Help! A guinea fowl made it way onto our property!

[jeepgrrl]

So far I have not had any luck rehoming

Hi,
I’m Tracy. I have been keeping Guineas’s for Rick control for about 5 years. They’re amusing creatures and not very smart, as you have already observed. Guinea Fowl are a relative to the Turkey family and therefore prefer a turkey or game bird feed. With that said they can certainly be fed chicken pellets fine. I raised my first set of Guineas’s on chick starter and later pelleted chicken food without any trouble. You won’t need to separate them if they get along okay. Guinea fowl will often integrate fine with chickens or a mixed bird family. You can treat your new bird just like another chicken and he will be happy. They should roost together fine so long as they get along well.
He may not know how to use the water... he may catch on after a while watching the chickens drink but you may want to put a bowl of water out for a while.
Guinea Fowl are excellent for big and tick control and amusement abounds watching them. Enjoy your new friend!

Hi Tracy,
Thank you for your reply and advice! Right now everyone is eating Purina chick starter b/c I adopted a now 10-week old chick from my neighbor who was a lone survivor of two predatory attacks. I do have a bag of Purina Flock raiser on hand for when the chick makes the switch. He was eating layer pellets at first b/c the chick was temporary holed up in the run until she was bigger, but now she is out with everybody and I‘m not able to keep her out of the layer feed. He figured out how to use the waterer the second day he was here. However, he is so dumb that he hasn’t figured out there is a watered in the run so every morning he runs out of the coop, past the feeding station where there is another water, and out into the pasture to where there is yet another watered by a big willow tree and gets his morning drink there. Bozo (as I have been calling him b/c he is so dumb, lol) seems to be getting along with everyone for the most part. He seems to recognize that my three oldest hens run the show and respects them, but he does chase a couple of the younger ones but nothing that I would describe as aggressive. He is usually on the quiet side and makes these gentle whistling sounds, until something sets him off. He is one of the first to enter the coop in the evening. I’m out there every evening to check on them and lock them up for the night and so far, all is well. Bozo is funny to watch, especially when he sprints across the pasture. Y‘day, he was foraging outside of my window so I said hello to him, and he went off so loudly it was echoing through the trees! All 3 of my dogs went running to the window to see what the commotion was about, lol! That’ll be the last time I do that! I believe he must have been raised around chickens b/c of how quickly he made himself at home with them and how they seem familiar to him, and also how he knew to go into the coop at night; from what I’ve read, guineas like to roost in trees, (which are in abundance back there) and can be a challenge to coop train, but he went in on his own the second night he was here like he knew what to do. I’m grateful for his love of ticks as I have already picked some off of myself this year. So, Bozo is welcome to stay as long as he doesn’t become aggressive with the hens. He is even getting used to me and doesn’t flip out anymore when I’m back there cleaning and filling the feeders. I’m also grateful that he seems to be protecting the flock. They often separate into subflocks when they are free ranging, and Bozo will run back and forth as if he is checking on them. Thank you again for your advice, it was much appreciated! -Chris

 

[jeepgrrl]

If he's roosting just fine with your chickens on his own...I guess pretty much of the work is done..it can only get better .........intergrating birds into the older ones has always been the most challenging....

Yes he is, and it’s not because of anything I’ve done. His first night here I was worried about letting into the coop because I didn’t know how that would go down with the girls. I figured he would just go roost in one of the many available trees. But no, he frantically ran around the coop until it got really dark out and finally roosted on the gate to the hen yard. I felt bad about it, especially since he chose to roost out in the open, under the pole light for all the owls to see. But he made it through the night and by the next day, both Bozo (what I have been calling him b/c he’s so dumb, lol) and the girls had settled down and were foraging together. That evening he went into the coop on his own without any noticeable objections from the hens, so I have just let things be since then. I’m there every evening to check on them and lock them up, so I will know if things change. Thank you for your input and support!

 

[Guinea SAFE Tick Control]

So far I have not had any luck rehoming

Hi Tracy,
Thank you for your reply and advice! Right now everyone is eating Purina chick starter b/c I adopted a now 10-week old chick from my neighbor who was a lone survivor of two predatory attacks. I do have a bag of Purina Flock raiser on hand for when the chick makes the switch. He was eating layer pellets at first b/c the chick was temporary holed up in the run until she was bigger, but now she is out with everybody and I‘m not able to keep her out of the layer feed. He figured out how to use the waterer the second day he was here. However, he is so dumb that he hasn’t figured out there is a watered in the run so every morning he runs out of the coop, past the feeding station where there is another water, and out into the pasture to where there is yet another watered by a big willow tree and gets his morning drink there. Bozo (as I have been calling him b/c he is so dumb, lol) seems to be getting along with everyone for the most part. He seems to recognize that my three oldest hens run the show and respects them, but he does chase a couple of the younger ones but nothing that I would describe as aggressive. He is usually on the quiet side and makes these gentle whistling sounds, until something sets him off. He is one of the first to enter the coop in the evening. I’m out there every evening to check on them and lock them up for the night and so far, all is well. Bozo is funny to watch, especially when he sprints across the pasture. Y‘day, he was foraging outside of my window so I said hello to him, and he went off so loudly it was echoing through the trees! All 3 of my dogs went running to the window to see what the commotion was about, lol! That’ll be the last time I do that! I believe he must have been raised around chickens b/c of how quickly he made himself at home with them and how they seem familiar to him, and also how he knew to go into the coop at night; from what I’ve read, guineas like to roost in trees, (which are in abundance back there) and can be a challenge to coop train, but he went in on his own the second night he was here like he knew what to do. I’m grateful for his love of ticks as I have already picked some off of myself this year. So, Bozo is welcome to stay as long as he doesn’t become aggressive with the hens. He is even getting used to me and doesn’t flip out anymore when I’m back there cleaning and filling the feeders. I’m also grateful that he seems to be protecting the flock. They often separate into subflocks when they are free ranging, and Bozo will run back and forth as if he is checking on them. Thank you again for your advice, it was much appreciated! -Chris

Bozo is a great title! It sounds like he's going to work out fine and maybe you have a watch dog for your chickens They're so funny to watch! Enjoy

 

[jeepgrrl]

Guinea Hybrids - FeatherSite
https://www.feathersite.com › Poultry › Guineas › BRKGuinHybrid

Thanks for the link! I’d prefer it if the boy guinea wouldn‘t mate with any of the hens, but obviously that is out of my control. One reason I don’t have a roo is that I didn’t want to have to find good homes for the chicks. The link only referred to roosters mating idea hens. Do you know if that more common than male guineas mating with a chicken hen?

 

[jeepgrrl]

My rooster is an OEGB... imagine mini guineas its not possible because LilRoo only reaches her "shoulders" when he tries...but still.....

What is an OEGB? I’m guessing OE is an olive egger, but don’t know the GB part?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

old english game bird.
If you did manage somehow to get a guin-hen it would be sterile

 

[ColtHandorf]

What a nice story for Bozo. Are you planning on trying to find a couple of friends for him? My male is a bit of a terror. They were all evicted from the barn they were sharing with the chickens to go live with the geese. There haven't been any issues since then.

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for the link! I’d prefer it if the boy guinea wouldn‘t mate with any of the hens, but obviously that is out of my control. One reason I don’t have a roo is that I didn’t want to have to find good homes for the chicks. The link only referred to roosters mating idea hens. Do you know if that more common than male guineas mating with a chicken hen?

Most cases of guinea - chicken hybrids are because a chicken rooster breeds a guinea hen. The actual breeding act for guineas is enough different from chickens that it is unlikely that the guinea cock will successfully breed your chickens.