Quiet guinea fowl

[My2butterflies]

I had one Keet in my group I hatched that is a screamer when something is off. Either too hot or too cold. Now that it’s getting its feathers coming in it’s not as quick to complain. Just keep adjusting things and watching the groups body language for the temp.

As for adults, my males are the ones that will get the group all worked up. To me it seems random. Sometimes a dog gets too close and they all sound off. Other times they could care less about a dog walking past them. Same with the cats and us.
Over all I don’t think they are that noisy. Just happy chattering while walking around the yard.
They are the most noisy when they get separated and are calling out to each other. If that doesn’t happen too often then they are pretty quiet.

 

[BowieToMars]

Sounds like the keet is unhappy about something. If they are new, and their needs for heat, food, and water are met, then they may just need time to settle.

Ok so after a few hours they quieted down some, but boy do they run a lot!!

 

[BowieToMars]

I had one Keet in my group I hatched that is a screamer when something is off. Either too hot or too cold. Now that it’s getting its feathers coming in it’s not as quick to complain. Just keep adjusting things and watching the groups body language for the temp.

As for adults, my males are the ones that will get the group all worked up. To me it seems random. Sometimes a dog gets too close and they all sound off. Other times they could care less about a dog walking past them. Same with the cats and us.
Over all I don’t think they are that noisy. Just happy chattering while walking around the yard.
They are the most noisy when they get separated and are calling out to each other. If that doesn’t happen too often then they are pretty quiet.

Oh interesting. So I might have a screamer! Lol I'm looking forward to them getting bigger. Can they be tamed or are they more on the Wilder side of things?

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Oh interesting. So I might have a screamer! Lol I'm looking forward to them getting bigger. Can they be tamed or are they more on the Wilder side of things?

Hope they are settling in now! Mine are pretty wild, but if you want some taming tips, you might ask @Sydney65 , aka The Guinea Whisperer...

 

[Sydney65]

Lol. You think mb as a stay at home granny plus stay at home orders, mb I've spent too much time w/the birds?! Decide what your treat is going to be- I use white millet, it's very..motivating. If the keet isn't hot,cold,hungry,wet,thirsty or being picked on, my guess is it's getting a head start on being the leader of the pack. Someone mentioned weird times they go off. There are 2 things that put mine into guard mode when I am with them;a vehicle that honks as it goes by, and bicycles. These 2 things will make them stop what they're doing, surround me like guards, and honk back at them at ear wax vibrating levels.
The rest of the time, they're pretty quiet, chattering quietly. But, they'll be a yr old next month. When they were younger, the girls never stopped shrieking "come back comeback!", and when the boys first heard what they sounded like, they scared themselves.
Train them to respond to your call w/the treat. When I call, I say "beep beep" just bc that's what I did when they were keets. If they don't come, I assume they are further out, so I whistle. If that doesn't work, I clap. All 3 of these sounds they associate w/"old lady's got food." - why 3? Well, as I said, I beeped back at them as keets, but-ppl think I'm the crazy bird lady already. Can you imagine if I walked around shrieking "BEEP BEEP!"?
You can, to an extent, "train" them, depending on how much time you spend w/them and their personalities. All of mine eat out of my hand,that little guy up there in my pic is like a lap dog (he's the only one that is). 1 will perch on my shoulder, briefly. 3 of them will sit next to me, 2 of them respond to me pointing to tell them I want them in a certain spot. 3 of them don't respond to anything other than being called to come. All is based on their personality, the right treat, time and repetition. Get them used to being handled now.
I'm not sure abt the guinea whisperer thing though; I still can't determine the sex of 2 of them, bc they behave like males-the chasing and bickering with others for status-but they def make more than 2 syllable sounds. I thought one of them dropped an egg on the sidewalk once, but never saw either of them create a nest in the coop like the 2 girls did, or any sign that they laid another. But those 2 always stay together.
It's been a fun yr though!

 

[Sydney65]

This is as good of a place as any to ask @R2elk abt hierarchy, bc mb it explains my unidentified gender goons. In GUINEA FOWL AS PETS by Roger Rodendale, he discusses hierarchy as having an alpha male who leads, protects, gets 1st pick & 1st to breed. Then he refers to the 2nd cpl, kind of like the VP, who steps in while Alpha is away to manage/protect the flock, & he has his mate.
Then he says there's a 3rd male who is nonbreeding,submissive- "meant to be helpers...practicing cooperative brooding...helpers take over responsibilities of the primary female..(bc) she's the least caring towards the eggs & the primary male will only step in after the chicks arrive." He doesn't say it but seems to imply a female counterpart taking part.
I don't agree w/his description of primary cpl.By his logic, Bella & Blu (the gender unidentified RPs) wld be the creators of both nests, bc as I've described elsewhere, those 4 are pretty attentive to whatever they've got going on out there. BUT, the concept of nonbreeding helpers cld be an explanation for the RPs. There's never been a question of who the alpha is-he's a giant, who wld try? But Nugget & Blu still chase each other all over creation while Bella runs after them and does nothing- and they still run back and forth between the two existing nests, guarding the perimeter.
On the flip side, he also uses physical descriptors to determine gender, like size, caste, waddles, etc. that most don't agree with.

