Guinea talk.

[pattyhen]

Thanks Martinspoultry for joining us. You have some very pretty guineas I love all the different colors. They do have their own little personalities don't they? My male talks nonstop and the female is pretty quiet except for when she sees something strange. Strange can be anything from an airplane going over or someone wearing a different color shoe. I tried the fermented food with our ducks, chickens and guineas and they didn't seem to be impressed with it. I think they may like it better in the wintertime. It really did draw the flies which we have plenty of it here.

My ducks have their own coop and the guineas go in the chicken coop at night. The guineas like to tease the ducks by chasing but they don't bite them. They just kind of ignore the chickens for some reason. I hope you can get everyone intregrated by the time winter comes.

Thanks for sharing the pics with us and have a nice evening.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

Thanks for having me, my name is Christy my fiance will be posting at times as well his name is James. Our ducks are going in their own coop but as for the guineas, chickens and turkeys they had some time outside and my turks seem to hate the chatter the guineas make, its almost like with how much they talk its intimidating to them. We did have more chickens with the guineas they were two roos that would terrorize them and the rest of the poultry. One rooster died over night for some odd reason and the other one I was moving into a holding pin to hopefully break the nasty habit of head stomping the other birds and he squirreled away from me and hid in my over grown garden, James and I spent a few hours trying to get him out and we couldn't so I let him stay in his hiding place. I go out the next morning and he was nowhere to be found then night came and I saw the culprit an 18" tall bobcat sitting near my garden. But since both roos are now gone everyone is more calm and working together to the point the guineas circle the remaining chickens my two hens and will alarm at my in-laws car or my fiances truck in the driveway. Its a sight to see.

Sorry for the edits I'm working from mobile and typoed a bit.

 

[GlennLee]

Took a lot of work with them, also had them in a brooder in my room when they were small keets kind of helped some, they always got to hear my voice and other noises in the house. I read some articles when we first got them that holding was bad, I did it anyways but moderately, 5 minutes a day then increased the time and it helped, they still have their moments where they don't want to be touched but thats any animal.

Thanks I'm happy i made the leap and got into poultry and joined this site after browsing it for a while. Everyone seems awesome and friendly

Welcome to this thread, Chrissy and James! We all LOVE our Guinea Fowl and enjoy sharing stories and asking for advice for our peeps and from our peeps!

It looks and sounds like you are hooked on Guieas as well. Your birds are just beautiful! I love the color variety you have and it's great that you know them individually and can get a read on their personalities. How nice that you have spent time handling them and they enjoy that (in moderation and when they want to, of course). The work you spend with them while they are keets is time consuming, but well worth it in the long run.

I only have a flock of guineas and the number keeps changing depending on predator consumption.

We just lost another one the other day - I think to a hawk based on the feather pattern left behind- so we are at 12 now. We've had ongoing issues with coyotes and have recently seen evidence of bobcats.

I do have some favorites int the flock and am hoping they stick around until laying season in the spring - I would love to replenish the flock - and my Ella (short for Cinderella because she looks like she's wearing glass slippers with her white feet) went broody on a communal nest of 38 eggs in September! No hatchings - too late in the season and we were going away on vacation. I think she'll be a great mom.

Since I only have Guineas, I can't help out with ideas related to intermixing them with other poultry, but there are others here who do have that knowledge and experience. So glad that you joined us and I'm looking forward to reading more stories and seeing more pictures. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[MartinsPoultry]

I do love them, my males more than my female though as the boys are more hand social then my girls. I'm hoping for eggs next year when we get a new batch of meets from a different breeder even though he was nice and also gave me a free chicken chick with them she thinks she's a guinea its funny.

Predators are a huge issue, feral cats, bobcats, coyotes and hawks. Just today we let the chickens, guineas and turkeys free range for two and a half hours before I went to finish shopping and everyone got along until a fairly large RTH flew over head and caused utter chaos leaving my blue guinea male running like a degraded chicken. I finally caught him in our pasture under a thick patch of over grown grass, sneeky little birds he thought I didn't see him.

