a few guinea questions ?

[jsimplytx125]

Hi all,
I have some questions too, but first need to set the situation up.

I have (14 hen,1 rooster) 21+ week old RIR's in same coop with 8 week old keets (size of heavy pigeon?) in brooder for a month now.

Chicken yard is totally secured with Goat fence layered with chicken wire as well as chicken wire layered with bird netting above.
Questions:
1- How well will 6-8 week old keets do turned out in a chicken yard with 20+ week old Rhode Island Reds? Will domimant hens pick on them? Do I worry about bullying or will 14 keets just hang together, or mix well?
2- Should i start turning them out in main coop for a few weeks first (same coop with chickens)?
How long in just coop?
3- How would you suggest I leave them in main coop when the HUGE RIRs are swooping down from roosts in morning to be let out?
4_ Could I just let them all in a nd out together?(this is what I would prefer)

Thank for your advice!

 

[jvls1942]

I run my guineas with my chickens

if you let them out all together, there will be some squabbling..

young chickens/guineas tend to mix quite easily..

You did't mention how large your run/yard is.. the smaller the yard, the more squabbling there will be..

 

[jsimplytx125]

I would say yard dimensions are 25 by 16 feet?

The keets are in this brooder now (had a Bantam roo in picture)

Chickens very heavy now, 3 x size larger than when they were shown in picture.

 

[redroosta]

Quote:
foxes and owls are both nighttime predators 98% of the time.

as for hawks full grown guineas can and will attack one and more then likely kill it.

anything dog size they will sound the alert and if it pounces after they charge it they will fly up in a tree.

and for weasels and minks? you just dont have enough guineas or there not as mean as they should be

my 4 would out right wound if not kill a cat or any cat size critter if they got a hold of it in the day time.

heck they'll even out right attack me if i egg them on a bit and trust me they're toe nails and beaks do draw blood.

for all you guinea people do let this miss lead you if you handle them they will be much nicer and tamer but if you just let them be next year you'll know what i'm talking about.

but then again you might get a batch of all nice ones too

do not believe everything you read in a book.. foxes here where I live hunt even at 11:30 AM.. Owls hunt during the daytime also.. I have witnessed both .. In fact it was during the daytime a few weeks ago when my wife saw an owl snatch one of our guineas. I think my flock of 60 guineas should be able to ward off an owl, by your standards.. I have free ranging guineas and "tame" ones also.. they all get eaten the same by predators.. maybe our predators are just meaner than those around you..

call me in a couple of months and I might have some eggs to ship to you to replace your flock..

ok, either it was a baby guinea or thats not an owl. owls hunt mice, lizards, even snakes in the night. they will not charge at anything way bigger than them. guineas are monsters when it comes to predators, the only bird of prey that could kill a guinea would be a large hawk or eagle. then again, they wouldnt be able to fly off with it! they could kill one but the rest of the flock would quickly deal with that disturbance. A full grown guinea could not be carried by a hawk, let alone an owl!

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
do not believe everything you read in a book.. foxes here where I live hunt even at 11:30 AM.. Owls hunt during the daytime also.. I have witnessed both .. In fact it was during the daytime a few weeks ago when my wife saw an owl snatch one of our guineas. I think my flock of 60 guineas should be able to ward off an owl, by your standards.. I have free ranging guineas and "tame" ones also.. they all get eaten the same by predators.. maybe our predators are just meaner than those around you..

call me in a couple of months and I might have some eggs to ship to you to replace your flock..

ok, either it was a baby guinea or thats not an owl. owls hunt mice, lizards, even snakes in the night. they will not charge at anything way bigger than them. guineas are monsters when it comes to predators, the only bird of prey that could kill a guinea would be a large hawk or eagle. then again, they wouldnt be able to fly off with it! they could kill one but the rest of the flock would quickly deal with that disturbance. A full grown guinea could not be carried by a hawk, let alone an owl!

a large hawk or an owl can carry off a small dog or cat. a laying guinea like the ones killed by owls here are no problem for them..

owls do not hunt only at night.

and I watched a hawk kill and carry off a fryer size chicken..
every bit as heavy as a guinea..

and we had an owl go into the chicken coop and kill a Buff Orpington laying hen. and there were 10 guineas and 55 BO chickens and two full grown roosters in there..

guineas do not band together and fight a hawk.. quit reading those fiction books and get out into the outdoors and witness some of these things for yourself..

do some research and forget those old wives tales..

