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Mine have similar behaviors in my mixed flock. I've got a total of 7 nesting boxes but any any given time they all want to use only one or two of them. For instance, there's 4 hens crammed into this nesting box in the larger of my two coops. There's three other boxes just as big as this one...

At a minimum, you'll want to put netting over the top to keep the hawks out. If you're locking your hens up at night and are around during the day they should be OK. However it looks like some pretty good openings in the fencing that weasels and the like could slip through, or a raccoon could...

I haven't seen any success using cayenne pepper: the rodents didn't seem to care. The best way to deal with a rodent problem is to get rid of the rodents. I've had good luck with "shocker" traps for a relatively small rat / mouse problem (I trapped about a dozen of them before they stopped...

My setup for newcomers is a small coop with a mini run under it with a ramp that I can open or close. I typically move the chicks to the nursery coop with a heat plate at two weeks of age. When I let the adults out to free range I lower the ramp in the nursery run. The chicks usually take a...

If he's full on attacking people, your only option is to get rid of him.

It depends on the injury, if they get infected, etc. it also depends on the bird. For wounds, I use either vetricyn or Neosporin depending on how scabbed over or dirty they are. I keep aspirin powder for pain relief and an anti inflammatory. You can either use a micro scooper or just put a...

So, an update for anyone interested. His foot swelled up worse after the last messaging, most likely due to the trauma from the lancing. I kept him on the baytril until it ran out (about 1 week later). He's staying active and the foot is slowly losing the swelling. I'm keeping an eye on it and...

Chickens can hatch guinea keets. I've had some successful hatches with chickens brooding over guinea eggs. I haven't had any raise them yet, but that's an "experiment" I'm going to try this year.

Good for you. Other people have absolute horror stories about guineas injuring or killing their chickens, which is why I did a ton of research and took some extra time and expense for a setup where I could, if need be, separate the two flocks easily. For me, they got along fine until the...

Yup. Best case is you have enough space and a setup to where when the guineas start their chasing and feather pulling antics (in other words "flirting" if you're a guinea) the chickens can get away from them. Last year one guinea figured out he could make the roosters jump by charging them from...

Mine are very productive egg layers in season (April to October). I've gotten mine to use nesting boxes but it's tricky to do. Of they catch you raiding the nesting box they will either attack you or abandon the nest and lay somewhere outside . I don't find guineas to be any dumber than other...

All of my roosters are friendlier to newcomers than any of the hens. A couple of them go out of their way to welcome younger birds I introduce to the flock, and they'll also train them as they get older.

Preening is a sign they're relaxed. If you're around your chickens and they preen and sun or dust bathe that means they're comfortable around you. It's also necessary: one of the things they do when preening is oil their feathers to make them water-resistant. Keeping them straight helps them...

Likely there's a hidden nest somewhere with all your missing eggs in it, unless the local wild-life finds it first. I had a couple instances when I first started free-ranging of chickens creating secret nests and then going broody over them. The most extreme example was when my nightly...

Sun-bathing. It gets really fun when you walk out onto your back porch and a bunch of them are doing it as a group.

They're pretty territorial and will yell at anything that passes by. They also like to wander. I have 16 acres and mine still tried to invade my neighbors yards and the nearby road. I ended up adding some fencing to keep them in.

Like Red Horse Ranch said, maybe at six weeks or so the females will start sounding off but usually it's a lot later than that (12 weeks+).

I haven't seen that behavior. Every guinea that I had that "guh-wahked" turned out to be an egg layer.

I've heard that they may try to snatch small chicks, but I haven't really seen any of the ones around me exhibit anything remotely aggressive. My flock gets nervous whenever they come around like any other large bird flying overhead, but the only time they interact at all is if there's carrion...

At their age they're good to move outside. If you're worried about cold nights put the heat plate in with them but unless it gets below freezing they should be fine. When you get a chance I'd double check the integrity of the run: some of the boards look like they're getting old and I prefer...