aggressive guinea hens

[51hens]

I have 4 guineas, 3 males and 1 female. They seem to really bother the 18 week old hens I have. I got the guineas from a hatchery when they were like 4 to 5 weeks old and they were in with all different types of chickens around the same age. I put them in with chicks that I had, again all roughly the same age. I moved the guineas with my older hens because they were always picking on the younger hens when they were like 10 weeks old, pushing them off the roost and just being mean. They are ok together with the older hens. The guineas are now flying into the area where I have the younger hens and they are after them a lot. Both yards are huge like 1/2 acre with bushes, trees, and tallish weeds. I am wondering as I really like the guineas, are the guinea hens less aggressive than the male guineas? I have researched a lot and cant seem to find an answer and also is one type of guinea less aggressive to chickens? Thanks for any help

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I would guess your problem stems from having so many males and only one female, plus a very small group on to of that. They do best in larger groups and need at least a 1:1 ratio male to female. How old are they?
The common guineas you see are all the same; different colors aren't different "types".

 

[51hens]

Thank you SunHwaKwon for the info! My guineas are about 20 weeks old. I wasn't sure what to do, but I will look for 2 more hens and see if that solves my problem. If I am able to find 2 more hens,I assume I would have to separate the new guineas to prevent disease spread? I have introduced new chickens and these guineas to my original flock. When I introduced my new chickens (they were from an individual, not a hatchery) I kept them separated in different coops for 4 weeks.
Thanks again
51 hens

 

[Hotcookie]

SunHwaKwon is correct in saying your ratio is off as well as the size of the flock. In order to be happy, experts say you must have a flock of at least 12 guineas. For some reason, males love chasing others around - especially during the mating season; however, my young males that hatched out only this summer have already started fighting this late in the season. It's never too early for them to get a "pecking" order going within the flock, and by fighting, that is what they are doing.

If you are able to get more guineas (it's probably too late for this year) you will definitely need to separate them for a minimum of 8 weeks until they know each other somewhat. You will need to keep the newbies locked up in the same coop as the older ones so they will be able to see each other, but not get at each other. By keeping the new ones locked up, this will insure they will know where to come home to roost to every nite, as well as them getting to know the rest of the flock.

While the new ones I have gotten thru the years have successfully joined the flock, they still maintain a distance from the original members while free-ranging. During mating season, this practice lessens, but after the males have calmed down in the fall, I have very distinct sub-groups within my flock of 45 that free-range by themselves.

Good luck - hope this helps!