Guineafowl grief

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Kmorrissey

In the Brooder
Sep 4, 2020
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Hi,
I have a lovely flock of solid white guineafowl. Unfortunately in the past month we have been met with some tragedy. Until this weekend we didn’t know what the culprit was, long story, but we’ve discovered that our neighbor’s dog killed 2 our guineafowl and indirectly a third died a week after the first as her mate was the 1st killed. She was heart broken and stressed.
i am now concerned with the remaining 3 birds. The last female was killed 3 days ago, died in my arms, they still call for her, they aren’t eating and beginning to show the same depressed behaviors as mama before she passed. I am afraid I am going to lose them too.
The behavior of this flock is very untraditional per my reading. They are quite domesticated, I do not let them free range, they are kept in an enclosure during the day, I take them for an evening walk, then we walk back to the coop for treats/food, they roost and I lock them in.
Does anyone know what I can do to get them to not starve themselves or lose the will to live? Tonight I did get them to roll in the dirt and take dust baths.
Thank you for any advice,
Kelly
 

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Welcome to BYC!

I'm so sorry for your loss. I kept guinea fowl for a short time, but my husband despises them so we no longer keep them. However, I would guess that your remaining 2 are traumatized and the healing process may take a while. It seems your guinea fowl are pretty tame, so something like a dog killing the others will take a while for them to get over. This is the same with chickens, ducks, and most other poultry. I've noticed that if one of my birds lose their mate or friend they take a while to recover. For now, all you can do is offer fresh water and feed along with treats to keep them satisfied until they start acting themselves again. I would possibly consider getting more guinea fowl in the future once things kind of calm down so they can have friends. I know guineas do well together. Maybe even keep them in their pen (if it's big enough) for a while or just let them out like you said you do in the evening and let them go on a walk for a short time. There is no way of completely solving the issue, its going to take time and I would just keep an eye on them for now. It sounds like you're doing the best you can for them already.
 

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