Housing chickens and guinas together? How do you do it without them picking on each other?

[darlene57]

Two wild male guineas have adopted me and my eleven chicken hens. Yesterday the weather was 65 degrees, so I let my laying hens out to free range and the guineas came and cornered them and begin to attack and peck them. Could they kill the chickens? Found two dead in front of the hen house. What do I do?
I like the guineas around because I live in a very wooded area, with ticks and snakes. In 2010 I even got Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite, so I definately want them to stay, but not damage my hens.

 

[PeepsCA]

One peck to the head is all it takes sometimes to kill a bird, (or a body slam into something hard, resulting in a head injury). Right now is breeding season for Guineas, the males are full of hormones and aggression. So to answer your question, yes, they can kill your Hens. Sounds like you may have been adopted by somebody else's problem

If you can catch those 2 Guineas, house them separately but side by side with your Hens until you see no aggression from them you might be able to get it to work out and be able to keep them. It's not really likely tho... male Guineas repeatedly lose their minds every breeding season, especially when they do not have mates or a flock of Guineas and an ever changing pecking order to keep them preoccupied.

Another option is to have a separate coop/run for the Guineas and keep them in while you let the Hens out, then let them back out when you put the Hens away.

Best of luck... and sorry for your losses. Hope there are no more.

 

[heydeej]

ok...what I ended up doing is emptying out an old metal 8x10 shed and making the guineas their own coop. It is in a different yard than the chickens, so there shouldn't be any inter-racial problems.

Now I need to learn about feeding them.
I set them up with layena layer crumbles, scratch grain, and BOSS. They pick at the BOSS, snack on the crumbles, and chow down on the scratch grains. After reading some things here, I'm wondering if I should withhold the grains for treats and hopefully they will eat more crumbles?
I want to make sure they are getting all the nutrients they need...

Also, my dog nosed the door open and 3 escaped before I got there. They seem to be hanging out around the shed, because the other 5 are still in there. Should I leave them out and just make sure there is food & water available or should I try to catch them (maybe at night) and put them back in the shed?

thanks for helping this guinea newbie out!

 

[PeepsCA]

That's great, sounds like you have them all set up and they have a great home now

I'd use the scratch and BOSS as treats only, and have their main diet consist of the 16% protein layer feed, free choice is fine, especially since they are not getting to free range. They should also have access grit and oyster shell free choice. They will most likely appreciate a handful of fresh grass/greens every day too. Making the same call whenever you give them treats and feed and water them helps them learn to associate that specific call with food... and believe me, this will be really helpful later down the road when you start letting them free range them and it's time to coop up. You want them to learn you are the food goddess, so ultimately you can call them back in when ever you need to, not just coop up time.

I would try to catch the 3 lose birds. They really need to be in their new coop/pen set up for about 6 weeks so they learn where home is and so they don't wander off trying to find their old home and flock. It is pretty easy to catch them at night because they are blind in the dark, but they may be way up in the trees by then...

Good luck, and welcome to the joys of being owned by Guineas!

 

[heydeej]

this must be my lucky day.
the 3 loose birds stayed around the shed calling back & forth with the ones in the shed.
as it got dusky out, they were acting like they wanted back in to roost with the others. my quandary was, if I opened the door, would the other birds get out or would the loose birds go in? Considering that it was darker in the shed than outside, I pinned my hopes on the inside birds already being in roosting mode. I opened the door about 12 inches and stood behind a tree where I could watch, just in case the inside birds decided to hop off the roost and make a run for it. one by one the loose birds came around the corner, peeked in the coop, and hopped right inside to be with the others.

I rushed back across the yard and closed the door. whew!

how lame must my life be, that this is my big adventure, eh?

 

[PeepsCA]

LOL, congrats

Hey, if you are this successful so early on... take it as a good sign, and chalk it up to life being good! Usually new Guineas can make your life a living ... well you know. Life with Guineas is usually anything BUT lame, lol. And yah, separation anxiety often works in our favor when it comes to dealing Guineas, be it flock separation or separation from the feeder... lol.

LOL @ hiding behind a tree... I can picture it! (been there done that).

 

[darlene57]

Thank you so much for the information. You are right, the male quineas are being very aggressive toward my hens during this spring season. lol I love the "losing their mind" part!!!! Cannot sacrifice my hens over them, love getting my fresh eggs everyday. Thanks again.

 

[heydeej]

just when ya think ya got it all together...

The birds have started eating the styrofoam insulation in the shed.
They have plenty of food...
so now are they gonna die?

 

[perchie.girl]

Probably not. But you need to get it covered somehow..... I would worry if it were fiberglass though.

deb

just when ya think ya got it all together...

The birds have started eating the styrofoam insulation in the shed.
They have plenty of food...
so now are they gonna die?