Marking the sexes

[gootziecat]

All my guineas look the same to me. They're about 2 mo old. I'd like to be able to identify the males from the females and sell off the males. They are making the identifying sounds so that isn't the problem. What I need to know if how you actually mark the birds so you will be able to tell which is which at a later time. I can't get near them to catch them when they chi-chi or buck-wheat and find it difficult to tell one from the other visually, except for a couple that are smaller. How do you tell one from the other and solve this problem?
Thank you.

 

[critters]

do they free range at 2 months or are they penned??

if they are penned I would pick one up and take him out
of sight of the others for a bit....once she calls out for the
others I use 'zip ties' the tiny ones, and put on their ankle
leaving it loose yet not too loose, just so it is unable to
get over their foot. Then once you get rid of those you
don't want you can snip off...
I put the males back with the flock but into a smaller cage
just so I don't keep picking up the same bird and don't want
to keep where I have taken the guineas waiting for them to
call because they would see each other and in turn may
not call out ....
I might also wait to get rid of any as I have found some of
my girls are sometimes shy, and it may take some a bit
longer to speak up... just recheck the 'males' again at a
later date to be sure no females are still there....
this is what I do anyway...good luck!

 

[gootziecat]

Thanks, Critters. You have some good suggestions. The guinea keets are trained to go in the coop at night and are let out during the day to forage. They fly over the fence and onto roofs, so it's pointless to expect to contain them in a fenced area without overhead coverage (which I don't have). I could catch them before releasing them in the morning. Due to limited places to put them, I may have to band each one, male or female, but with different color. Thanks again. Great ideas.

 

[PeepsCA]

I've always banded legs with the neon colored zip ties on all of my birds, they work well... one color for males, one color for Hens, (and I'll use different colors for different ages or bloodlines since I have so many different flocks). I usually put them on the same leg on all the birds, except for the birds I want to sell, then I'll put the bands on the other leg, or add a 2nd band in a different color, or a band on each leg etc. Get creative, you'll figure it out. Just be sure to keep an eye on the bands as the birds mature, they may need to be cut off and a new (looser) one put on.

There are also actual poultry leg bands in different colors, spirals, or a variety of wider snap on bands and with numbers on them that you can use...
http://www.nationalband.com/leg.htm (scroll down the page a ways), but they are not as low cost as the colored zip ties are, and you may need to buy more than one size and change those out too as the birds mature.

 

[critters]

Thanks, Critters. You have some good suggestions. The guinea keets are trained to go in the coop at night and are let out during the day to forage. They fly over the fence and onto roofs, so it's pointless to expect to contain them in a fenced area without overhead coverage (which I don't have). I could catch them before releasing them in the morning. Due to limited places to put them, I may have to band each one, male or female, but with different color. Thanks again. Great ideas.

You are welcome but won't take all the credit.
I learned this earlier and have kept up the practice
from PeepsCA ... Peeps knows her guineas
and has great ideas for making living with your
babies much easier...ex:zip ties....so, Thank you too Peeps!