My New Guineas Never Sleep

[Euphemia]

In an attempt to provide more protection for my free range laying hens, on advise from others I bought nine cross breed guinea's about three weeks ago. I have them on lock down with my three remaining laying chickens. I lost 12 hens and thee ducks to coyotes in a matter of minutes at dusk about four weeks ago Everyone is getting along. In fact one of the chickens has taken up roosting at night between the guinea's. They are very calm when I enter the coop to feed and water them twice a day. My question; it appears, from the racket all night, the GH never sleep! No matter what time of night I listen for them they are up calling..Is this normal GH behavior??? Thank goodness its winter and I have no close neighbors. They even have the peacocks going at night now so I know they are keeping them up. Thankinh you in advanced for your help.

 

[Woofless]

Wow....I can definitely say this is *not* a behavior I have observed in our guinea flock, but this is the first flock I've ever had any experience with. Hopefully someone else can chime in with more experience, as to what "normal" guinea behavior is, or what might be causing your birds to be late-night party animals.

After dark our birds are quiet except the couple of times I've gone out there and disturbed them...and even then, they squawk and settle fairly quickly when I leave the area. Even in the morning before the sun gets up too far...the birds are mostly quiet until I show up and start filling feeders, after that the decibel level increases for the day Also, though I doubt it's pertinent, my guineas are anything but "calm" when I enter their pen. They shout obscenities at me while they make a mad flight for the uppermost perches or the outdoor area. Not long ago I had to go in there and make a minor patch to a hole I'd found in some of the wire, I had to fully "invade" their inner sanctum and I stayed there far longer than usual....the birds were not pleased. I am glad I don't understand guinea language, for I am certain those birds were saying things to me that would make a sailor blush. They are not the tamest birds I've ever been around, even my bobwhite quail are far more tolerant of my presence.....but, guineas are cool and I'm fond of them anyway

Yikes, and peacocks are joining in.....oy....you must be a very patient and tolerant person, either that or a hard sleeper, LOL! If I have to work outside near the guinea pen for any length of time, I end up fantasizing about cooking up a delicious guinea stew before it's over with.... To have my sleep disrupted like that.....with a backup chorus of peacocks too....aaaaaackkk!!

Love the birds, but wouldn't want that particular noise, personally I find it unsettling LOL. I had neighbors with peacocks once.....and hubby & I had NO IDEA what that BIZARRE NOISE was when we first moved in. Their place was probably 1000 yards away and separated from ours by a treeline, so the noise wasn't overly loud, but certainly noticeable. We would sometimes sit on our porch just to listen to it....trying to figure out WTH could make a noise like that...best guess Hubby & I could come up with, was the neighbors were, erm...very amourous and vocal...with one another! LOL, luckily a chance to visit them finally, cleared up any erroneous assumptions!

Your birds are lucky they have a tolerant caregiver If it were me, I'd either be eating some delicious stew by now, or I'd be finding out which sleeping medications are safe to administer to poultry.....

Hope somebody has some advice!

 

[PeepsCA]

My flocks are always noisy during breeding season. My Guinea Hens buck-wheating all night long is normal, especially Hens under a year old (the pullets). If you have any type pf lighting in or close to your coop. Try shutting it off and see if that quiets them down the next night or two.

Also... your new flock could still be acclimating to their new home, and they could be getting anxious when the sun goes down, so there's a lot of chatter (which probably helps them feel a little more secure)... but if they are sounding the alarm call at night then my guess is that the coyotes or other predators are stalking your coop, and the Guineas (and Peafowl) are being noisy for a reason.

And sometimes if there's a rodent scrounging food at night it sets off my birds... when my birds are noisy for no apparent reason at night, and it's just one coop, it's time to put out rodent bait lol.

 

[atmaclean]

we hear our guineas squawking off and on all night. some nights they are louder than others. Mine come in a covered pen at night to roost but free range all day. I have never had a flock of guineas that was quiet all night....

 

[JLeigh]

I hesitate to write it, because I don't want to bring down bad JuJus, but my guineas are quiet at night. But then I put them in a coop with the door closed . Maybe they're partying and I just don't hear it. . Fine by me.

Mine also stay fairly quiet in the mornings until I come out to the pen/coop and then they crank up. They're expecting food and perhaps a treat or two. My pullets (5 months old) buck-wheat ALL DAY LONG after that, which gets my two males into a lather and then everything goes haywire. I'll be glad when they calm down, but those hens? They never shut up.

BUT when I go into the pen and sit there for a while, they get calm and quiet. When I leave, they go at it again.

I think it's love

 

[Euphemia]

Thank you ALL for your input and sharing your experiences with your own flocks. I think it may be the malfunctioning outside security light that might be part of the problem, however after hearing your experiences it may be they are just night party animals. I just wanted to make sure I was not doing something wrong or not providing my new friends with something needed. I am going to bite the bullet and repair the outside light so it won't go off and on all night at will. not lose my sense of humor or my love for raising birds even if they are not seen as beautiful by all. Again, thank you!

 

[NewtonZapple]

So I’m not the only one experiencing this! My 7 guineas party all night long, too. It’s not light related, but it could well be vermin, raccoons, foxes or coyotes nearby since I live in the woods.

Luckily my coop and fence are predator proof, but they are obviously sensing some sort of danger.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

So I’m not the only one experiencing this! My 7 guineas party all night long, too. It’s not light related, but it could well be vermin, raccoons, foxes or coyotes nearby since I live in the woods.

Luckily my coop and fence are predator proof, but they are obviously sensing some sort of danger.

Mine are quiet now, but will do lots of nighttime buckwheating in the spring.

 

[Sydney65]

Mine are quiet now, but will do lots of nighttime buckwheating in the spring.

Mine only carry on at night if there's a thunderstorm going on. They like to rail back at the gods.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Mine weren't terribly loud. But they were little weirdos that wouldn't go to bed. They'd fly out into the yard and run around catching bugs in the outside lights. And then they'd take power naps on the ground and go again. I finally moved them into the barn where they wouldn't be so disturbed by the lights.