Guinea talk.

[pattyhen]

I hope they learn from their time out not to go next door anymore. That's cute they dug holes to get you back. The little brats.

I've got 2 on my back porch now beggin to come in. Mom it's cold out here.

They don't like the cold temps.

 

[pattyhen]

Spiderman and his feet were muddy my pants were clean before I held him.

 

[Dmontgomery]

You're not supposed to play favorites. Mary Jane wanted up too.

 

[pattyhen]

I held Mary Jane first before we got the video going. I think she was the muddiest.

 

[Victoria-nola]

Hey folks,
I'm new to this thread, have been on Guineas 101 asking lots of questions over the last 6 months or so. Love our guineas, they are so entertaining and massive change in the tick population around our small farm. We have pet potbelly pigs, chickens, cats, and a couple of house dogs. We have now 22 guineas, I hatched them from shipped eggs, and they free-range during day and have their own coop that they really feel ownership of and go there every evening and will go there when it's raining, many times a day to eat grain, definitely treat it like home base. They've always been quiet at night after I close the door, but the last couple weeks they have been very loud at times at night, I can sometimes hear them from inside the house, so I'm sure it's not just because they've figured out when they hear the door open I've come out on the porch, or something like that. I am wondering why the sudden pronounced change in behavior? Is it possibly because it's colder at night? We're in Southwest Mississippi, nighttime temps have been mainly in upper 40s and low 50s since early Nov, with some colder periods like the last couple nights, down to near 30.

Any explanations out there?

 

[guineapeeps]

Hey folks,
I'm new to this thread, have been on Guineas 101 asking lots of questions over the last 6 months or so. Love our guineas, they are so entertaining and massive change in the tick population around our small farm. We have pet potbelly pigs, chickens, cats, and a couple of house dogs.  We have now 22 guineas, I hatched them from shipped eggs, and they free-range during day and have their own coop that they really feel ownership of and go there every evening and will go there when it's raining, many times a day to eat grain, definitely treat it like home base. They've always been quiet at night after I close the door, but the last couple weeks they have been very loud at times at night, I can sometimes hear them from inside the house, so I'm sure it's not just because they've figured out when they hear the door open I've come out on the porch, or something like that.  I am wondering why the sudden pronounced change in behavior?  Is it possibly because it's colder at night?  We're in Southwest Mississippi, nighttime temps have been mainly in upper 40s and low 50s since early Nov, with some colder periods like the last couple nights, down to near 30.

Any explanations out there?

Welcome....Glad you joined the thread!
I had a few younger males that would do the same thing at night, just after dark. One of them was taken by a predator and the other that I still have, has stopped doing it now that he is older (he is 3 years old now and hasn't done that since he was about a year old or so). They seemed to feed off each other and were so loud that I would go out to the coop sometimes just to make sure nothing was wrong with them! I'm not sure why they do that, unless it's just part of being young and immature? Hopefully someone else on here can shed more light on the reason they behave that way!

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote:
Ok, thanks, what was strange is that they didn't always do this, it has only recently developed. I was also wondering if it could be because their solar-powered light is now white instead of red-- they kept picking off the red cover I'd made so I've just been leaving it off. But maybe it's just normal-ish.

At the risk of my original question getting lost in the crush, I also want to describe some things that have happened recently. One, you already know about, the flock killed a female, I don't know why but I'm told they will do that if there is a problem with a bird; I buried her about 20 feet from the coop and the guineas observed me doing it but kept their distance. I felt pretty bad about it but finally accepted that it's just part of the package of what guineas are.

Then, a female injured herself trying to fly out the door of the coop, but missed and hit the area above the door, fell down and couldn't get up-- my husb brought her to me, we watched her for a while but she seemed to get better, at least, was able to move around on her own. I didn't keep custody of her and she got driven out by the others-- she slept alone next to the chickens' bachelor pad for maybe a couple of weeks. She healed up and eventually rejoined the group, except now she has some individual behaviors that are different, such as she'll walk off and be by herself, go forage with the chickens a while or join in their scratch ration in the afternoon (the guinea flock gets their own separate ration), or just occasionally still spends the night in her special place. It's funny, because now I recognize her because of her behavior.

