guineas being hateful to chickens

[Deb Edwards]

My guineas (7 of them) are ganging up on my chickens (40+ of them) and hemming them up in briars and fence corners. One day I witnessed a lone guinea inside my meat bird pen. He/she had herded 23 roosters into their shelter and was chasing the last one around and around the shelter and grabbing at his tail like a dog would. They are terrorizing my chickens - and they've been raised together. They roost together also.

Could this be just a rooster thing? Could it be just the male guineas (I can't tell them apart) picking on the rooster chickens? It's often a rooster chicken that they are picking on (I have one or two that I am not sure if he/she is a roo or not yet that have been victims of this behavior.)

HELP! Chickens were here first. I won't allow these guineas to bully my birds.

Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - Deb

 

[Aj1911]

its just your guineas hormones kicking in they will do it mainly to roosters but some times to hens too

how old are they?

this is why my guineas dont live in with the chickens cuz of my roosters and i know my guineas would almost kill them.

 

[Deb Edwards]

They are 6-7 months old. Is it just the rooster guineas maybe that are guilty? Do they themselves get along (male guineas)? I'm not sure how to tell the roos from the hens. The 7 guineas all seem to get along with each other just fine - and they really gang up on the chickens

Thanks for your help. I had no idea this would happen. My grandma always had them together, but I guess maybe she only had chicken hens.

Deb

 

[Guinea Goonie]

You may have a "rougue" Ginea Cock. I have one on the property, but luckily he is always chasing the Guinea hens. They tend to put him in his place.

Roo chickens can sucuum to a Guinea cock, but if they are fairly large like a white rock or a new jersey giant they usually met thier match.

I have a giant Cochin roo that beat the heck out of one of my Guinea cocks and that was the end of his aggression.

 

[txchickie]

Honestly, they will quit. I've been MAD at a couple of my guinea roos before, throwing stuff at them and yelling

Chasing my poor little chickens.

But they got it sorted out. All is well now. My guineas were raised with the chickens and still have the occasional squabble, but it never lasts.

You should have seen when I turned out "new" guineas with my "old" guinea flock

I thought they were going to kill the new ones!

But after about a day of chasing, plucking, and fighting, they're all one big happy family

Guineas are different, that's for sure!

 

[Aj1911]

Quote:
my GLW rooster (Roo) went up against my nice guinea male (snookers the one that doesn't attack us or charge us) well keep in mind my rooster is 8-9lbs

my guinea dodged his kick grabbed him by the neck and set him on his rear then started pulling out his feathers

need less to say snookers 1 Roo 0

if it was my head male guinea well i prolly wouldn't have a rooster left (he's taken on my RIR rooster and GLW at once and both of the roosters ran) heck he's even taken on me and my father before and won lol.

 

[Kev]

Honestly.. it seems 50/50 for guineas getting along with or plainly tormenting chickens. For every few that say theirs get along, there's a few who report horror stories. Just won't know which way it will be until the guineas are grown up.

Unfortunately, mine is very much a "torment everybody, CONSTANTLY" group. None of the free range roosters(the guineas are free range) have their tails.. you guess why! They torment the hens too.. usually by doing the sudden mad dash to body slam, if they can. All chickens are very terrified of the guineas. It's been this way for a year already, no signs of them easing up at all really.

The boys are much worse at it but the girls do it too. At their age you can see differences in the sexes both in looks and behavior. The males have bigger wattles, usually these stick way out from sides of head although it does not stick way out on many males, plus the crest is bigger than on females. Females do the buck wheat call. Behavior: males love to raise their wings up kind of like a swan does, especially right before making a dash at another guinea or a poor chicken.. often they do this with making weird head movements.. Girls can do this too but not as much or raise the wings so high. A boy low on the totem pole & being "dived at" a lot may not show the male-typical behavior very much though..

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Quote:
my GLW rooster (Roo) went up against my nice guinea male (snookers the one that doesn't attack us or charge us) well keep in mind my rooster is 8-9lbs

my guinea dodged his kick grabbed him by the neck and set him on his rear then started pulling out his feathers

need less to say snookers 1 Roo 0

if it was my head male guinea well i prolly wouldn't have a rooster left (he's taken on my RIR rooster and GLW at once and both of the roosters ran) heck he's even taken on me and my father before and won lol.

Just for kicks one day we weighed the Cochin roo. (My wife calls him Dumplin, but I will not let her hurt him.) He was 13 pounds and a bit over. I love this guy, he does not bother me, but my wife's sister has to carry a stick to keep him from flogging her. Hummmmm, I think he has her number. The two Jersey Giants are really big babies and the big ol' white rock is a sissy. But, now my cochin, he is my man roo !!

 

[Acre of Blessings]

I got rid of our guineas when they were picking on my chickens & ducks, and when I say picking.....I mean picking. They turned from nice sweet birds to feathered devils. They even messed up one of our ducks wing. Then when they got to terrorizing my daughter when she would be helping me feed.....They got the backside of a broom and a one way ticket outta here.

We raised ours with our chickens and they had been with us for a year or more and then it all started. But they did go to a home up the road from us to someone who doesn't have any animals and really wanted some for snake control.

 

[SimplyForties]

Sure hope I don't have this to look forward to! Right now it's the chickens chasing the guineas around and me hollering at the chickens to leave them alone! Wonder when the tide will turn?