Okay, guys. I need advice. We have only two guineas left and the ticks are already thick. We want to get more guineas, but really need some ideas how to manage them so that there's less problems with the chickens.
Let me give you the background. Last year we raised guineas and chickens. We had 12 guinea keets that were hatched out and raised by a broody hen, a Rhode Island Red / Cochin mix. We also had a Buff Orpington hen. Finally we had seven Dominiques, one rooster and six pullets. They were all raised together in the same coop. They free ranged during the day and roosted together at night. The RiR / Cochin hen got taken by a coyote and the keets were adopted by my oldest Dominique hen who finished raising them. We only ended up with seven guineas by winter from various losses. One or two would refuse to come into the coop at night and get picked off by predators. Of those seven only one was female. In December a red tailed hawk got the dominant guinea male. The other males (eight months old at the time) went nuts. They were very aggressive with my chickens. They would pick one of my lower order hens and gang up on her. They would all run and chase her. When they caught her, they would grab her by her wing feathers, and by her feathers on her head, and (this sounds gross!) all six of them would take turns mounting her, like they were trying to mate. When I separated that hen out, they picked a different hen. When I took that hen away too, they picked another hen. I spent two days just herding the guineas away from the chickens until my Dominique rooster beat up a few of them and put them in their place. They were still a little squirrely until they worked out a new pecking order and the female guinea picked a new mate. After that they were calm for another month or so. Then when it warmed up this spring they all went nuts again. Again they were ganging up on one hen and picking on them. One at a time my hens kept disappearing. The guineas would chase them down and terrorize them and they would start ranging further and further from the flock to stay away from the guineas, and then they just wouldn't come back. The only hen they didn't treat this way was the one hen that adopted them. They still would range right beside her and she would scratch for them like she did when they were young. The whole time they were still roosting in the coop at night and free-ranging over our five acres during the daytime. Finally one day I caught them with one of my little hens. They had chased her and pinned her down under some brush and were doing the bizarre mounting thing and pecking her head. By the time I got them off her, her comb was ripped half way off her head. The next day we slaughtered the four largest male guineas, leaving our female and one male. Then things were quiet for a few more weeks until the hens started going broody and the female guinea started laying. Recently the last male guinea has started being aggressive again toward hens. He always targets the lowest order hen, and will just drive her off further and further from the others. He ran off two of them but we did find them before they got caught by predators. Currently the guinea pair is in a pen. However, in a pen they can't eat ticks, which is really their primary job on our farm.
Here's my question. Is there any way to manage guineas that will result in them being less aggressive toward my hens? Do I need guineas that are raised totally separately from the chickens? Do I need a better mix of males and females? Do I need more guineas so they can just fight with each other? Is having them raised by a broody hen good socialization, or should I raise them in a brooder box and hand gentle them? If the hen goes broody in the pen would she raise them better, as long as I didn't let them out in the wet? Would they do better housed in a separate coop away from the chickens? Would they do better if we just let them run wild and roost in the trees and just counted on having higher losses?
We really, really want guineas. I just won't put up with them running off all my chickens. I'd appreciate any advice from someone who's been successful raising them together.
Thanks,
Traci
Let me give you the background. Last year we raised guineas and chickens. We had 12 guinea keets that were hatched out and raised by a broody hen, a Rhode Island Red / Cochin mix. We also had a Buff Orpington hen. Finally we had seven Dominiques, one rooster and six pullets. They were all raised together in the same coop. They free ranged during the day and roosted together at night. The RiR / Cochin hen got taken by a coyote and the keets were adopted by my oldest Dominique hen who finished raising them. We only ended up with seven guineas by winter from various losses. One or two would refuse to come into the coop at night and get picked off by predators. Of those seven only one was female. In December a red tailed hawk got the dominant guinea male. The other males (eight months old at the time) went nuts. They were very aggressive with my chickens. They would pick one of my lower order hens and gang up on her. They would all run and chase her. When they caught her, they would grab her by her wing feathers, and by her feathers on her head, and (this sounds gross!) all six of them would take turns mounting her, like they were trying to mate. When I separated that hen out, they picked a different hen. When I took that hen away too, they picked another hen. I spent two days just herding the guineas away from the chickens until my Dominique rooster beat up a few of them and put them in their place. They were still a little squirrely until they worked out a new pecking order and the female guinea picked a new mate. After that they were calm for another month or so. Then when it warmed up this spring they all went nuts again. Again they were ganging up on one hen and picking on them. One at a time my hens kept disappearing. The guineas would chase them down and terrorize them and they would start ranging further and further from the flock to stay away from the guineas, and then they just wouldn't come back. The only hen they didn't treat this way was the one hen that adopted them. They still would range right beside her and she would scratch for them like she did when they were young. The whole time they were still roosting in the coop at night and free-ranging over our five acres during the daytime. Finally one day I caught them with one of my little hens. They had chased her and pinned her down under some brush and were doing the bizarre mounting thing and pecking her head. By the time I got them off her, her comb was ripped half way off her head. The next day we slaughtered the four largest male guineas, leaving our female and one male. Then things were quiet for a few more weeks until the hens started going broody and the female guinea started laying. Recently the last male guinea has started being aggressive again toward hens. He always targets the lowest order hen, and will just drive her off further and further from the others. He ran off two of them but we did find them before they got caught by predators. Currently the guinea pair is in a pen. However, in a pen they can't eat ticks, which is really their primary job on our farm.
Here's my question. Is there any way to manage guineas that will result in them being less aggressive toward my hens? Do I need guineas that are raised totally separately from the chickens? Do I need a better mix of males and females? Do I need more guineas so they can just fight with each other? Is having them raised by a broody hen good socialization, or should I raise them in a brooder box and hand gentle them? If the hen goes broody in the pen would she raise them better, as long as I didn't let them out in the wet? Would they do better housed in a separate coop away from the chickens? Would they do better if we just let them run wild and roost in the trees and just counted on having higher losses?
We really, really want guineas. I just won't put up with them running off all my chickens. I'd appreciate any advice from someone who's been successful raising them together.
Thanks,
Traci
