Male Guinea Fowl attacking chicken hen

[R2elk]

Thank you, apparently I didn't research enough- I figured we've got through 9 and 11 years of the same geese, and raised goslings- they are still imprinted and follow us and are reasonably kind to chickens- so guinea? Oh, we'll be fine, the neighbours don't look after theirs at all, and they come meekly to my barn for food but I'm also sure they had only one male, he got killed and the others are females, so not aggressive at all. I didn't even own them and knew to differentiate by their call- the neighbours had the same 4 for 3 years, didn't know what they had or notice when they went missing. (they nest here, where it's safer, no predators when you have 2 sky quarding German Shepherds- who chase anything that flies over bigger than their"pet" wild ducks). Lol.

My guineas are not chicken imprinted. They got along fine with the chickens when they were free ranged together because they knew that chickens were not guineas.

The ones that I raised with chicks were chicken imprinted and did not understand that chickens were not guineas. They treated the chickens the same as if the chickens were other guineas. Chickens do not understand guineas ways and cannot show submission as a guinea knows it. The roosters were all tailless. Those guineas attacked the chickens unmercifully. A neighbor had some of them that were actually killing his chickens.

I will never brood, raise or house guineas with chickens again.

 

[R2elk]

R2elk, a question from this newbie.
Of my 4 older keets (Born in June) two have quite a bit more wattles than the others, all the same age within a day, one is quite small in comparison and only hangs out with the chicken chick (a cockerel) and I'm pretty sure the second littlest one is a female (not shown), the largest porcelaine (I think that's her colour) not the yawning chicken beside also possibly female, the other 2, I sort of think they are male, one is here. Can you tell this early? They hatched June...24th.
Here they are eating dogfood with the chickens.

Some will start calling that young but that is the only way to sex them when young.

Dogfood is inappropriate for guineas. They need a high protein turkey or game bird starter for their first 6 to 8 weeks. Without the proper food when they are started, they can end up with stunted growth and other health problems.

 

[cvamoca]

Some will start calling that young but that is the only way to sex them when young.

Dogfood is inappropriate for guineas. They need a high protein turkey or game bird starter for their first 6 to 8 weeks. Without the proper food when they are started, they can end up with stunted growth and other health problems.

Dogfood is just a treat, whatever the dogs leave at supper, I put some cooked egg in and feed it as a treat to the chickens before they go to bed. The Guineas get Game Bird and Meat builder (high protein) feed. I'm not completely a moron, I did do research- there's not a whole lot out there about guineas- the Wayback machine gives me some from the defunct Guinea Fowl International, that's about it aside from what's here.

 

[cvamoca]

Dogfood is just a treat, whatever the dogs leave at supper, I put some cooked egg in and feed it as a treat to the chickens before they go to bed. The Guineas get Game Bird and Meat builder (high protein) feed. I'm not completely a moron, I did do research- there's not a whole lot out there about guineas- the Wayback machine gives me some from the defunct Guinea Fowl International, that's about it aside from what's here.

Egg's a perfect food, and how I keep everyone tame, plus it has oodles of protein that Guineas need. I lost 2 to them to not getting enough protein, so that has saved them- the Game Bird Flight Conditioner is only 19% and meat builder's 18%- there's nothing with higher protein available here in Atlantic Canada- so that's how I up their protein, so far they are healthy and I haven't had a single tick on the dogs. Also they occasionally get sardines or tuna (high protein) they love it.
I'm prepared to move them if I have to, to a dedicated only to guineas barn, but right now- their home is with the rest of the flock. I do have 2 pens within the barn that I could put them in, but right now they roost with Momma chicken in the rafters.

 

[cvamoca]

Egg's a perfect food, and how I keep everyone tame, plus it has oodles of protein that Guineas need. I lost 2 to them to not getting enough protein, so that has saved them- the Game Bird Flight Conditioner is only 19% and meat builder's 18%- there's nothing with higher protein available here in Atlantic Canada- so that's how I up their protein, so far they are healthy and I haven't had a single tick on the dogs. Also they occasionally get sardines or tuna (high protein) they love it.
I'm prepared to move them if I have to, to a dedicated only to guineas barn, but right now- their home is with the rest of the flock. I do have 2 pens within the barn that I could put them in, but right now they roost with Momma chicken in the rafters.

Chick Starter is 20%, so they also get that. Really hard to find appropriate food for them.

 

[R2elk]

Egg's a perfect food, and how I keep everyone tame, plus it has oodles of protein that Guineas need. I lost 2 to them to not getting enough protein, so that has saved them- the Game Bird Flight Conditioner is only 19% and meat builder's 18%- there's nothing with higher protein available here in Atlantic Canada- so that's how I up their protein, so far they are healthy and I haven't had a single tick on the dogs. Also they occasionally get sardines or tuna (high protein) they love it.
I'm prepared to move them if I have to, to a dedicated only to guineas barn, but right now- their home is with the rest of the flock. I do have 2 pens within the barn that I could put them in, but right now they roost with Momma chicken in the rafters.

FYI, while hard boiled eggs are an excellent food, it is not high protein. It is only about 12% protein.

The people claiming it is high protein ignore the fact that it is high protein based on dry weight. No one is feeding eggs dry. Cooked eggs still contain about the same per cent of water as raw eggs making it about 88 % water and 12% protein.

 

[R2elk]

Chick Starter is 20%, so they also get that. Really hard to find appropriate food for them.

The problem with chick starter is not only is it too low in protein, it is also lacking in the necessary amounts of lysine, methionine and niacin.

If you can't find the right kind of feed locally, Chewy is an option.

I find that talking to local feed stores and explaining why the guineas need the kind of feed they need can be helpful in getting them to stock what is needed.

 

[tnctx]

The problem with chick starter is not only is it too low in protein, it is also lacking in the necessary amounts of lysine, methionine and niacin.

If you can't find the right kind of feed locally, Chewy is an option.

I find that talking to local feed stores and explaining why the guineas need the kind of feed they need can be helpful in getting them to stock what is needed.

I’ve been giving game starter to everything for about a week bc the keets are almost a month old and big enough to get into just about everything and the chickens get into the Guinea’s food. So giving the keets and their parents, the Boneheads (3 mo old), and the chickens the same thing is just easier. I don’t keep them separated..they self segregate when foraging but charge like herd of spooked wildebeest when they see me coming with food or treats. Is the game starter bad for the chickens…they’ve just recently started laying?

 

[R2elk]

I’ve been giving game starter to everything for about a week bc the keets are almost a month old and big enough to get into just about everything and the chickens get into the Guinea’s food. So giving the keets and their parents, the Boneheads (3 mo old), and the chickens the same thing is just easier. I don’t keep them separated..they self segregate when foraging but charge like herd of spooked wildebeest when they see me coming with food or treats. Is the game starter bad for the chickens…they’ve just recently started laying?

The game bird starter will not hurt the chickens but they don't need it and if they are starting to lay they need the extra calcium in layer feed or at the least, free choice oyster shell.

 

[tnctx]

The game bird starter will not hurt the chickens but they don't need it and if they are starting to lay they need the extra calcium in layer feed or at the least, free choice oyster shell.

Thanks, R2elk! I’m just being lazy I guess. I want to make sure the keets are getting the amount of protein they need and know they won’t if they are eating chicken food or a combo of chicken and game in some unknown ratio. I put out crushed egg shells for the chickens; the guineas never seem interested and don’t bother it but the chickens do seem to take what they need.