Can't tell what gender my guineas

[gjgarre]

I recently bought a few adult guineas, and I have no idea how to tell them apart. I know they say you have to listen to the sounds they make, but mine wont make a sound. Even when scared they are silent. Is there any other way to tell? I am really hoping to have a male and female.

Thanks

 

[critters]

guessing from what you have written that you have 2 guineas....
if they are still penned up, which I hope they are, you can take one
out of the pen and walk away so neither bird can see the other...
then wait...they will call at each other...
if one makes a 'buck-wheat' 'buck-wheat' type sound, that would be a female
and if neither make that sound then yeah, you may have 2 boys...

you said they were adult guineas....do you know how old they are?

you can also tell by the waddle things on each side of their head/face
but the call is a sure thing.

someone else may chime in and suggest something else but think knowing
their age would be helpful...

good luck and enjoy your guineas! They are additive!

 

[gjgarre]

You're right, I do have two guineas. They are secured in a house in the backyard, probably going to keep them confined for a few weeks so they know where home is. I am not sure of their age, but they are adults and I was told they are at least laying age. What should i look for in the wattles?

 

[PeepsCA]

I'd keep them confined for 6 wks MINIMUM, just 2 Guineas will want to wander off looking for the rest of their flock. They are VERY flock oriented, and probably will not be content with just 2 of them. You may have issues keeping them home because of this.

You can search youtube for Guinea Fowl calls... if one or both of your birds make the 2 syllable call (that sounds like buck-wheat or puh-track.. or even butt-crack, lol) then then you have a Hen (or 2 if they both make that call.. males do NOT ever make that 2 syllable call). If all they do is scream CHI-CHI-CHI and squawk at you most likely have males. Wattles are not always accurate indicators of gender on Guinea Fowl.

 

[BarbaraNH]

I think hens are a lot easier to keep closer to home than males. If your new guineas are hens, I think you will find that keeping them confined for a "few" weeks will be enough time for them to feel comfortable with their new living arrangement. That's just my opinion from having had a small flock of guineas over many years. We took in a male from the farm just 1/4 away, and we only kept him confined for a week before allowing him to free range. He wanted to stay with our flock, so we had no problems with him wandering back to his old home next door. Just be sure to keep a close eye on your hens when they are released and guide them back into their "new" coop if you need to. Once they've done that a few times, I think they should continue to do so. Nothing is absolute in the world of guineas, however, so you might need to adjust your methods if ideas you try don't work out. I wish you luck in any case.

 

[PeepsCA]

The Hens are the ones that wander off the farthest in my flocks (to lay eggs), so my suggestion of keeping them in for the full 6 wks this time of the year, aka the laying/breeding season is a well grounded one. Hens will want to wander off and lay eggs with or without a male to fertilize them.

If it turns out you do have a Hen (or 2)... unless you enjoy daily egg hunts, and the possibility of losing a bird (or 2 if they are both Hens) you're going to want your Hens to lay eggs in the coop/pen, not wander off and nest/lay somewhere unsafe where the neighbor's dog or any other type of predator will be eating her and her eggs. The 6 wks confinement is not only going to help imprint them on a new home, but it's also going to help condition the Hen or Hens to only lay in the coop (if it turns out that you even have any Hen that is).

Personally I'd rather error on the side of caution, and keep them in for 6 wks and not risk losing birds and/or eggs.

Oh and gjgarre... if you cage one bird and take it out of sight but still keep them within earshot of the other... if either one is a Hen she will start buck-wheating (calling to the other bird) within a few minutes. It also helps if you stay out of their sight while they are separated too.


And of course your male stuck around after only a week Barbara, there were Hens there that were already imprinted on their home... food, shelter and women! What lonely male is going to walk away from THAT, lol

 

[BarbaraNH]

I guess I'm just more of a rebel, Peeps, and I like to live dangerously.

Or maybe I just have more time to spend following my birds around. LOL If a guinea takes off searching for a place to lay her eggs, I just follow her and guide her back home. They certainly can have a mind of their own sometimes. Whatever works for anyone else is fine with me.

I suppose I should offer an explanation about why I recommend less of a confinement period for new adult guineas. First of all, I do not feel that your advice is not valid or well grounded advice. If somebody wants to handle their guineas by keeping them confined for 6 weeks or more, and especially if they have the proper coop to do so, I have no objection to anyone doing it that way. I know that it works for some, if not most; but I don't believe it is the right approach for everyone. There are lots of reasons why somebody might not want to keep their guineas confined for that long. Their coop may not comfortably house all of the guineas they have, other than for a roosting arrangement, and fighting may develop between males and/or females. Somebody may be in a hurry to allow their guineas to free range to help with an overload of ticks on their property. Some may feel the frustration of their guineas as the guineas pace back and forth obviously yearning for the freedom of the range. Over the years, probably at least 10 or more, I've read many posts where people have complained that they had "followed the rules" and kept their guineas locked up for the required 6 week period (and often for more weeks than that) only to release them and then have them take to the trees or disappear completely. They post asking what they did wrong and often want to know what they need to do to avoid that disaster if or when they try again with another group of guineas. I know that many have no problems when they release their guineas after a long confinement period, but obviously that is not always the case. I just don't feel that keeping them confined for a long time is what guarantees that they will return to their coop after they are released. I don't believe that anything can be "imprinted" on a grown guinea. Scientifically the period of time when something can be imprinted on any bird has been researched and found to be only within the first 7 days of being hatched in most species. With guineas, at least, they do learn by repetition. Keeping them confined and forcing them to roost in the same location does repeat that roosting behavior and does reinforce the thought in their brain, but how long does it take for a guinea to learn to do something? I don't think it takes a full 6 weeks. I think that, in most cases, a couple or maybe 3 or 4 weeks is sufficient. I don't know why some return and some don't, but I suspect that it has more to do with what's outside of the coop rather than what's inside, and what is outside can vary so much from one property to another. That's why guiding guineas back after their first release is helpful. After a couple of guided returns, they should be comfortable making the trip back on their own. My advice is offered for anyone who would like to try a shorter confinement period for their guineas and is not meant to demean anyone else's well thought out advice.

As to Ranger's choice of staying or leaving, he was petrified by my two aggressive males that constantly pummeled him while he attempted to join the rest of my flock. Yes, there were some females I'm sure he must have been drawn to, but those males didn't make his stay pleasant in the least. I don't think it was an easy choice for him to make. His confinement for the week was in a very small section of the coop, only about 2' by 4' by 18" tall. I'm glad he chose to stay when we released him after only a week. I would never recommend only a week for most guineas. I think they usually need to be confined for longer than that if they are adult birds.