to clean their bedding. Booger! So I had to quickly stuff straw on top and slam the door.

Neither the captives nor the group are brave enough to try the watermelon and cantelope I shared with them.

In reading another thread, maybe she’s not a coral blue. She is a very pretty light blue. Maybe sky blue. She truly is the color of a clear Sunny sky.

You’re doing a great job of rehabbing her! She does seem to be fully pearled whereas coral blue is semipearled. Pretty girl!

 

[Sydney65]

She is standing and moving better. Still off loading the right and not as active as her buddy bird, so she’ll stay in confinement a bit more. Good appetite. I haven’t witnessed her drinking but she’s alive and the water level goes down a little so she must be.

Her buddy bird came at me with talons out when I attempted to clean their bedding. Booger! So I had to quickly stuff straw on top and slam the door.

Neither the captives nor the group are brave enough to try the watermelon and cantelope I shared with them.

In reading another thread, maybe she’s not a coral blue. She is a very pretty light blue. Maybe sky blue. She truly is the color of a clear Sunny sky.

Mine won't touch melon either, even w/the heat the past few days. We did put up a mister, and it seems be a hit. Glad she's improving!

 

[Bicoastal]

Anything I can do for the outcast Guinea? No one particular bird seems to pick on her: they all do.

She is staying farther and farther off. it’s really hard to watch the bullying. She seems just like any of the others, but the group has decided she is to be cast out.

But no, I’m not making her a house pet! I’m wondering if there’s something I can do to manipulate flock dynamics.

 

[Sydney65]

Anything I can do for the outcast Guinea? No one particular bird seems to pick on her: they all do.

She is staying farther and farther off. it’s really hard to watch the bullying. She seems just like any of the others, but the group has decided she is to be cast out.

But no, I’m not making her a house pet! I’m wondering if there’s something I can do to manipulate flock dynamics.

Many of us have had an outcast, & there's not much you can do except provide for her safety. Mine was the only light colored bird, much smaller than the rest. They wldnt let him eat or roost w/them, so we put up a small perch to the side for him and a food bowls up high on a narrow side beam that he often went to.
He stayed w/the flock at distance, bc they'd chase him away. I'd put his treats behind my back, and he'd stand behind me to have his. They'd all chase him around the house endlessly. When he tired of it he'd go to my shoulder.
Point - it happens, all you can do is make sure she isn't being hurt or denied food/water. If she is, then mb a small crate in the coop where they can see but not touch until the bullying stops. Yours are 3 months, & if they all made it, it looks like you have around 40 goons,?? (Go you!) It sounds like a long time, but by next spring, she'll have a mate & have found her place in the flock. Chances are there will be change in dynamics before then.
In the meantime, even if she isn't a house guinea, you can give her affection. Heck I slipped out last night to have a chat w/Numi. I miss having her inside..but she's not impressed w/having to share her space w/"those wretched little beasts!"
(I SWEAR, I can read it in her eyes. That's what she thinks of them.)

 

[Bicoastal]

In reading this forum, this dynamic sounded fairly normal. They are a brutal bird! I guess next spring will be really hard to watch during breeding season.

Good memory! Yes, my stinkers are 3mo. I ordered 50, received 57 or 58, lost one the first morning. Sold half and kept 26.

The outcast is a light bird but I have several. I wish I could have made the outcast the buddy bird for the injured one but I can’t identify her on the roost. She is permitted to roost but usually gets jostled around a bunch until she lands near more tolerant neighbors.

The injured sky blue and her buddy have been released and are glued at the hip. That would have been an improvement for outcast.

Sky blue’s two splashy pied (or pinto?) friends have changed their behavior toward her after her week of confinement. Guinea social dynamics are intense.

You mentioned an outcast may be smaller. The range of sizes surprise me since I know the birds are exactly the same age. One pied/pinto is noticeably bigger than everyone else and knows it. Some are little. Quite a range given they are the same age, from the same breeder, and managed the same since day one.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

In reading this forum, this dynamic sounded fairly normal. They are a brutal bird! I guess next spring will be really hard to watch during breeding season.

