Help! Guineas are yanking my chickens feathers out!

[kruegerchickens]

I have 8 guineas and 40 chickens. The guineas have been raised with my chickens, I got them all at the same time brooded together and everything! They free range during the day and all my birds go into the coop at night on their own. They are just turning 4 months old and my guineas are ripping the feathers out of my chickens even my rooster! They do it in the coop as well as when they are free ranging. I've sat and watched and everyone will be moving a long digging and eating whatever and ALL OF THE SUDDEN...a guinea charges and yanks out some of my chickens feathers. I've tried seeing if it was related to what they were eating or a certain "area" of the yard...nothing! my coop is actually large enough to hold 80 birds (we went extra big in case we had chicks we wanted to keep). So anyone know what all this crazy guinea action is about? I'm heading to our feed store today to pick up some feed with higher protein and to see if they carry any "no peck" sprays. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

I don't know much about guineas. Does your flock have protein? Sometimes feather picking can be a sign of lack of protein since feathers are made up of 85% protein.

You may want to ask here too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/45/guinea-fowl

 

[Percheron chick]

That's typical guinea behavior. It does settle down but guineas do like pulling feathers just because they can. If you have a rooster, don't expect him to have luxurious sickle feathers.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC!

 

[drumstick diva]

Sounds like it would be best if you have separate coop and runs for the chickens and guineas. I don't know if they guinease are good flyers but maybe they should free range, so they can eat more ticks and bad bugs on your property than the chickens would. Also they are a great alarm system which would help the chickens as well. Let the chickens have the big run for themselves. They'll probably thank you for getting guineas out of their hair, er feathers. Welcome to BYC, glad you joined us.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about Guinea Fowl. However, it sounds like it may be necessary to keep them in separate coop. Definitly ask on the Guinea Fowl thread.

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

I would ask about your feather-pulling guineas on the Guinea Fowl section of the forums. It sounds as if you may have to separate your guinea fowl from your chickens.

Good luck with them!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Sorry about your birds. You really need to house these two species separate from each other. Guineas have different feed requirements and over all different housing needs. So it may be time to give the Guineas their own quarters. Give the chickens a break from these birds.

Definitely stop by our Guinea section for more help from those Guinea experts.

Good luck and welcome to our flock!

 

[LIChickens]

Welcome to BYC!

You will find a lot of good information here. Keep on asking questions and you will get many good answers.

You may also want to read the FAQ below.