intelligence of guinea fowl

[artsyrobin]

ours are about 4 months old and they sleep in the trees, we give them sunflower seeds in the morning and evening and they usually hang out close to the chicken pen, don't have enough sense to come in when it rains, but they know to come on the porch if something scares them- treats make a big difference for them-

 

[Akane]

I'm sitting on 120acres. I don't care if they range. I care if they come home or else I'm going to be doing a nice job of populating the nearby woods and fields that are set aside for wild life with guinea fowl. If they manage to stay alive though. We don't need to lay out another raccoon buffet like the first night.

So this morning I go open the chicken coop. Chickens pour out, I get the water containers, and turn around to find all my guinea fowl mixing with the chickens except one royal purple that we didn't see the first night either. We take the dogs to puppy class. Get home, close the coop, and there's all but 2 guineas in there but wait that's a lot of dark feathers..... Maybe I'm mistaking one of the other colors in the dim light. I grab some nearby feathers to look close. Yep definitely royal purples. So far I've had one mysteriously vanish to appear in the coop several days later. 1 fly into a tree to reappear 2 days later and it's probably one of the ones missing last night. Have the entire guinea flock disappear for a night to reappear the next day and then have 2 wander off again while the rest sleep in the coop. I think the thunderstorm and 40F temps may be convincing them to occasionally try inside instead of the ground.

 

[ziggywiggy]

If you're really unhappy with them, remember they are very good eating. I'd eat them before I'd let something get them. To me they're kind of like a giant quail and are considered delicacies in some high dollar restaurants.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I have 2, and they are the oddest birds ever. When I first got them, they spent 1 day in the yard and then disappeared for about 3 weeks. They came back one day out of the blue. Now they stick around but roost in a tree.

I doubt I'd be able to catch them to put them in the coop because the suckers are flighty. They're just going to have to tough it out this winter because I can't imagine them going into the chicken coop by choice.

 

[Katy]

My husband says they've got a brain no bigger than a pea....but his opinion of my guineas doesn't count!!

 

[Akane]

I would bet that every bird that doesn't get butchered as a young roo or sold on my property will get eaten by some wild critter or stray pet eventually. That's the risk of free ranging and pretty much their fate. Whether it's tomorrow or 3 years they will die by animal attack sometime. No reason to hurry their deaths when my complaint is that they are trying to die well enough on their own.

 

[VTGIRL]

Oh boy you guys are scaring me.

I have thirty guinea fowl right now that are about 11 weeks old. We got them as day old chicks and kept them in our basement in large dog kennels until my coop was done. That was about 3 weeks ago. They stayed in my 8x8 coop with a couple silkies and Orpies until we finished our 24x24 run this past Monday. The run has 2" mesh on top so they can't fly out but the whole point of getting them was for pest control. My intentions are to free range them next spring so hopefully keeping them in the coop/run over the winter will help them know where their home is at night? I totally understand that I will inevitably lose some to predation but I was hoping they would at least be smart enough to stay out of harms way. All the literature I’ve read so far says they are pretty smart birds…

 

[artsyrobin]

well, i have four, they were in the chicken run until they wanted to explore- they are 5 months old and are very smart- i give them treats in the morning and evening, so they hang out with the chickens, when i let the chickens out for an hour or so they follow us- they sleep in a real high tree next to the house. As far as predatorsg go, they have avoided hawks, eagles, falcons, cats, as far as i know- they know instinctively when to find cover- even to hanging out on the porch if they feel really threatened- handling yours the way you are, they know where home is, and you shouldn't have that big of a problem- just my thoughts on it

 

[arherp]

My Guineas never worked with the coop. They always rooster in the trees. Owls and raccoons got them, the 35 that I had turned to 0 in one season. Their brain is a little bigger than a nickel.

 

[the Old Rebel]

Hello All,

I am NOT a guinea expert (if there even is such a thing), but I have had them for 10 years. Here are some things I've learned about them. They are NOT the sharpest tool in the box, but they can be fascinating.