Then, 2 mornings ago, 2 of the guinea hens were killed on the road. I heard a car go by honking, but it was on down several hundred yards and ignored it until the second car did it. Tore outside and out to the road and there was a bunch of guineas gathered on the road, trying to get a not-quite-dead flockmate to get up and get moving. The group was gathered in the road hovering over her while one, a male, pecked at her a bit, not like in the eye or earhole, but like on her wing that was reacting kind of in a reflexive way. Anyway, it was very clear to me that they weren't trying to hurt her, they were trying to get a rise out of her to get her moving again. I moved the very dead one out of the road and then picked up the still-alive bird and carried her to the house, the guineas flocking back to the house as well. They hung out in a group and I was cradling the bird I'd wrapped in a sarong, her pulse fading, and she was gone in 5-10 minutes. Husb Bill went and got the other one's body and we took them down by the coop to bury. The flock followed us and hung around, eventually several of them came close, right up to the 2 bodies, and a male, probably the same male, did some of the same pecking at the same bird, trying to get her to come back. The flock hung around all the while we dug the hole and buried them, coming in closer and then moving off a little bit. My sense of it is that the male was already bonded with that female who died, and that she was important to the integrity of the flock, because the flock has been in disarray since her death, slowly coming back together but clearly affected. To both Bill and me, it is incredibly clear that it matters to the guineas that she was killed-- they care, and they know she's gone.

I spent the rest of the day being on high alert about the guineas being in the road-- they've been going over the to neighbors (who like them) but sometimes would wind up standing in the road arguing about where to go next. So I went out over and over all that day to shoo them out of the road and lecture them about safety. Then the next day, and earlier today, they stayed much closer in and I never found them sitting in the road although they got close enough once I shooed them way and lectured them again. I know people have trouble with guineas and roads; I'm hoping that maybe the fact they experienced a sense of loss might help them learn not to.

 

[pattyhen]

Hey folks,
I'm new to this thread, have been on Guineas 101 asking lots of questions over the last 6 months or so. Love our guineas, they are so entertaining and massive change in the tick population around our small farm. We have pet potbelly pigs, chickens, cats, and a couple of house dogs. We have now 22 guineas, I hatched them from shipped eggs, and they free-range during day and have their own coop that they really feel ownership of and go there every evening and will go there when it's raining, many times a day to eat grain, definitely treat it like home base. They've always been quiet at night after I close the door, but the last couple weeks they have been very loud at times at night, I can sometimes hear them from inside the house, so I'm sure it's not just because they've figured out when they hear the door open I've come out on the porch, or something like that. I am wondering why the sudden pronounced change in behavior? Is it possibly because it's colder at night? We're in Southwest Mississippi, nighttime temps have been mainly in upper 40s and low 50s since early Nov, with some colder periods like the last couple nights, down to near 30.

Any explanations out there?

Hi and welcome to the group. You have a nice assortment of birds and animals. If I lived in the country I would have way to many pets I'm sure.

I think you solved your question in your later post. The red light now being white. Any little change will be noticed and loudly addressed by the squalking. That is my guess I think I would try and put something red over the bulb and see how that works. Good luck.

 

[pattyhen]

Ok, thanks, what was strange is that they didn't always do this, it has only recently developed. I was also wondering if it could be because their solar-powered light is now white instead of red-- they kept picking off the red cover I'd made so I've just been leaving it off. But maybe it's just normal-ish.

At the risk of my original question getting lost in the crush, I also want to describe some things that have happened recently. One, you already know about, the flock killed a female, I don't know why but I'm told they will do that if there is a problem with a bird; I buried her about 20 feet from the coop and the guineas observed me doing it but kept their distance. I felt pretty bad about it but finally accepted that it's just part of the package of what guineas are.