Good memory! Yes, my stinkers are 3mo. I ordered 50, received 57 or 58, lost one the first morning. Sold half and kept 26.

The outcast is a light bird but I have several. I wish I could have made the outcast the buddy bird for the injured one but I can’t identify her on the roost. She is permitted to roost but usually gets jostled around a bunch until she lands near more tolerant neighbors.

The injured sky blue and her buddy have been released and are glued at the hip. That would have been an improvement for outcast.

Sky blue’s two splashy pied (or pinto?) friends have changed their behavior toward her after her week of confinement. Guinea social dynamics are intense.

You mentioned an outcast may be smaller. The range of sizes surprise me since I know the birds are exactly the same age. One pied/pinto is noticeably bigger than everyone else and knows it. Some are little. Quite a range given they are the same age, from the same breeder, and managed the same since day one.

Pretty young flock! Mine vary in size as well. The males tend to be bigger but not all of the biggest are male. I have guineas from several different flocks and different flocks seem to produce different average sizes as well.

As for your bullied bird, yes they can be really awful to each other. Breeding season has a lot of male “contests”, which in our birds involves mostly marathon running and a few brief tussles, followed by more running. At 3 months though, you will have lots of dominance issues as they try to sort out their pecking order. Hopefully any fights will be brief with minimal injury.

I classify lowest ranked birds a few ways. A low ranked bird that is still accepted by the flock I call a “fringe bird”. These birds hang out at the fringes of the flock. They are tolerated but only at a distance. I’ve wondered if fringe birds are designated sentries as they surround the flock and do a lot of calling and seem to always be on the alert. These birds’ biggest problems are access to food/water and entry into the coop to roost. Because I’m confining my birds to coop/run half the day, I have multiple feeders and waterers and have them out of line of sight of each other. That helps the low ranked guineas have a chance to eat. At roosting time, I’ve had to convince fringe birds to come into the coop once the rest of the flock roosts. I do this by chasing them off the coop roof and herding them to the door, often with a lantern nearby.

Another classification I have is the “outcast”. I don’t know why it happens but sometimes a bird is kicked out of the flock. That’s a dangerous situation for the outcast as I believe there’s a risk that the flock will kill them. The flock doesn’t tolerate any sight of the outcast. I try to set outdoor food and water where the outcast can get to it and secretly throw them some mealworms and other snacks. Secret because if the flock sees I’m tossing mealworms they will attack the outcast and then I’ve made it’s situation worse. I’ve had outcasts happen a few times, and I’ve struggled with whether to force the outcast into the coop at night. If one is currently an outcast, I will let them all out to free range shortly after dawn so the outcast isn’t trapped in the coop with the angry flock. My outcast episodes have been unusual and only lasted a few weeks before the outcast somehow got itself accepted back into the flock, often as a “fringe bird”.

 

[Sydney65]

Good description of the fringe bird's job as an adult. Nug was the one who went to the coop top in the evening to call everyone in. Rosie (Mama) would dawdle & he'd chase her in. He refused to go in himself until everyone else was in. - when they were young, I waited until everyone else was in and settled before I took him in so they'd let him pass.
He was the one who took up sentry when Mama was broody, even though PJ was her mate. He'd park abt 3 feet from her and watch. He & PJ both took up rearing of the ones I incubated, and both did likewise when Mama's were hatched. Fiercely protective of the hatchlings.

 

[Bicoastal]

I found a hen sitting on a nest tonight. I removed her and escorted her to the coop. This flock was hatched 4/12/22. Would the eggs even be viable at their age?

ETA, I don’t want keets this year. Do I put some eggs back in the morning to keep this hen to a known nesting location so I can escort her to the coop every night? Or get rid of all eggs and hope she forgets about it?