A guinea will run along the side of the pen right up to the door, then turn and run back the other way, desperately wanting to get out, but never making it to the door.

A guinea that is raised by its mother is MUCH smarter than a guinea that has been raised by humans, unless the guinea's mother was raised by humans. The more generations that have been raised by humans, the dumber the bird. The same is true of turkeys. Wild turkeys are very intelligent. Domestic ones have been dumbed down by humans. This makes sense if you think about it. A parent guinea knows about predators and shares that information with their offspring. If you observe any free-ranging mother bird (or father bird that attends his young), there is a certain sound they make to warn the babies to seek cover. It teaches the little ones what to watch out for. If a bird hasn't been taught to be predator-wary, they have no clue of the dangers that await them.

As far as returning to the coop..... it has been my rule of thumb to keep any new bird in its pen for a minimum of two weeks, preferably a month or two. Then let it out when you can be around to observe it. Let it free-range awhile and then return it to its pen. The secret here is to approach the bird gently. Drop your head and shoulders and approach slowly. Get the bird moving in the direction you want it to go. The first time or two is the hardest. Do anything with a bird three times in a row and it becomes habit. Birds are creatures of habit. They repeat the same things over and over. (Humans are, for the most part, the same way). It becomes their comfort zone.

You MUST pay attention and put your birds up BEFORE dark, at least by dusk. Otherwise they will seek their own roosting spot. It sounds to me like your guineas were raised by humans. The one chose the hole in the ground and the others followed suit. Guineas are led by the dominant bird and do as the dominant bird does, even if what the dominant bird does is pure stupidity.

I'm sorry to hear about your health problems, Akane. I've had my share of them too. Sounds like you have some beautiful birds. You might be surprised how they'll do. If possible, when you can , round them up right at dusk or just before. The time of day is changing right now as the days get shorter, so you can't always depend on the clock. Mine go up earlier if it is rainy or cloudy.

I have a really cool guinea story. My Mama Guinea and Daddy Guinea were a mated pair for three years. One Spring they had 15 babies. Someone hit Mama Guinea in the road (on purpose). All that day Daddy Guinea stood on a post and called her and called her. The babies gathered around the bottom of the post and "lost-called" her too. It was the saddest and most pitiful day on our farm.

But then our four batchelor male guineas moved in and helped Daddy Guinea raise those 15 babies. They never lost a one. Normally out of 15 baby guineas, we'd be lucky to have 6 reach adulthood. That is pretty awesome to me.

In my experience, the daddy guineas take as good care of the babies as the mothers do, sometimes better. Many times I've seen the daddy take the oldest babies that have hatched and let them start free-ranging while the mother finishes setting.

Many people fault a mother guinea, because when she leaves the nest, she takes off like a guinea. The babies either keep up or die. But that, my friends, is survival of the fittest. I've found baby guineas that were cold as ice and appearing dead, brought them in the house and put them under a heat lamp to warm them up. Let them rest awhile (sometimes two or three days) and then put them back with their parents. They do just fine.

I've also heard baby guineas that have fallen asleep while free-ranging with their parents, lost-calling. They wait where they are until the parents come back around to pick them up. If they don't get too chilled and nothing gets them (like a hawk or a cat or a fox), they join back up with the family and go right on free-ranging. It is a precarious life for a tiny bird.

I guess my point of all this is that, yes, guineas and intelligence are a bit of an oxymoron, but they are still precious and special birds. If you have time, handle your guineas as much as you can, especially when they are small. They will still be wild birds, but it will make dealing with them a little easier. Even if they are grown, it will take some effort to catch them, but hold them as often as you can and tell them you love them. You'll be surprised the difference it will make over time.

Hope I didn't go on too long here. I've had some VERY SPECIAL guineas grace this farm in the 10 years we've had birds. They are unique and everyone's experience with them is unique. I just want others to learn to enjoy that uniqueness as much as I have.

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL DAY!!