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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.
