Guinea War

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Haha. I don't have any roosters. I should have said Kangaroos. They are scared of the kangaroos.

I kept the female separated for a night and the following day all was forgiven. She had a small wound on her beak that was bleeding. I am thinking that they saw that and started attacking?

Right now I am having issues with the 2 dominant males. One of my chooks went clucky. Because she was walking around puffed up and acting 'weird', they have targeted her and keep chasing and pecking her.

I have locked up one male and it has given her some peace, but the other male is still pushing her around on and off.

The other chooks, except for one lovely girl, are pecking her too.

She has to sleep in the house at night for 2 reasons... 1 she woulr be on the nest and staying broody. 2 she would definitely get pecked to death by morning.

Any ideas? It has been going on for 3 or 4 days now.

Ah those kind of roos!!! So your main problem right now is both Guinea and chicken bullying of a broody chicken hen? Yes, no one likes it when the more submissive hens go broody, they will all gang up on her as they think only the dominant hens should hatch eggs. Do you want her to hatch eggs? If so, I’d set her up in her own fenced off space with a nest, food and water. If you don’t want her to hatch eggs, I’d break her broodiness. I use a wire cage in the run with food, water, and shade, for three nights and that usually breaks the chicken hens.

 

[Blodwyn0419]

Ah those kind of roos!!! So your main problem right now is both Guinea and chicken bullying of a broody chicken hen? Yes, no one likes it when the more submissive hens go broody, they will all gang up on her as they think only the dominant hens should hatch eggs. Do you want her to hatch eggs? If so, I’d set her up in her own fenced off space with a nest, food and water. If you don’t want her to hatch eggs, I’d break her broodiness. I use a wire cage in the run with food, water, and shade, for three nights and that usually breaks the chicken hens.

I have been trying to break the broodiness for 5 days now. She just keeps clucking and going back to the nest as soon as I open the door to let the other chooks lay.
Yesterday I ended up putting her in the pigeon coop. I fear she is going to be living in there permanently. Nothing seems to be working and the bullying just isn't stopping.

It's really hot here at the moment so the stress it has been causing her was getting a bit dangerous. She drank so much water when she got in the pigeon coop and seemed to calm quite fast.

The guineas make me laugh. They are so dumb they wouldn't go to bed because I stuck a piece of wood on the floor outside the door to help my oldest chook get in and out easier. And yet they think they are so tough and are pushing around this chook.... But that block of wood is terrifying.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I have been trying to break the broodiness for 5 days now. She just keeps clucking and going back to the nest as soon as I open the door to let the other chooks lay.
Yesterday I ended up putting her in the pigeon coop. I fear she is going to be living in there permanently. Nothing seems to be working and the bullying just isn't stopping.

It's really hot here at the moment so the stress it has been causing her was getting a bit dangerous. She drank so much water when she got in the pigeon coop and seemed to calm quite fast.

The guineas make me laugh. They are so dumb they wouldn't go to bed because I stuck a piece of wood on the floor outside the door to help my oldest chook get in and out easier. And yet they think they are so tough and are pushing around this chook.... But that block of wood is terrifying.

You might try posting on the egg laying forum about your chook! There are other methods discussed there though the bucket dunk has never worked for me. However, I do have similar problems as I have particularly broody chicken breeds, especially my line of black copper marans. If it’s hot out (90F+, 32C+), then some of my broody chicken girls need to get broken in the air conditioned garage instead of the outdoor run. You need to get their breast consistently cooled so I put them in elevated, all wire cage in the air conditioned garage, plus I put a fan with evaporative cooler on them. Feed and water free choice. Almost all of them break after five days in a wire cage in air conditioning.

My only unsuccessful one was a silky (Susan) that had just lost her only silky friend. Silkies are in a class all on their own though, and she was intent on killing herself in the process of setting eggs. I eventually felt that I had to let her hatch eggs, and when the hatch failed due to excessive heat, I had to get her chicks to save her life. I’m attaching a pic of poor malnourished Susan with her new chicks. Every other hen though I’ve broke with this wire cage method. I probably go through the broody breaker process 30-50 times per year over several years.

 

[Blodwyn0419]

You might try posting on the egg laying forum about your chook! There are other methods discussed there though the bucket dunk has never worked for me. However, I do have similar problems as I have particularly broody chicken breeds, especially my line of black copper marans. If it’s hot out (90F+, 32C+), then some of my broody chicken girls need to get broken in the air conditioned garage instead of the outdoor run. You need to get their breast consistently cooled so I put them in elevated, all wire cage in the air conditioned garage, plus I put a fan with evaporative cooler on them. Feed and water free choice. Almost all of them break after five days in a wire cage in air conditioning.

My only unsuccessful one was a silky (Susan) that had just lost her only silky friend. Silkies are in a class all on their own though, and she was intent on killing herself in the process of setting eggs. I eventually felt that I had to let her hatch eggs, and when the hatch failed due to excessive heat, I had to get her chicks to save her life. I’m attaching a pic of poor malnourished Susan with her new chicks. Every other hen though I’ve broke with this wire cage method. I probably go through the broody breaker process 30-50 times per year over several years.

Oh heck. Poor Susan. Glad you were able to save her. Dale is doing a but better today, but time will tell. Usually cutting them off from the nest works for me. But she is just being stubborn. I popped her in the pigeon coop to begin with and on day 2 she hyjacked a pigeon's nest

She was clucking less today and not puffing herself up. So fingers crossed she is letting her broodiness go. If not I will pop up a new post.

I just hope I can stop the attacks on her when she is done. It's the guineas that I am unsure how to navigate. New territory for me when it comes to their behaviour.

Thanks for your help

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Oh heck. Poor Susan. Glad you were able to save her. Dale is doing a but better today, but time will tell. Usually cutting them off from the nest works for me. But she is just being stubborn. I popped her in the pigeon coop to begin with and on day 2 she hyjacked a pigeon's nest

She was clucking less today and not puffing herself up. So fingers crossed she is letting her broodiness go. If not I will pop up a new post.

I just hope I can stop the attacks on her when she is done. It's the guineas that I am unsure how to navigate. New territory for me when it comes to their behaviour.

Thanks for your help

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

My male guineas bully my female guineas, causing them to not want to go in their coop at night. I am able to get them in though. I just see then chase them, but never brutally attack them. Sure, there are a few pecks and they pin them down in the floor to peck them, but they never hurt them badly. I would sell or process the aggressor. I know culling sounds a little brutal, but if he is a problem and could be a problem for other people, then that may be the best solution. If he were my guinea, I wouldn't be able to, but I don't know if your fine with that sort of stuff. Just a suggestion. I hope you can figure it out! I would separate the aggressor or the hen they are bullying.