 

[R2elk]

This is as good of a place as any to ask @R2elk abt hierarchy, bc mb it explains my unidentified gender goons. In GUINEA FOWL AS PETS by Roger Rodendale, he discusses hierarchy as having an alpha male who leads, protects, gets 1st pick & 1st to breed. Then he refers to the 2nd cpl, kind of like the VP, who steps in while Alpha is away to manage/protect the flock, & he has his mate.
Then he says there's a 3rd male who is nonbreeding,submissive- "meant to be helpers...practicing cooperative brooding...helpers take over responsibilities of the primary female..(bc) she's the least caring towards the eggs & the primary male will only step in after the chicks arrive." He doesn't say it but seems to imply a female counterpart taking part.
I don't agree w/his description of primary cpl.By his logic, Bella & Blu (the gender unidentified RPs) wld be the creators of both nests, bc as I've described elsewhere, those 4 are pretty attentive to whatever they've got going on out there. BUT, the concept of nonbreeding helpers cld be an explanation for the RPs. There's never been a question of who the alpha is-he's a giant, who wld try? But Nugget & Blu still chase each other all over creation while Bella runs after them and does nothing- and they still run back and forth between the two existing nests, guarding the perimeter.
On the flip side, he also uses physical descriptors to determine gender, like size, caste, waddles, etc. that most don't agree with.

Guinea hierarchy is not as simple as that. It is also constantly changing.

In my flock there were originally a pair of Coral Blue cocks that ruled everything. They got away with this for years because they worked in tandem and always attacked as one against any other males.

One year all the other males banded together and gave the two Coral Blue males a horrific beating. For a time after that, even the lowest male in the flock would unmercifully attack them with impunity. Unfortunately the temporary alliance disbanded and the Coral Blues worked their way back to the top again with one exception. There was a clear difference in which one was alpha.

He is still alpha to this day but his buddy is now either at the bottom or very close to the bottom. The two youngest males (Chocolates) are also at the bottom after having started at the bottom, moved up and now back down again. They are also the main breeders. During the main breeding season, they get chased out of the pen multiple times daily because of their sneak breeding attacks on hens that belong to other males.

Their are behaviors that are unique to the males and ones that are unique to the hens. Right now during laying season, a physical description that defines hens is their raised bustle which I have never seen on a male and only see on a hen that is laying eggs.

I have some hens that are slightly smaller than the cocks. A male guinea of the same color variety may have a bigger casque than the female of the same color variety but for example a Pearl Gray hen can have a bigger casque than a Coral Blue cock.

As for the wattles, I do not put any trust in using wattles as a sex determining factor. My original Chocolate male has one wattle that is huge and cupped while his other wattle is shaped like one that you would expect a hen to have. I had Lavender cocks that had wattles that looked the same as the Lavender hen's wattles.

 

[Sydney65]

I've noticed the bustle on the ladies, but don't recall it being mentioned before so thought I was nutsy. Thank you. I'm convinced my RPs were akin to your blues. Bella picked on Blu, but nobody else better,& Nuggy is always trying. I'll have to keep an eye on that now that Bella is gone. Male or female, I think Blu is going mourn all the same. He was going bananas running around calling.

 

[Chick-a-de]

Great idea for the thread.. Guineas usually get pretty grumpy when they're penned in because they're such high energy birds. Basically what I did was learn that white millet seed is "guinea crack." I started giving it to my keets when they were about 8 weeks old.. and at first they wouldn't touch it but they soon learned they loved it. Every time I'd give them this treat I would shake an old can with some of it in it and call "guinea, guinea, guinea" and give them the treat. They've eventually caught on that every time they hear this to come immediately, I don't even have to give treats anymore (but I do because they're spoiled). And if they chose not to listen I herded them into their roost with a small branch to keep them together, guineas are super easy to herd.. unlike chickens.

I learned that you have to be home ALOT because if you miss a couple days of training they tend to forget and I had to start back a square one almost. I've finally got mine in such a routine by doing what I said above every day at approx. 5 pm that they just go in and roost now because it's bed time for them.

Hopefully it works for you and if you have any questions feel free to ask!!

Guinea crack! LOL, I say the same thing about them with dried meal worms. It's scary! The struggle is real when I feed the chickens and 3 guines. It's not even a shake down, its a full fledged ATTACK! I have to trick them so the chickens get some. The only way to shut them up is feed em, but then they learn to squeal for food. I haven't had issues getting mine to roost in the coop. I raised them up with 16 chickens and they all have stayed together. Im sure the Guinea crack helped. In fact, I wouldn't mind if they would fly in the field to give us a break.

 

[Jabebee13]

Guinea crack! LOL, I say the same thing about them with dried meal worms. It's scary! The struggle is real when I feed the chickens and 3 guines. It's not even a shake down, its a full fledged ATTACK! I have to trick them so the chickens get some. The only way to shut them up is feed em, but then they learn to squeal for food. I haven't had issues getting mine to roost in the coop. I raised them up with 16 chickens and they all have stayed together. Im sure the Guinea crack helped. In fact, I wouldn't mind if they would fly in the field to give us a break.

X2 guinea fowl + meal worms.