So far no fights between turkeys, chickens and guineas when we let them out. But my question is, Is it normal for a flock of guineas to chase after a single guinea in the flock even if they were raised together? Mine do it with my female named Delta.

 

[GlennLee]

I do love them, my males more than my female though as the boys are more hand social then my girls. I'm hoping for eggs next year when we get a new batch of meets from a different breeder even though he was nice and also gave me a free chicken chick with them she thinks she's a guinea its funny.

Predators are a huge issue, feral cats, bobcats, coyotes and hawks. Just today we let the chickens, guineas and turkeys free range for two and a half hours before I went to finish shopping and everyone got along until a fairly large RTH flew over head and caused utter chaos leaving my blue guinea male running like a degraded chicken. I finally caught him in our pasture under a thick patch of over grown grass, sneeky little birds he thought I didn't see him.

So far no fights between turkeys, chickens and guineas when we let them out. But my question is, Is it normal for a flock of guineas to chase after a single guinea in the flock even if they were raised together? Mine do it with my female named Delta.

Happy Saturday everyone....

Christy & James - It's funny what the birds do to hide or at least they think they are hiding - at times I think I'm dealing with a toddler who thinks if they close their eyes, they will actually disappear! I have seen my birds just form a line and lay down, end to end, when a hawk is above them. I want to tell them, REALLY? You think that's going to save you?

Good to hear that your mix of poultry is getting along. Next year, my neighbor is planning to free range a flock of heritage turkeys. Since I free range my guineas, it will be more like having a shared farm with both turkeys and guineas. I may be checking in with you for ideas. My guess is for the most part, they will keep separate. It will be interesting to watch....

I have maintained my "main" flock (now only 8 out of 16 left) since May. Even when they were keets, there were alliances formed. I noticed pairs who would tend to stick together, comfort and groom one another, roost together, move together. As they got older and were free ranging, I noticed small groups - even though the flock was a cohesive whole, there were actually 2 sub flocks. Those groups were a bit fluid based on the outcome of courting rituals, illness and injuries, and deaths. Every time I lose one, it takes some time for them to re-establish their social ties. Their flock and sub group dynamics change as well as roosting line up.

Before I added my four new ones, hop-a-long Helen was at the bottom of the flock. She sustained an injury (I think from a rose thorn) and when she walks, she hobbles. Then, Lolita had a similar thing happen to her. I added the new ones and for a while, they were at the bottom, but now Helen and Lolita are even below the newbies. What I see in my flock is two sub groups - the four newbies and the two injured (even though they have somewhat recovered, they still aren't up to a very high social status) AND the second group which is made up of 3 males and 3 females. The second group rules and usually the males go after the newbie & injured group. It's not constant, but when they move as a flock or it's time to change locations or come in the barn, the males think it's their job to keep the others in line. Sometimes I bend down, point my finger at them and say, "YOU, YOU, YOU" in a gruff tone to make them stop. I don't know if it does any good, but it makes me feel better. Just so you know, I have always had some of that going on and it used to come from a dominant female as well, but she's now gone by way of coyote. The flock REALLY misses her, and if you were to watch her, you would see she was more "alpha" (not really a bird term, but you can get the gist) than some of the males. That's the problem with losing some of the dominant birds; it really rocks their world until they get their new dominance and social pattern re-established.

So, long story longer.... unfortunately that's the way of the flock and it seems to be more upsetting for us than it is for them. Just watch for any injuries and be ready to separate and treat. I have had to do that a couple of times, but mine have always assimilated back into the flock. Plus they really put up a fuss being separated - I think they just take the literal pecking order as a part of their life. I'd say if it gets really aggressive, you may want to re-home Delta, however, the flock could then chose a new target. I have 5 neighbors who maintain guinea flocks and sometimes, mixing up the flocks between us by adding and subtracting helps.

