Rouge guinea

[guineapeeps]

Yes I happened upon them Saturday evening and Sunday morning they had escaped! I've got 6 pearl females and 3 males and I really wanted some variation. They are going to stay in for a while for sure. I've got my pearls cooped in two separate groups and no one strays far, I'm guessing since half is pinned in. Can I do this to my new two? I don't know if they are bonded or much about them except she's laying

I'm not sure where you live but if you let her lay on her eggs outside of the coop, she will more than likely get picked of by a predator before the eggs hatch. If you can keep her inside and make a quiet secluded area inside the coop, she may lay eggs in there. (Mine always liked to lay community nests in big plastic wheelbarrows).

 

[ChiefSuperFly]

A wheel barrow is an awesome idea! Sounds cute but I don't want to spare the room :/ I've got them tucked away inside and I think I'll scoop up her other eggs once she makes herself a new nest and put them in. How often do they go broody? I've read about chickens going in the spring and just once or so depending on the breed. Also as far as the predators... well the first night after they went missing I found them a couple doors down in a Christmas tree field. Alone I went, armed with a makeshift net (pex pipe and cargo net) and a flashlight clipped on my hat. My adrenaline was up and down and let me tell u! When my heart stopped beating in my ears I realized how stupid I was being! We've got bobcats, coyotes and a mountain lion or two. Our place and the Christmas tree farm butts up to tons of woods. The weeds were taller than me in some places and here I am without any weapons hopping thru trees n weeds til midnight! I happened across several deer, rabbits and saw an owl attack/scare off a bunch of turkeys over in the woods. Oh yeah we have bear up here too. When I was getting worn down (after finding them roosting under a tree and using a net that couldn't catch a child) I went chasing them. Shot the net again and they took off flying in different directions so I went for the closest with no luck. All while this big owl was watching I'm sure. But anyways I really wanted these birds! I bought them at the auction with intentions of purchasing any non-pearl guinea they had. I was so tickled, right when I came back to the auction room from looking at the livestock people were bidding on them and I won the bid (at the most I told myself I would bid for a guinea). Went to collect them afterward and got charged double- because there were two in the crate and I had missed that part. They were really quiet so I thought I had two males. When I was chasing them earlier in the day I discovered I had in fact a pair which gased me even more to catch them, plus I had spent my top dollar on them and they escaped before my family could even see them. Basically risked my life out in the Christmas trees for some dang lavender guineas that I could have bought keets at a fraction of the price. For some reason I enjoy sharing my stupidity with all u strangers lol but I'll end it saying three things: I don't really like them as much as I did the night I brought them home, I got my cardio in for sure, and lastly, by golly how the heck I haven't had nightmares about seeing spider eyes in the reflection of my flashlight I'll never know!!!!!!!


On the flip side I may now get lav keets instead of having to wait two generations

 

[guineapeeps]

A wheel barrow is an awesome idea! Sounds cute but I don't want to spare the room :/ I've got them tucked away inside and I think I'll scoop up her other eggs once she makes herself a new nest and put them in. How often do they go broody? I've read about chickens going in the spring and just once or so depending on the breed. Also as far as the predators... well the first night after they went missing I found them a couple doors down in a Christmas tree field. Alone I went, armed with a makeshift net (pex pipe and cargo net) and a flashlight clipped on my hat. My adrenaline was up and down and let me tell u! When my heart stopped beating in my ears I realized how stupid I was being! We've got bobcats, coyotes and a mountain lion or two. Our place and the Christmas tree farm butts up to tons of woods. The weeds were taller than me in some places and here I am without any weapons hopping thru trees n weeds til midnight! I happened across several deer, rabbits and saw an owl attack/scare off a bunch of turkeys over in the woods. Oh yeah we have bear up here too. When I was getting worn down (after finding them roosting under a tree and using a net that couldn't catch a child) I went chasing them. Shot the net again and they took off flying in different directions so I went for the closest with no luck. All while this big owl was watching I'm sure. But anyways I really wanted these birds! I bought them at the auction with intentions of purchasing any non-pearl guinea they had. I was so tickled, right when I came back to the auction room from looking at the livestock people were bidding on them and I won the bid (at the most I told myself I would bid for a guinea). Went to collect them afterward and got charged double- because there were two in the crate and I had missed that part. They were really quiet so I thought I had two males. When I was chasing them earlier in the day I discovered I had in fact a pair which gased me even more to catch them, plus I had spent my top dollar on them and they escaped before my family could even see them. Basically risked my life out in the Christmas trees for some dang lavender guineas that I could have bought keets at a fraction of the price. For some reason I enjoy sharing my stupidity with all u strangers lol but I'll end it saying three things: I don't really like them as much as I did the night I brought them home, I got my cardio in for sure, and lastly, by golly how the heck I haven't had nightmares about seeing spider eyes in the reflection of my flashlight I'll never know!!!!!!!


