Guinea cocks getting more aggressive

[GoodGuinea]

We have 3 guinea hens and 2 guinea cocks. The cocks have become very aggressive lately, with each other and the hens. They pick on everyone, but mostly on the smallest of the hens, Kitty. She ranges by herself most of the time, and is scared to come home in the evening. Inside the run, she usually sits on a roost up and away from the others. But lately I've noticed that her brothers will fly up there and push her off, so they can chase her around on the ground again. I'm afraid they're going to hurt her, or that she'll refuse to come home and get eaten by predators. (We have a lot of predators here. I'm kind of amazed Kitty hasn't been picked off already, since she's alone so much.)

Our setup will allow for temporary separation of birds, but not permanent. I'm not sure what to do other than get rid of the two males. I don't know if I can rehome them. I can't think of who would want a pair of guinea cock bullies. We've never had to cull a bird before.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well culling a bird is probably your best option. Someone might want the bullied hen? If you remove her, will the others get along? Or will the boys pick on a one of the other hens. It has been years since I was around guineas (a child) I think they roosted in the trees. Grandpa had them because they kept snakes down.

What I am saying is, when you keep a flock, not all the birds will do well in that flock. Sometimes one must remove the bully, sometimes the victim, but wishing they would all get along seldom works. We have all been there. You need to be proactive, what you have now is not working. Thing is once you do make the decision and cary through, and get peace in the flock, you will like them a lot better.

A fighting flock is miserable to be around or in.

Mrs K

 

[GoodGuinea]

Well culling a bird is probably your best option. Someone might want the bullied hen? If you remove her, will the others get along? Or will the boys pick on a one of the other hens. It has been years since I was around guineas (a child) I think they roosted in the trees. Grandpa had them because they kept snakes down.

What I am saying is, when you keep a flock, not all the birds will do well in that flock. Sometimes one must remove the bully, sometimes the victim, but wishing they would all get along seldom works. We have all been there. You need to be proactive, what you have now is not working. Thing is once you do make the decision and cary through, and get peace in the flock, you will like them a lot better.

A fighting flock is miserable to be around or in.

Mrs K

Thank you. My guess is that if the little one left, they'd pick on one of the other hens. They just seem so all-around aggressive. We had another bully a couple years ago, but he got picked off by a predator and we didn't have to do anything ourselves. Everyone else got along fine once he was gone.

Maybe I'll see if anyone wants them on Craigslist, since they're good for tick control. If not, we'll have to cull them. Gulp.

 

[aart]

I've heard they are pretty tasty.