Awsome Results from Sexing: 8 Female / 2 Male

[WestKnollAmy]

Cool beans! Thanks!

I have seen a few put their wings out and heads down, kinda like when they run and play. Is that a male behavior once they are over 6 months old or do girls do that as well?

I did want to zip tie girls in pink and boys in blue but wasn't sure if I could. You explained very well a workable system to doing this and I will get started on tagging mine for breeding season.

 

[PeepsCA]

Yes that's a typical male behavior, but some cranky Hens will do that too, especially towards newly integrated birds with my flocks (putting the newbies in their place in the pecking order). And usually when the males don't have their wings up and heads down they are standing up really tall, almost on tippy toes looking for the next target to chase or lunge at, lol.


ETA: I've seen my males acting tough with these behaviors as early as 8-10 wks old, but it really kicks in during the onset of their 1st breeding season

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I have seen a few do it when I go in to feed them. They get up on the roosting pole and posture, it seems but I figure it is more in excitement than to intimidate me or other birds. However, I suppose it could be to show their dominance over the flock for the food.

It is usually a blasted lavender and I am still trying to figure out my coral blues and my one slate blue. It would be my luck those are males.

 

[hoog]

If you were posting that to me about ordering Guinea Hens... I can't legally ship eggs, keets or adult Guineas out of CA. My flocks aren't NPIP certified, sorry. Wish I could tho, I've had a lot of requests for keets and eggs. It's just next to impossible for me to get all of my flocks certified and keep them all certified... the cost alone for all the testing required is just not worth it to me, not to mention the hassle (catching and testing 100+ birds, more than once!). I know a lot of people ship eggs and keets and adults regardless of the laws, but I won't, lol. I'd love to be able to share my pretties all across the US tho

But Peeps, I thought all the government regulation was to HELP small business. /sarcasm

So how did you get them to tell you who was who? Did you take them out and put them in a separate pen until you could tell by the call?

PeepsCA's discription is similar to how I did mine.

I got a rabbit cage separated from the regular Geania pen.
I used a big fishing net I bought at Wal-Mart to catch them. (Well first I tried chasing them around but I got hurt and so did the birds)
I kept them separated one at a time till I heard or didn't hear the female call.
I caught them again tagged them then put the boys in one pen and girls in another. Just to make sure I had them sexed properly.
I put them all together again.

I ended up with a lot of scratches on my arms and face. THESE ARE NOT DOCILE CHICKENS. They are kind of mean, well maybe wild is a better term.

 

[PeepsCA]

LOL sorry to laugh hoog, but I can just picture it. Guineas are definitely mean and wild, and they'll fight like heck if they get the chance to get a leg, wing or their beak lose, lol. Even when you think they have settled down they will catch you off guard and give you a serious scratch peck or even a pinching nip... and sometimes not let go. They are wicked evil evil birds, lol. Makes ya wonder how predators get away with them so easy! I finally developed some effective methods to the madness involved in all of the catching, carrying, holding and banding. Having 2 people for the job helps, but I'm pretty efficient at it by myself finally (years of practice,lots of blood loss, lol). I still get beat up pretty good on occasion tho

, the birds never really suffer much more than some ruffled feathers and the insult of being touched by a human, pfft!

Quote:

Haha yah, sure... coughcoughIliveincaliforniacoughcough

 

[WestKnollAmy]

My problem with catching and holding is how fast they are. I am used to handling birds as I worked for a vet that loved Avians. I had to handle all types and sizes of wild birds but we used towels and I still use that on the birds here. I just wrap a large towel around the body to help hold wings and feet without keeping their diaphragm from moving. The trouble I have is how fast the Guineas are! I actually have to catch with my hands first and then bring out the towel to drape and wrap them in as they are much faster than what I can do with the towel first.
I must say that I easily prefer handling my Muscovy over handling the Guineas. It seems I can avoid the nails of a Muscovy where as the Guineas seem like Porcupines as I always wind up with scratches and never remember their feet being anywhere near the spots where I get them!