On the flip side I may now get lav keets instead of having to wait two generations

Wow! I thought I had some crazy guinea chasing stories, but yours tops all of mine by like 1000%! Those guineas are lucky to still be alive with all of the predators in your area. I know people who have lost their guineas to owls at night, so I'm surprised that the owl didn't pick one of them off. With the description of where you live, it sounds like the Pacific Northwest somewhere. My dad lives in Washington State and had one of his horses attacked by a cougar, so that's pretty scary to be out there alone at night!
Guineas will usually lay eggs from mid spring to late fall. I would usually get 2 or 3 hatchings from each hen every year. They will lay an egg per day for about 30 days or so. Once they have a large enough clutch, they will go broody and sit on the eggs for 25-28 days. When the keets get about a month old, the hen will start laying again. Hopefully your hen will continue to lay eggs this year. If you can spare a little space in the coop to make her a secluded nest with some straw, you may have more luck getting her to lay inside. If she doesn't have a place that she likes, she may just lay them randomly on the coop floor and never end up setting on/hatching them.
They should eventually settle down and get let freaky. They are great for bug control, keeping pests out of the garden, and they're just plain entertaining, so hopefully you will not regret having gotten them. Keep us up to date on your crazy adventures with the guineas!

 

[ChiefSuperFly]

Fingers crossed no more adventures! Lol! I'm actually in the Appalachian area so hopefully our predators, even tho they are same as Pacific Northwest are smaller here I know there's some big stuff and a lot more of it out west! Crazy thing about my hunt is all the poison ivy, sumac/oak. I was all up in it that night and didn't realize until I found myself distracted looking at the butterflies and bees the following 2 days. I'm so thankful I didn't have a reaction. I believe I know why but I'm not going to jinx it. The Christmas tree field was kinda romantic, so peaceful and private but if any one takes anything from this thread take this: don't get frisky-no matter what- in some Christmas trees just stay in the car LOL
LUCKILY I was a focused trapper that night

 

[ChiefSuperFly]

Sorry about your dads horse! That's awful! I think I would be sleeping in some ivy to get my vengeance if that happened to one of our horses. And thanks for the egg tip! I'm expecting my first chicken hatch Friday (toes and fingers crossed it's smooth) and thought I would just do some guinea eggs next round but clearly I won't have enough. Miss rogue guinea may be doing some work for me! After all I did save her from her own stupidity

 

[Percheron chick]

if any one takes anything from this thread take this: don't get frisky-no matter what- in some Christmas trees just stay in the car LOL

LOL. Best friend in HS. Poison oak.
Great horned owls are my biggest guinea predator.

 

[ChiefSuperFly]

I'm crying over here!!!!

LOL. Best friend in HS. Poison oak.
Great horned owls are my biggest guinea predator.

here

 

[GlennLee]

Wow! What a great story and comments shared here. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry and could actually feel that adrenaline rush!

@ChiefSuperFly - I think you're hooked on guineas. People seldom go through all that you did to save them and after you do that, it's a bit like an initiation ceremony - you are now owned by guineas! I am so glad to hear that you everyone is safe and I do think your story tops any I have heard about as well. Thanks for venting here. We all do it and believe me, I don't think I would have stuck with them if I hadn't had the support of my BYC peeps.

