How to separate my guinea fowl from the chickens.

[natyvidal]

Hi!

This past October, after moving to the new home with a empty chicken coop, I bought several
heritage pullets and guinea babies. I had read that you can raise them together so I did. The article forgot to say that at the same time the guinea males could cause trouble with the hens and would attack my roosters and create havoc in my coop. I separated the 4 guineas, turned out I had two males and two females. They have now been in the separate cage for more than a month. Do you think they might have bonded with one another? If I set them free, should I do it at sun set so they see how cool it is to sleep in the trees? They've done that before when they were younger. I don't want them to roost with the chickens. I don't want them to interfere with my hens. Maybe I should just cook them for dinner and start fresh? The only reason I got them was for bug control, warning of predators, and for their delicious meat. Any advice is welcome. Thank you. Newbie in the block.
Natalia

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. Hopefully those with the requisite experience will be along soon to help you out

 

[CarpCharacin]

Welcome to BYC! We're glad you joined!
I've moved your thread to the Guinea Fowl section, I think you'll get more assistance that way.

 

[ClucksAndCombs]

Welcome to BYC!

Feel free to ask questions, there are so many wonderful and knowledgeable people who will answer them

Good luck with your guinea fowls and chickens!

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Hello! Welcome to BYC!!

Feel free to check out the links below for some interesting reading. Good luck on your adventures!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Hi!

This past October, after moving to the new home with a empty chicken coop, I bought several
heritage pullets and guinea babies. I had read that you can raise them together so I did. The article forgot to say that at the same time the guinea males could cause trouble with the hens and would attack my roosters and create havoc in my coop. I separated the 4 guineas, turned out I had two males and two females. They have now been in the separate cage for more than a month. Do you think they might have bonded with one another? If I set them free, should I do it at sun set so they see how cool it is to sleep in the trees? They've done that before when they were younger. I don't want them to roost with the chickens. I don't want them to interfere with my hens. Maybe I should just cook them for dinner and start fresh? The only reason I got them was for bug control, warning of predators, and for their delicious meat. Any advice is welcome. Thank you. Newbie in the block.
Natalia

Hi, Natalia, and !

I've had guinea fowl, too, and found that even when they were raised with chickens and ducks, they could still be pretty mean to the other species...or too friendly, if you know what I mean.

If you let your guineas roost in the trees at night, they will probably get picked off eventually by predators (like owls). Like chickens, they can be trained to go into a secure coop at night, and that's what I'd do to keep them safe.

I find that other fowl do a good job of keeping ticks under control, tolerate other types of birds, and lay in their nest boxes (at least most of the time), so I don't have guineas anymore.

 

[natyvidal]

You are offering good advise but, my problem is that i like best a good guinea hen stew just like the ones I ate in the Caribbean island where I grew up. PR. And i am hoping this will work and my guinea group will reproduce and give me many babies to eat when they are grown.
I am now letting my layers roam the land. I have 5 acres in total and hope they’ll free range. Soon I am planning to let the guinea hens out of their coop to see what happens. If they start roaming far and wide but return to the coop everynight it will be good. We will see. Thank you.

 

[juliettep]

Hi!

This past October, after moving to the new home with a empty chicken coop, I bought several
heritage pullets and guinea babies. I had read that you can raise them together so I did. The article forgot to say that at the same time the guinea males could cause trouble with the hens and would attack my roosters and create havoc in my coop. I separated the 4 guineas, turned out I had two males and two females. They have now been in the separate cage for more than a month. Do you think they might have bonded with one another? If I set them free, should I do it at sun set so they see how cool it is to sleep in the trees? They've done that before when they were younger. I don't want them to roost with the chickens. I don't want them to interfere with my hens. Maybe I should just cook them for dinner and start fresh? The only reason I got them was for bug control, warning of predators, and for their delicious meat. Any advice is welcome. Thank you. Newbie in the block.
Natalia

Natalia, I'm having the same problem. please share with me what worked for you.