Bringing new guineas

[Unicornlife3316]

Alright, so my New Guinea girls have been here for a week tomorrow. I let a lavender out tonight to see what would happen and she definitely wouldn’t leave her flock mates so I’m going to let one out with the old guineas tomorrow to see how that goes.... fingers crossed she roams with them all day and follows them home! I hope this works out. They’re so ready to come out. They’re missing a lot of good bugs!

 

[Unicornlife3316]

@R2elk

Can I pick your brain for a second??

The girls are doing well, eating great and the fighting has completely stopped between the fences.

I have been trying to let 1 female out a day, with the old flock but she refuses to leave and always wants to go straight back in with her flock mates. Makes sense of course.

This morning, I decided to just open the divider, thinking maybe they’d kind of mix in together, then I could kind of trick one of the new females to follow my old group out.. no such luck, 2 males went in to the girl side, no fighting so that’s good.

How can I integrate them? Any ideas will help. I don’t want to just let them all go, because what if the males act like.. well males.. and start fighting them? Or the girls don’t come home!? Ughh I’m at such a loss of what to do!

 

[R2elk]

@R2elk

Can I pick your brain for a second??

The girls are doing well, eating great and the fighting has completely stopped between the fences.

I have been trying to let 1 female out a day, with the old flock but she refuses to leave and always wants to go straight back in with her flock mates. Makes sense of course.

This morning, I decided to just open the divider, thinking maybe they’d kind of mix in together, then I could kind of trick one of the new females to follow my old group out.. no such luck, 2 males went in to the girl side, no fighting so that’s good.

How can I integrate them? Any ideas will help. I don’t want to just let them all go, because what if the males act like.. well males.. and start fighting them? Or the girls don’t come home!? Ughh I’m at such a loss of what to do!

In such situations, once the fighting through the fences has stopped, I let one out. It does encourage the loose one to always return to the caged ones. If all goes well the first day, I let a second out the next day. I keep doing this each day until all of them have been released.

Allowing some of your males to join the new hens is not a bad thing.

Because the new ones are all females, the excess males will soon come calling on them. Once everyone has chosen mates, the whole flock will separate into their individual groups for the remainder of the breeding and laying season. In the fall, after laying and brooding season is over, the whole flock should band together. Do not be surprised if you end up with two separate groups for the first year. Your new hens may want to stick together but they will accept males from your original group.

Just be patient.

 

[Unicornlife3316]

In such situations, once the fighting through the fences has stopped, I let one out. It does encourage the loose one to always return to the caged ones. If all goes well the first day, I let a second out the next day. I keep doing this each day until all of them have been released.

Allowing some of your males to join the new hens is not a bad thing.

Because the new ones are all females, the excess males will soon come calling on them. Once everyone has chosen mates, the whole flock will separate into their individual groups for the remainder of the breeding and laying season. In the fall, after laying and brooding season is over, the whole flock should band together. Do not be surprised if you end up with two separate groups for the first year. Your new hens may want to stick together but they will accept males from your original group.

Just be patient.

Thank you! I think you’re right, I just need to be patient. I’ll try again tomorrow. Thanks, as always.

 

[Unicornlife3316]

Today was the day all the new Guinea girls got to come out. As I hoped, Gus Gus has taken this new female flock as his own. He has shown them all over the property, where to get water and food in the barn, the nest dust bathing sites and he’s just SO happy.
They’ve all stayed relatively close to home and seem to be doing great.

I basically have two flocks now. The old group (3 males 1 female) and the new group (5 females and 1 male) — they’ve run across each other a few times today, my original female chased the lavenders a bit but nothing too aggressive.

I just hope the new Guinea girls will follow Gus Gus in to roost tonight ::fingers crossed::

 

[aart]

I just hope the new Guinea girls will follow Gus Gus in to roost tonight ::fingers crossed::

Yes!!

 

[Unicornlife3316]

Y’all..... I’m going to brag on my Gus Gus.. I am SO PROUD OF HIM!

I saw him find a yummy grasshopper earlier and sweet talk his ladies so they could eat it - my heart almost melted.

THEN it was getting dark so I waited and waited and waited thinking the worst “he’s found a rendezvous tree and he’s never bringing them home” and so I finally walked down to their pen.. that boy had brought ALL 5 girls home and had them roosted before dusk! I could just kiss him!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Y’all..... I’m going to brag on my Gus Gus.. I am SO PROUD OF HIM!

I saw him find a yummy grasshopper earlier and sweet talk his ladies so they could eat it - my heart almost melted.

THEN it was getting dark so I waited and waited and waited thinking the worst “he’s found a rendezvous tree and he’s never bringing them home” and so I finally walked down to their pen.. that boy had brought ALL 5 girls home and had them roosted before dusk! I could just kiss him!

That’s fantastic! I love the picture of your beautiful pasture too!!! Those are some lucky guineas!

 

[Unicornlife3316]

That’s fantastic! I love the picture of your beautiful pasture too!!! Those are some lucky guineas!

Oh thank you!

This is just in front of my house, my favorite view. I get to watch the guineas, chickens, cows, donkey, deer and everything in between out my bedroom window! These Guineas have 39 acres of ours to explore, not that they go that far of course. They’re very happy birds - especially since the woman I got them from, hadn’t had them free range at all, so it was wonderful watching them hunt bugs today! It was a good day!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Oh thank you!

This is just in front of my house, my favorite view. I get to watch the guineas, chickens, cows, donkey, deer and everything in between out my bedroom window! These Guineas have 39 acres of ours to explore, not that they go that far of course. They’re very happy birds - especially since the woman I got them from, hadn’t had them free range at all, so it was wonderful watching them hunt bugs today! It was a good day!

They are so fun to watch! I was recently proud of our boy (Ghost, a lavender). He is the only boy with seven girls, but his main four are on a nest so he hangs out all day with the other three. I caught a grasshopper and threw it to him, and he subdued the little beast then brought it to his three girls! I can’t decide if that’s sweet or if it’s more like he’s a player since since main girls are with the kids! Nah, it’s sweet, it’s not like he has any completion!