I am betting I am much older than you and have spent way much more time in the woods hunting and observing nature.. you might get somebody else to believe your tall tales, but you are wasting your time trying to convince me..

I suppose you believe everything in the story about Bambi .

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
ok, either it was a baby guinea or thats not an owl. owls hunt mice, lizards, even snakes in the night. they will not charge at anything way bigger than them. guineas are monsters when it comes to predators, the only bird of prey that could kill a guinea would be a large hawk or eagle. then again, they wouldnt be able to fly off with it! they could kill one but the rest of the flock would quickly deal with that disturbance. A full grown guinea could not be carried by a hawk, let alone an owl!

a large hawk or an owl can carry off a small dog or cat. a laying guinea like the ones killed by owls here are no problem for them..

owls do not hunt only at night.

and I watched a hawk kill and carry off a fryer size chicken..
every bit as heavy as a guinea..

and we had an owl go into the chicken coop and kill a Buff Orpington laying hen. and there were 10 guineas and 55 BO chickens and two full grown roosters in there..

guineas do not band together and fight a hawk.. quit reading those fiction books and get out into the outdoors and witness some of these things for yourself..

do some research and forget those old wives tales..

I am betting I am much older than you and have spent way much more time in the woods hunting and observing nature.. you might get somebody else to believe your tall tales, but you are wasting your time trying to convince me..

I suppose you believe everything in the story about Bambi .

you should see a guinea nearly kill a rooster 2 times his size (yes 1 guinea) and chase a feral cat 4 times his size some time bet it would make you think a bit different.

and it depends how the guineas were raised and bread! the more wild they are the meaner they are!

have your guineas ever out right attacked you? bet not but guess what mine have attacked me! that's right a 6'5'' 20 year old that's 50 times they're size!

they can do alot more then you give them credit for.

also what hatchery did yours come from? they probably have a more domesticated line then others (remind me never to get any from there) that's why yours don't act how they should or aren't as mean as they should be.

the guineas in these "fiction books" are the true guineas before being bread down, the guineas our great grandma or great grandpa had were alot different then the ones of today that have been "watered down" as my uncle and great grandma would say.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Wow, you guys have some interesting thoughts here.

I lose a Guinea here and there to predators and there seems that there is nothing i can do about it.

I lose more because the females are laying in a "common" nest out in the pastures. I hear them every once in a while and i see the other Guinea run to them when they call (always a female).

I check to see which ones are back in the barn at night and they are usually all there.

I too have a few that I see in the morning outside the barn that have either not gotten to the barn before I closed it or decided to roost in a tree.

For the most part they stay with the chickens in free range and roost. I rarely have a single bird out free ranging, they are usuallyi n a group of three or more.

My birds are VERY comfortable on the property. They have plenty of hiding places and wateriing (thanks to the miniature horses).

They come down for treats and they have plenty to eat in the barn.

I would say I lose one per month or so. Many times i find them intact and seemingly have died from old age.

 

[Aj1911]

here is 2 videos 1 of 2 guineas attacking a dog and 1 of a guinea attacking a human

 

[Debbienmousey]

I definitely agree with Aj. My first guineas were hand raised and came from Cackle hatchery. The cock wouldn't dare touch a human! Now, the young cock (little over a year old) from a breeder around here which was NOT hand raised and did NOT come from a hatchery/farm with hand raised guineas is much more wild. Although I don't believe he would ever think of attacking us he is definitely meaner to the chickens than my older cock.

Now, as for those videos Aj posted..

1): Seeing as that dog was only a little bigger (mainly longer) than the guinea cock, I'm not surprised that a "meaner" guinea cock would attack it. Poor little doggie!

2): Is completely off-topic. We are talking about guinea cocks attacking people and dogs, right? Or at least guineas without keets. ANY guinea hen with keets has the right and very well ought to fight to the death to keep her babies safe. I would have to say, Aj, that you need to find a video of a guinea without keets attacking a person to prove your statements. (Not that I don't believe you, I very well believe that you have been attacked by guineas before. I'm just saying that this video doesn't really back you up.)

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
i am just trying to prove that guineas can and will attack things alot bigger then they are and are not as prone to predators as jvls is claiming.

but on that note i could make a video of my guinea cock attacking my dad if you wished or chasing a feral cat, might take a few days to get it on film but i could do it.