A related story, but not about guineas - my dog has issues being attacked by other dogs, usually females and I have to be super vigilant when walking her in a public place (especially when some people let their dogs off leash! So aggravating!). She has Horner's Syndrome - one eye is dilated smaller than another. I sometimes wonder if this triggers an attack. Animals don't have tolerance for the unsymmetrical. We can see this and know this about her, but with the guineas, there may be a subtle characteristic that we can't see, but they
pick up on. Just biological imprinting to keep the flock safe and the genetic line strong. That's why they target the sick and weak.

Hope this helps and good luck!


The final burst of autumn here from our October Glory Red Maple tree.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

That makes total since, she may have something wrong I cannot pick up on, do you think it could be because she's our only banded guinea? She was also the first guinea to obtain her adult voice in the brooder box.
I know who the dominant pair is within my small flock, my brown male Charlie and his mate Echo they are never far from each other even sleeping cuddled, and my Blue male dubbly named Blue is apart of this pair he's our beta male picking a fight once with Charlie and lost no blood just a lot of screaming and pecking all over a small thing like Charlie's roosting spot that Blue was roosting in.

If we have to regime her I will do so, as I don't want to see them push her out completely and her not getting food because of it, even though I normally see it outside of the coop more than inside.

And as for my turkeys with them the constant calling from Delta make my turkeys walk away from her. And when the flock of four goes off all birds heads look around, like they are accepting them as body guards with big mouths while they graze.

This has been about three weeks of a see no touch with runs next to each other and it seems to work until my brown chicken anya picks a fight with someone and then gets dealt with. I let it happen as its the pecking order and she starts it, I step in if its more than one on one with her or it gets to out of hand.

Just yesterday Anya picked a fight with my sweet grass hen a normally placid hen who takes a lot to upset her had enough of this little chickens attitude and put her in her place. The guineas didn't make a sound even though Anya is apart of their flock. They looked at her and walked away body language said it all, like they were saying "you are on your own this round chicken". She won't mess with her again that's for sure.

Guineas haven't even tried to mess with the turkeys even tried dusting with them but one of my Jakes nudged them away and their squirrelly nature out witted him. They even ate stewed apples together.

 

[GlennLee]

The band could have something to do with. I know guineas pick up on ANYTHING that's different. It would be worth a try, but still may take some time even after it's removed.

Yes, the flock keeping Delta from her food is another thing to watch for. With the 12 here, I keep 3 different feeders going, just to keep the options open for them depending on who is chasing who. Some BYCers even provide individual feeders for each bird. I don't think mine would even get that concept. With the three feeders, they still all try to crowd around the same one and if they get chased out, rather than going to another feeder, they just hang back until there's an opening. Silly birds!

I'll bet having chickens and turkeys in with the mix of guineas keeps things interesting! It's funny how the guineas keep trying to be a part of a flock they really don't belong to. It shows how social they are. Gotta love 'em!

 

[guineapeeps]

The final burst of autumn here from our October Glory Red Maple tree.

Love your picture....it's really pretty! Although your in a completely different part of the country, it makes me miss the trees, rolling hills, and mountains where I grew up (Washington State). I am in Iowa now. It's so flat that you can see your dog run away for 2 weeks! On the positive side, with hardly any hills or trees, we do have awsome sunsets, as there is nothing to obstruct the view.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

So I debanded her and now she is having a hissy, pecking at me even though I worked with her as a keet. My screen, fingers and chest she's hissing and pecking. Goody girl. Also had to fix Dom badly broken feathers via clipping, that made it worse.

Let's hope taking the band off helps the picking on her factor.

We had them back outside today and she had a blast with my male charlie turkey surfing across my Jakes back it scared him crapless. Gave me and James a good laugh.

 

[GlennLee]

Ouch! Sorry to hear about the pecking. At least you were able to get a good laugh over her antics...... Keep us posted on her progress.