Can you get sexed Guineas ?

[TxChickenGirl]

I originally bout 5 Guineas but 2 turned out to be mails. We had to get rid of them because they were picking on my rooster Fogie and I had read on line that they will run your rooster raged until they end up killing him. The girls get along fine. They help keep a watch over my flock. Once my neighbors huge dog was out staring at my birds thru the fence and the 3 Guineas started screeching at it so she left which really made the Guineas worth there weight to me. I don't want to buy more and get stuck with mails. Thanks For any advise.

 

[speckledhen]

Nope. Never heard of anyone anywhere sexing guineas. Males and females both can harass chickens, though the males are worse about it. I know this from experience, which is why I do not currently have guineas and won't until I can have them in a different building and in a larger group. They do better as a bigger group because they form their own society and are less obsessed with hassling the chickens.

 

[D Kluck]

We have 5 guineas(3 females & 2 males) and they hang out with the chickens without any problems.

 

[speckledhen]

We have 5 guineas(3 females & 2 males) and they hang out with the chickens without any problems.

For every one person who says this, there are 50 who tell you the opposite. Mine almost killed my rooster and had every red hen I owned hiding in the nest boxes or flying to me for protection. Why they zeroed in on the red hens only, I have no idea, but they did. The key is sometimes the numbers. I had 11 chickens and 4 guineas. If I'd had 20 guineas living in a separate area, it might have been different. They do better in larger groups, but the number of chickens and number of guineas were too close.

Sooner or later, especially as they reach laying/breeding age, guineas may begin aggression toward chickens. They are absolutely nothing like domesticated chickens.

 

[D Kluck]

so far they haven't been any problems....the quineas are 2-1/2 years old... we have about 70 chickens ... and 7 ducks..

the guineas roost together with the chickens every nite with no problems... also i know 2 other farmers with about the same ratio of guineas to to hens...no problems either...

maybe is all about the ratio?

 

[speckledhen]

Could be that you have plenty of chickens and the fact that they outnumber the guineas is working in your favor. My numbers were too close, certainly. I just don't want folks getting guineas and being completely taken off guard when problems start up. More people have issues than don't from what I've seen. The only real book on guinea raising that is popular, that Gardening with Guineas, only hints at the trouble they can be by using the cryptic saying "guineas rule" in the barnyard. She should have elaborated on it far better than she did but her aim was to promote guineas.


Don't get me wrong, I loved my guineas. Mine were tamed. And I plan to have them again some day, but I will manage them differently.

Here is a picture from back then, my DH with the guineas. You can see why we hated to give them up.

 

[D Kluck]

nice pic.... thats super....we can't get near ours... they are very wary birds

 

[Bean789]

For every one person who says this, there are 50 who tell you the opposite. Mine almost killed my rooster and had every red hen I owned hiding in the nest boxes or flying to me for protection. Why they zeroed in on the red hens only, I have no idea, but they did. The key is sometimes the numbers. I had 11 chickens and 4 guineas. If I'd had 20 guineas living in a separate area, it might have been different. They do better in larger groups, but the number of chickens and number of guineas were too close.

Sooner or later, especially as they reach laying/breeding age, guineas may begin aggression toward chickens. They are absolutely nothing like domesticated chickens.

As you can see from the date, I found this post about the guineas aggression towards chickens. I currently have 4 guineas being raised with 6 pullets (they will soon join another 7 pullets in the coop for a total of 13 pullets to 4 guineas). Yesterday, while the younger bunch was free ranging with their 6 coop mates, one of the guineas became aggressive with my barred rock, who happens to be top of the pecking order in that pullet group. They are all the same age, guineas and chickens. After a little while, I saw another guineas aggression towards the same barred rock. Is the normal aggression towards roos only? Thinking maybe my BR might be a roo after all.

 

[speckledhen]

As you can see from the date, I found this post about the guineas aggression towards chickens. I currently have 4 guineas being raised with 6 pullets (they will soon join another 7 pullets in the coop for a total of 13 pullets to 4 guineas). Yesterday, while the younger bunch was free ranging with their 6 coop mates, one of the guineas became aggressive with my barred rock, who happens to be top of the pecking order in that pullet group. They are all the same age, guineas and chickens. After a little while, I saw another guineas aggression towards the same barred rock. Is the normal aggression towards roos only? Thinking maybe my BR might be a roo after all.

No, not necessarily. Mine started with my BR rooster, who was almost a year old when he joined the flock and met the guineas. Then, they started on the hens, only the three red ones, though. They left the BR hens and all other hens alone. Who knows what's in a guinea's head? I couldn't say.

 

[Bean789]

No, not necessarily. Mine started with my BR rooster, who was almost a year old when he joined the flock and met the guineas. Then, they started on the hens, only the three red ones, though. They left the BR hens and all other hens alone. Who knows what's in a guinea's head? I couldn't say.

Thanks! You answered very quickly. They don't seem to mess with any of the others in the flock....yet! I don't have any red hens at all in that group but do have an EE in the older group who is more read than buff/brown. I will keep my eyes on them though as I have a very small bantam Silkie in that mix.