Bully male to female mate

[NKa]

I have a pair of guineas that have been mated for 3 years. The male has become more and more aggressive towards the female, to the point he has pulled off all of her claws.
What would cause this over the years??

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I have a pair of guineas that have been mated for 3 years. The male has become more and more aggressive towards the female, to the point he has pulled off all of her claws.
What would cause this over the years??

First off, Welcome to Backyard Chickens!!!

Second: OMG! Really?? Her claws, like her toenails??? That sounds really terrible, and I wouldn’t leave them together. I think that @Sydney65 had a Guinea cock who's toes were pecked at by the rest of the flock. Is your male otherwise aggressive to her? Maybe he started pecking her toes, drew blood, and so is attracted to the wounds? Also, Guineas can behave strangely when they don’t have a large enough flock of guineas. How many do you have?

 

[NKa]

Thank you! Happy to join.

No he is pretty good with her otherwise. They free range over about 3 acres. and I have 2 other females out with them. I thought this was very weird behaviour

 

[R2elk]

Thank you! Happy to join.

No he is pretty good with her otherwise. They free range over about 3 acres. and I have 2 other females out with them. I thought this was very weird behaviour

Not enough guineas for proper flock behavior.

 

[Sydney65]

I have a pair of guineas that have been mated for 3 years. The male has become more and more aggressive towards the female, to the point he has pulled off all of her claws.
What would cause this over the years??

All poultry can develop cannabilistic behavior - from feather picking to consumption. "There are several causes that can lead to cannibalism such as: light and overheating, crowd size, nutrition, injury/death, genetics and learned behaviour. Research has been conducted to attempt to understand why poultry engage in this behaviour, as it is not totally understood. There are known methods of control to reduce cannibalism such as crowd size control, beak trimming, light manipulation, perches, selective genetics and eyewear."
As mentioned, I had a hen who started in on her mate's toe early on, eventually leading me to amputate the toe. Oddly enough, once that toe was removed, she left him alone. Like yours, in all other respects, they were compatible, and he stood there letting her do it w/o fighting back.
Methionine is an amino acid/protein that has to be consumed bc the body doesn't produce it.
It's thought that if the feed doesn't have a sufficient amt., it can lead to feather picking and other cannabilistic behavior.
The nutritional needs can be confounding w/mixed flocks, bc the male can't tolerate high calcium found in layer feed and the female can't successfully produce eggs w/o it. Using Gamebird feed would require flip flopping between seasons and separate guidelines by gender, so after using Startena for keets, most find a good all flock feed to use w/a separate bowl to provide calcium for the hens.
*IMO*- I don't think hierarchy is your issue with 1 male and 3 hens; essentially you have 1 alpha male w /a harem.
Regarding flock size -Large flocks are preferred bc the bigger the flock w/addequate housing, "social order breaks down & dominance is more difficult to establish."
Conversely, "in a small flock social order can easily organize itself".
In my case, I had a small flock..or possibly 2 mini flocks, bc they were a hatchery shipped mix of jumbos & standards; as they grew the jumbos were obviously dominant, but they also didn't trouble themselves w/the status issues that went on between the standards, like fighting,chasing,etc.
In my situation, because I came to this group, I knew I was feeding them optimally from the get go. Bc the toe pecking started so young, I tend to think that her behavior fell into genetic or learned behavior- they eat mice and worms & are attracted to blood, so after the 1st time she took note of that little toe & drew blood, the chase was on. Oddly enough, she didn't go for another after I removed it, & it's absence didn't slow him down.

 

[NKa]

All poultry can develop cannabilistic behavior - from feather picking to consumption. "There are several causes that can lead to cannibalism such as: light and overheating, crowd size, nutrition, injury/death, genetics and learned behaviour. Research has been conducted to attempt to understand why poultry engage in this behaviour, as it is not totally understood. There are known methods of control to reduce cannibalism such as crowd size control, beak trimming, light manipulation, perches, selective genetics and eyewear."
As mentioned, I had a hen who started in on her mate's toe early on, eventually leading me to amputate the toe. Oddly enough, once that toe was removed, she left him alone. Like yours, in all other respects, they were compatible, and he stood there letting her do it w/o fighting back.
Methionine is an amino acid/protein that has to be consumed bc the body doesn't produce it.
It's thought that if the feed doesn't have a sufficient amt., it can lead to feather picking and other cannabilistic behavior.
The nutritional needs can be confounding w/mixed flocks, bc the male can't tolerate high calcium found in layer feed and the female can't successfully produce eggs w/o it. Using Gamebird feed would require flip flopping between seasons and separate guidelines by gender, so after using Startena for keets, most find a good all flock feed to use w/a separate bowl to provide calcium for the hens.
*IMO*- I don't think hierarchy is your issue with 1 male and 3 hens; essentially you have 1 alpha male w /a harem.
Regarding flock size -Large flocks are preferred bc the bigger the flock w/addequate housing, "social order breaks down & dominance is more difficult to establish."
Conversely, "in a small flock social order can easily organize itself".
In my case, I had a small flock..or possibly 2 mini flocks, bc they were a hatchery shipped mix of jumbos & standards; as they grew the jumbos were obviously dominant, but they also didn't trouble themselves w/the status issues that went on between the standards, like fighting,chasing,etc.
In my situation, because I came to this group, I knew I was feeding them optimally from the get go. Bc the toe pecking started so young, I tend to think that her behavior fell into genetic or learned behavior- they eat mice and worms & are attracted to blood, so after the 1st time she took note of that little toe & drew blood, the chase was on. Oddly enough, she didn't go for another after I removed it, & it's absence didn't slow him down.

Thank you very much for your detailed reply!