Agressive Guineas

[barons mama]

PeepsCA, Your absolutly right about researching guneas before you get them. I did some, but obviously not enough to see that they don't get along with chickens. Our outside area for the chickens is about 1/4 acre with electric netting fence so it's not possible to cover it. Also, we move it several times throughout the year. My original plan was for the guneas to stay with the alpacas for insect control, but in an effort to keep them safe at night (we started with 10) we encouraged them to roost with the chickens.

If we can catch them, I'm thinking we will clip their wings & put them in the alpaca pasture. It's fenced with 4 ft woven wire with an electric wire on top of that. They will still have access to the barn but hopefully with their wings clipped, they won't be able to get over the fence and in with the chickens.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[PeepsCA]

It may work for a day or so, but clipping their wings doesn't usually stop Guineas from going where they want to go (which will be back in with the chickens and into the coop), they are strong enough flyers that they will still flap and climb their way over anything, get zapped by the wire on the way out and never want to try to go back in the way they got out. Plus Guineas with clipped wings are extra prone to becoming predator bait, they can't effectively fly high enough to get somewhere safe, and can't outrun them either. So unless you are sure they are safe from predators, I would not advise clipping their wings.

If you want to work on effectively relocating them to your Alpaca pasture and barn as their new home/area they will need to be caged/penned in the barn where you want them to roost for several weeks and not let out at all. (It can even take up to 6 or 8 weeks to reprogram Guineas to a new coop/roosting area, but since they will still hear/see your chickens and their old coop they will always want to return to it and it may take even longer than that). If you just clip their wings and toss them in the pasture they won't understand that's where their home now is, and constantly end up over the fence. So IMO you should start with getting them to accept the barn (or their specific area in the barn) as home first, and then you'll need to be extra diligent about harassing/chasing them back into the pasture every time they fly over the fence once you start letting them out to free range. Emphasis on extra diligent. They probably won't be content alone with the Alpacas for quite a while unless they happen to be a male/female pair that will soon start breeding/laying/nesting. (That would actually help your situation along because it will take the focus off getting back to the chickens).

I have relocated a couple of my breeding flocks to different coops and free ranging areas over the years... it's time consuming and frustrating as all get out, but it is possible if you have the tolerance, patience and persistence to constantly correct the birds (and you need to be sure to only let them out when you will be around to correct them). They eventually do learn life is easier to stay where you prefer them to be, rather than getting chased back in all the time. You may have better luck re-homing those 2 and starting over with a new batch of at least 6 Guineas that have zero attachment to your chickens and the coop tho... but like Tom mentioned, 10 is a better number. Guineas instinctually need to be with a flock to be comfortable/content. Your 2 Guineas see your chickens as their flock, even tho they are aggressive towards them...

 

[wolfpak]

We have a dozen guineas in with large breed chickens, in a coop with a long attached run. There is one guinea that was continually picked on by the rest of the flock when they were all out free ranging. If I put her in with the others, they attack her non-stop. She is a different color (brown-tan) from the other guineas, I'm wondering if that is a factor. These guineas are not chicken aggressive, just toward the little brown-tan guinea. Guineas are not yet a yr, (July) & chickens are 9mo to 2yrs. Little single guinea spends most of the day just outside the coop, which is a nice sunny spot out of the wind, but roosts in a tree at night. There are 5 huge roosters that are out in free ranging at all times, and they're fine with each other & the little guinea. Strange birds, these guineas! All were outside for most of the summer, & little guinea would run with the flock, but stay a small distance away, otherwise the rest would run her off. Wonder if anyone else has had this experience, like you have, with aggressive birds?

 

[wolfpak]

The bully guineas need to come out of the pen & get separated, if even by wire. My single guinea on the outside of the coop is content to follow along outside, since she's technically "with" the flock, just on the other side of a fence! My run is about 40 ft long, 4 high, 5ft wide, with 2x4 wire fencing framed into the front of it. When the guineas are in the coop, the single bird hangs out just under the front windows there, & runs along side the rest when they're in the pen. These guineas might be fine with both on the outside looking in at the chickens as well. I'd definitely net the top of the chicken enclosure & keep the bullies separate but allow them to hang out just outside the enclosure. You might be able to separate them at night, & kick them out in the morning, putting them in a lg wire dog crate, or separate enclosed roost in the coop at night, since there are only 2 of them. My single guinea has roosted in the tree above the coop for months now, even in the single digits at night.... not ideal, but she has managed so far & seems fine. The roosters would be easier pickings for predators, as they roost about 3 ft off ground outside at night, but so far, so good! We are way out in the country with a tall fence & many dogs.... so predators don't fare so well, they don't touch the birds, but will happily kill coons, etc.

 

[owenslarry]

my guineas attack my female ducks, what can I do?

 

[JLeigh]

Read through these posts - they'll give you some good ideas and info about what to do. Post #3 is where you should start. Good luck! :

 

[owenslarry]

My guineas hurt my female ducks. they are lavender Muscovy ducks, and I have ducklings coming. I cant allow the guineas to kill them.

 

[BlackwaterBirds]

I came home the other day and my aggressive guinea was huddled in the corner of the coop with his foot bleeding. After some first aide I decided to separate him for a few days. He has a broken spur looks like. I kept him up for about a week and decided to just let him back into the flock since he is moving very well on one leg. When he returned to the flock, it was obvious that he did not hold the same status as he did a week earlier. The little white guinea that chased constantly seems to be leading the way with the ladies. While the one with the broken leg brings up the rear.

 

[JLeigh]

Sorry about his toe, but it does seem a little like poetic justice.

I hope he heals up well though, and continues to behave himself. I have a dominant male Pearl Gray, and he harasses my other male. The little rascals.........

 

[PeepsCA]

Separating injured birds away from the rest of the flock usually lets the flock rearrange the pecking order... but also separating an injured bird, where the rest of the flock can't see it/interact with it can cause the flock to ostracize (reject) it once it's added back to the flock. If the injured bird is put back in with the flock before it's back to 100% that can also cause the bird to lose his spot in the pecking order, as the flock will see that bird as a threat to the flock, or the weak link. It's usually best to keep injured birds in a cage or crate with the flock while it's healing/recovering, so it does not get ostracized or picked on when it gets added back in.

Caging a bully (uninjured) completely away from the flock for a few days or a week will usually knock his bad attitude down a peg or 2, as well as let the flock rearrange it's pecking order... I've done this plenty of times over the years.