guinea foul

[ameraucanacrazy]

i have a white male and his female die because of a hawk i need help he is in with my chickens he is running them of the food and attacking them does he need a female or is this just playing arround help

 

[PortageGirl]

Guineas are often quite pushy, you didn't say how old your hens are, and if you have a roo, but they'll probably get sick of it and put him in his place.. It probably would make him happier if he had some guinea hens to socialize with though.

 

[dancingbear]

Guineas are very social, and if they don't have a flock, they get weird. Not that they aren't weird anyway, but they get very panicky and desperate. They are uncomfortable without at least 3, even if it's all males or all females, they just aren't happy without some other guineas.

A few years back, we'd gotten down to 3 guineas, all male, one finally died of old age. The remaining two stuck together, and we noticed that one of them was flying back up here to the house in the evenings before they roosted for the night. He'd go down to the coop with the other one, set up a squawk, then run back up here, squawk by the back door, go back to the coop, and repeat until it got dark. He did that every night. We finally figured out what was wrong.

We'd had a TV bite the dust, and it was sitting out back until we could haul it off. He was seeing his own reflection on the screen, and trying to get that other guinea to join them on the roof of the coop.

We bought some keets at a swap meet, and put them in one of the runs, one with an old dog house in it for a shelter, until they got old enough to join the two adult birds. Those two instantly recognized baby guineas, and spent most of the day hanging around outside the wire, talking to the babies. When they got big enough, and we let the little ones out, they joined right up with the adults. As evil tempered and ornery as guineas can be, it was obvious they were happy to have a real flock again.

Chickens will walk right by a dead chicken, ignore it or peck at it. When guineas lose one of the flock, they gather around and look at it, and will squawk and carry on, very disturbed. They'll go away, but keep coming back to look at the dead one until you remove it.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Guinea fowl require at least three to make the "uni mind".
They are extremely sociable and you need to have the same
color for the three pearl, white, purple or whatever. strange though
it my be they recognized their fellow fowls colors. Chickens do the
same thing.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
I disagree, I have several colors of guineas, and chickens, and they don't pay any attention to that. I have 13 guineas, pearl, coral blue, lavender, white, purple, and buff guineas. They all hang out together in one big flock. 32 chickens, many colors, and there are 3 hens that are always together, one a buff orp, one a black 'lorp, the other a small dark grey and white penciled mixed breed.

If you have a flock of all one breed, and add one or two radically different looking birds, it might make a difference, but I wouldn't bet on it. They would be more likely to just pick on them at first because they're new to the flock.

 

[sandypaws]

yeah.. my guineas are JERKS.. they are very push to the chickens, thats why i have them in a HUGE yard, not in the smaller pens... they even seperated one out of the guinea "flock",, i assume it is a rival male...
mine have always been panicky, i just thought it was the way guineas ARE.. very high strung

 

[marytoast]

I am down to one male guinea also. I was thinking of giving him to someone with a large flock. We can't seem to catch him though. Any suggestions? He seems so lonely!

 

[dancingbear]

Moving adult guineas can be tricky. If you move them to a place without guineas already, you have to keep them penned about a month, or they'll just take off when you turn them loose. If there's a flock already there, you might get away with it, if you're only adding 1-3 more. They'd be more likely to stick with the established flock than to take off on their own. It'd probably be best to pen new ones for awhile before letting them mingle with the established flock, partly for health reasons, (quarantine period) and partly so they can all see and hear each other, and get somewhat acquainted before being turned loose together. There will still be some squabbles, that's just how they are.

Catching them is hard, too. If he goes into the coop to eat or anything, the easiest way is to trap them inside, then wait until after dark to actually lay your hands on him and cage for transport.

I'd personally would avoid introducing new adult guineas during mating season. They nearly chase each other to death as it is, when they already have established relationships.

 

[jvls1942]

catch your guinea at night in the dark with the light from a flashlight to see..

do not hold them by the feet as you would a chicken because their legs are very easy to break accidentally..

in the daytime you can corral them and catch them with a fish net..

just be advised, they learn very quickly what a net is.. and they never forget.. once caught (or missed) with a net, you will never catch them on open ground again.

 

[crtrlovr]

and did anyone mention that when you're holding one (for any reason, as in to trim wings) they can kick like a MULE??? they're VERY, VERY strong for their size...