Then, a female injured herself trying to fly out the door of the coop, but missed and hit the area above the door, fell down and couldn't get up-- my husb brought her to me, we watched her for a while but she seemed to get better, at least, was able to move around on her own. I didn't keep custody of her and she got driven out by the others-- she slept alone next to the chickens' bachelor pad for maybe a couple of weeks. She healed up and eventually rejoined the group, except now she has some individual behaviors that are different, such as she'll walk off and be by herself, go forage with the chickens a while or join in their scratch ration in the afternoon (the guinea flock gets their own separate ration), or just occasionally still spends the night in her special place. It's funny, because now I recognize her because of her behavior.

Then, 2 mornings ago, 2 of the guinea hens were killed on the road. I heard a car go by honking, but it was on down several hundred yards and ignored it until the second car did it. Tore outside and out to the road and there was a bunch of guineas gathered on the road, trying to get a not-quite-dead flockmate to get up and get moving. The group was gathered in the road hovering over her while one, a male, pecked at her a bit, not like in the eye or earhole, but like on her wing that was reacting kind of in a reflexive way. Anyway, it was very clear to me that they weren't trying to hurt her, they were trying to get a rise out of her to get her moving again. I moved the very dead one out of the road and then picked up the still-alive bird and carried her to the house, the guineas flocking back to the house as well. They hung out in a group and I was cradling the bird I'd wrapped in a sarong, her pulse fading, and she was gone in 5-10 minutes. Husb Bill went and got the other one's body and we took them down by the coop to bury. The flock followed us and hung around, eventually several of them came close, right up to the 2 bodies, and a male, probably the same male, did some of the same pecking at the same bird, trying to get her to come back. The flock hung around all the while we dug the hole and buried them, coming in closer and then moving off a little bit. My sense of it is that the male was already bonded with that female who died, and that she was important to the integrity of the flock, because the flock has been in disarray since her death, slowly coming back together but clearly affected. To both Bill and me, it is incredibly clear that it matters to the guineas that she was killed-- they care, and they know she's gone.

I spent the rest of the day being on high alert about the guineas being in the road-- they've been going over the to neighbors (who like them) but sometimes would wind up standing in the road arguing about where to go next. So I went out over and over all that day to shoo them out of the road and lecture them about safety. Then the next day, and earlier today, they stayed much closer in and I never found them sitting in the road although they got close enough once I shooed them way and lectured them again. I know people have trouble with guineas and roads; I'm hoping that maybe the fact they experienced a sense of loss might help them learn not to.

I'm sorry for the loss of your guineas. Thats strange that they killed the female guinea. I just wonder if she had something wrong with her. Then the other two getting hit by a car. That is so sad and I do feel like they have emotions the same as we do. I've heard of guineas dieing of grief when their partner gets killed. We've had many chicken funerals before. Most of the chickens will attend they seem to know that is the end and they are paying their respects.

We only have the 2 guineas and I've never experienced the flock dynamics before. Spiderman is the male and he is happy go lucky and likes to tease the ducks and sometimes Mary Jane. Mary Jane is totally serious and will set Spiderman straight if he bumps into her.

I hope they stay out of the road. They did see what would happen if they stayed there when a car come along. They are a lot smarter then people give them credit for. That was a hard lesson for them to learn and I hope they remember it.

Thanks again for joining the group and we will help you all we can. I don't have a lot of knowledge about them i am still learning. Our guineas are a joy to have and I'm enjoying the experience of being owned by them.

Have a great day.

 

[GlennLee]

Hi Victoria-Nola - welcome to the Guinea Talk thread. One thing I thought of as I was reading through what you and others posted was - I notice a difference in my flock when one is killed. It's like their whole social structure comes unglued until they can figure out the new dynamic, especially if the missing member was further up on the pecking order. If they are lower, then the flock only needs to find a new one to pick on. If it's a bird with more clout, then they fight me going back into the coop, they act like it's their first time roosting and some who were once docile, take on the role of keeping others in line. So, I'm wondering if on top of the red light turning white (which if it's too bright now, it will keep them up), all the loss they are having to work through is a part of it too. It may take them a while to get reorganized. Thanks for posting and good luck with your flock!