@guineapeeps - very scary story about your dad and the horse. Sorry to hear that and it made me realize an occasional coyote or fox is nothing to deal with compared to a mountain lion. You always provide such good info and appreciate your willingness to share your success at natural nesting, brooding and rearing by your guineas. Thanks for continuing to contribute.

@Percheron chick - thankfully, I haven't had a problem with owls, but we do have red tail hawks and they have actually come in for a swoop while I was standing out with the flock! Very brazen, plus there are migratory hawks that will do battle to take a quick meal. I'm glad we're able to post such stories and hopefully gain more information and ideas to keep our flocks safe.

I was all set to try some of guineapeeps ideas on natural rearing, but we had a fox take out 7 birds this spring and I now have 2 adult males with one female - yes, they would kill each other, so I have to keep them separated. AND I purchased 40 keets to replenish the flock - will sell off most of the males - AND I have one keet that was born in the barn coop and another keet I was able to hatch after the hen was killed. Oh, did I mention I added 5 Rhode Island Reds just to keep the lone male company and 3 English Orpingtons to use as broody hens? Yes, I am owned by guineas as well!

 

[ChiefSuperFly]

Did I read that right!? 40 keets!! My other half told me I needed to sell about 5 (I have 9 plus two lavs) I was like noooooo! As soon as I sell 2, 4 will go missing! I'm thinking where I have the one mature female it's agitating the others. Yesterday and the day before I noticed some guinea on chicken violence I have the lav guineas seperated from everyone else. I've got 7 females for sure and 4 males. Surely they won't fight to the death if I coop them all together? I can't have them hurting my chickens. I already know the damage their beaks and claws do!!!!

 

[GlennLee]

Yes, you read that right - 40 keets!

Last year, I started with a flock of 16 - and now I am down to 1 from that original flock - two died to related to injuries and 13 were taken by predators - coyote, fox and perhaps one to a hawk. So, I had to decide if I was going to toss in the towel or amp it up. Amp it up, I did! My goal is to keep a flock of 21-28 birds so that I have enough to lose to predators - unfortunately, it's a definite free ranging them - and enough to lay to perpetuate the flock.

Don't want to get in the middle of your relationship, but I would keep them all - especially if you are planning to free range and given the number and variety of predators you have there.

As far as "fighting to the death" I can't tell you for sure, but they can be aggressive, as you have noticed, with chickens and can be aggressive with one another. Since I'm down to 2 males to 1 female, I think it would be a to the death fight if I would let them. I am hoping once the keets get big enough, I can work on merging everyone back together again and I'll be keeping a ratio of about 3 to 4 females per 1 male. There aren't any guarantees and personalities play a big part of it.

I have had to rehome guineas. I also haven't had good luck adding guineas - even females to help balance off the ratio. It seems like whatever group they start with, that's their flock and they don't bond with newcomers. Again, this is what I have experienced, but there are others who have better luck adding new birds, so I wouldn't give up. One of my friends said that it has taken her up to a year to get new ones accepted. I guess a lot depends on your time and patience.

Since dominance in a flock can change over time - I am always on the alert for aggression. I don't intercede unless there are injuries. There will be a lot of chasing and darting going on within a flock all the time. The thing to watch for is blood. Then you may a have a bully that you'll have to deal with. Isolation has worked for some people - again, I worked with one bully over the course of 3 months and finally had to rehome. My two males are fighting between an electric fence now. Yes, the electricity is on! If they are together, they end up looking like prize fighters after a boxing match.
My Rhode Island Reds can hold their own with the guineas, my Orpingtons will keep their distance in the fenced in area, but I wouldn't keep them in a coop together without protection. They now hop up into a big dog crate every night for me to secure them in. Of course the Reds get after the Orpingtons as well. The Orpingtons are ga-ga over the 9 week old keets. I really think I could put them together, but over time, that wouldn't be a good idea since the guineas will be free ranging and the Orpingtons will be staying closer to home.

I swear - it really is like a soap opera here - who's fighting with who, who's sleeping with who, who's infertile, who's abandoning their children?

So, your ratio of male to female should work without adding increased aggression and yes, you'll probably have to watch them around the chickens.

Hope all this rambling helps.....