Guineas with chickens? Is that possible?

[lvchicken]

That's wonderful!!! Do you know what the best Guinea breed is? Like what is the calmest, docile, etc..

 

[robin416]

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Not true. And this kind of information is liable to get people new to Guineas in trouble right off the bat. My Guineas have their own 16 X 24 coop, my chickens have their own coop. When I had just a few Guineas they would go after my chickens. Now that my flock is averaging about 25 birds they could care less about the chickens.

Cynthia had her Guineas housed separately and had to rehome hers because they were attacking her hens.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Quote:
Not true. And this kind of information is liable to get people new to Guineas in trouble right off the bat. My Guineas have their own 16 X 24 coop, my chickens have their own coop. When I had just a few Guineas they would go after my chickens. Now that my flock is averaging about 25 birds they could care less about the chickens.

Cynthia had her Guineas housed separately and had to rehome hers because they were attacking her hens.

Can't say what experiances others have had, but we have never had any serious fights between our chickens and guineas. I have read that lots of other people have had problems with the guineas picking on the chickens, but just have never had the problem here. We have had the guineas sorta run the chickens away from the treats at times, but never anything serious. Right now we only have around 100 chickens and only a pair of adult pearl guineas, but have had as many as 30 - 40 guineas and have never had any problems and although there are several pens of chickens, the guineas fly where they want and roost in whichever coop they want to.
Maybe we've just been lucky, I don't know.

Had them all together for many years though.

 

[lvchicken]

How much bigger are Guineas than chickens? Is that what causes the bullying?

 

[robin416]

Guineas are a ton stronger than chickens and much faster. Their genetics for survival are still those related to living in the jungle which can be vicious.

A larger flock of Guineas usually works better where chickens are concerned because they have high enough numbers to focus their aggression on each other. Luckily the hard hits a Guinea takes from another Guinea can be taken since they are built for it. Not true for a chicken.

The other issue where Guineas are concerned is that when they take a disliking to another creature they move in and attack as a flock. I've watched them run off fox, deer, cats, other large birds more than once. If the creature that they are advancing on doesn't get the hint then they will and do attack. They had one of my roosters cornered a few years ago. Yes, they. They decided he didn't belong and went after him.

So all this business of yes they can live with chickens might be true for a few but it is not the norm. Everyone should be prepared to have other options if they attempt to house Guineas with chickens because when it goes wrong its bad for the chickens.

Read through some of the posts here, people looking for help because their Guineas are attacking their chickens. You will find quite a few.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

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I think this would be good smart advise for having any type of other birds with your chickens (Such as guineas, ducks, geese, turkeys) I've been lucky, but read some real horror stories on here. Hope for the best, but expect the worst and be prepaired.

 

[lvchicken]

I know that there are a ton of pictures of Guineas on the web, but if you would like, feel free to post some pics!!!

I'm curious to see what ya'll's look like!

 

[lvchicken]

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I'm very sorry about your rooster!!!

Did he live?

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Here are some young ones from last summer.

 

[lvchicken]

They are very cute!!!!