 

[perchie.girl]

What about making a sleeve out of terry cloth that is cone shaped with a small opening for their head and Velcro along the seam. Slip them in to immobilize without letting go of the feet. Or would it be too much work and just as convenient to use a towel.

deb

My problem with catching and holding is how fast they are. I am used to handling birds as I worked for a vet that loved Avians. I had to handle all types and sizes of wild birds but we used towels and I still use that on the birds here. I just wrap a large towel around the body to help hold wings and feet without keeping their diaphragm from moving. The trouble I have is how fast the Guineas are! I actually have to catch with my hands first and then bring out the towel to drape and wrap them in as they are much faster than what I can do with the towel first.
I must say that I easily prefer handling my Muscovy over handling the Guineas. It seems I can avoid the nails of a Muscovy where as the Guineas seem like Porcupines as I always wind up with scratches and never remember their feet being anywhere near the spots where I get them!

 

[PeepsCA]

I shove mine in the killing cones, and tell them to be good or else CHOP CHOP!!!

No, just kidding.That would hold them tho if you needed to medicate a wound on their face, and the feet are stickin' straight up out the top so you could trim nails, band legs etc pretty easily, lol. Doubt the Hens would buckwheat for us in that position tho, LOL

What I do once I have them caught in a cage/crate, is to get a hand up under both wings and grab both of the wings as close to the shoulders/back as I can (my hand slips up under there easily when they are in a corner of the catch cage/crate flapping wings and jumping around/freaking out. Then when I have a hold of them I pull em out of the cage real quick, hanging on like that with a good grip (I can almost make a fist around the wings at that spot... and they cannot scratch me or peck me, nananananana!).

And then I grab both feet with my other hand (they are usually doin' the mad bicycling motion thing at this point, trying to scratch me, but they can't reach my hand and they are hatefully screaming at me in protest, lol). After I grab the feet I make sure I have the feet/legs pulled back and out of beak/pecking range (very important, cuz they will getcha if you let em!). As soon as they calm down I hang onto the feet still and just tuck em under my arm and carry em like a foot ball, with their head facing to the back. Wings are secured against my body and under my arm, they typically do not peck in that position, cuz there is no target to aim at back there. It helps them go docile if you point their head down and feet up sorta... they either go docile or get confuzed about facing the ground, but whatever effect it has on them, it works, they calm right down and don't fight me.

Kinda hard to explain this technique, probably even harder to picture from the description, lol...but for real, it works. I only handle adult GUINEAS this way tho. It does not hurt them, ever and I've handled hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Guineas this way. I also show a lot of my Guinea customers this method, so if they need to handle a bird for any reason that THEY don't get beat up. I've had some pretty good struggles and they've never broken a wing or leg and have never been hurt in any way with this method. The key is to get a good grip around the base of both wings, and don't give them the opportunity to peck or scratch you. Get those wings and feet under control quickly, and point the beak away from ya so the drama and the struggle is short and sweet. They are always utterly insulted and have to immediately fix all their feathers (with a 'tude about it) after I put them back down, lol.

If I net them I keep them in the net (I use a fine mesh net, strong nylon weave) held down on the ground, and grab their feet first, (which are usually nice and tangled up from them trying to shred and rip my net), get both feet free from the net and then I get a hand in there and grab the wings like I mentioned above, and handle them the same way, tucked under my arm, facing down, hanging onto the feet.

But whatever ya do, net or cage catch... DON'T LET GO OF THE FEET OR LET THEM GET THEIR WINGS FLAPPIN', cuz you will regret it and get beat up, lol. And lose some blood.

ETA: And when I put em down, I reach up under the wings again, get em out from under my arm, keep em tilted down and just sorta gently toss them away from me letting go of the feet and wings at the same time.

 

[KrisH]

Have you considered a short video?

RobertH

 

[WestKnollAmy]

PeepsCA,
Very good tutorial! I agree with Robert, you should make a video. These birds can be really difficult if not handled correctly. I need to get busy tagging my darlings and often use the net but they fly all around me so figure I will try a cage this time. This will be most interesting!