Surprise in the chicken yard!

[Wildcatome]

I heard a terrible ruckus out in my chicken yard a few days ago and ran out to see what was going on. To my surprise, there was a guinea in with my girls! I have 6 Rhode Island Reds that are about 13 weeks old. I have no idea where it came from, but it has been here now for four nights. My hens seem ok with it being there, although once in awhile it does run towards them all ruffled up. I haven't seen or heard anything more negative than that. The past two nights, it has followed them into the coop at night, and seems very content. I'm guessing it may be planning on staying for awhile.....

I've never had a guinea before and know virtually nothing about them. What can you tell me about what I can do to make this successful? Any & all advice is appreciated!! I have pictures if anyone can tell me how to post them on this site.

Thanks!

 

[zazouse]

Congratulations

My guineas eat the same food as my other birds so there really isn't any difference in their care.
You may find yourself wanting more of these critters so i would get ready to get some keets and raise um up if you have room for them.

 

[damselfish]

Congrats on your guinea! It must have lost its flock somehow. A higher protein feed like Flock Raiser would be good for it, especially if your birds do not free range. I feed my adult guineas and chickens on Flock Raiser plus oyster shell on the side to take care of calcium for the layers, plus they free range. Guineas eat many, many bugs.

Hard to say what will happen long-term. Female guineas make a two syllable call usually written out as "buck-wheat, buck-wheat", while males only make one syllable calls. Have you had time to listen to it yet, to see what you have? Chickens and guineas can breed sometimes although I can't remember whether it works both ways (male guinea over female chicken versus male chicken over female guinea). There's a thread about that somewhere, I think. Hatch rate is poor and crossbreed lifespan is generally short.

Guineas like to be in a flock. It may become a member of this chicken flock and be happy, or you may end up needing to get it some friends of its own or a new home. Just keep an eye on things and see how it goes. Guineas can be very mean to chickens, but nothing is set in stone, each situation and individual bird can bring different behaviors.

Edited because you can't leave the important part out:

. Long may you post.

 

[Wildcatome]

Thanks for the encouraging words! My chickens don't free range, exactly---but there are only six in a fenced area that is about 1/4 acre--so I guess it is close to free ranging. After listening to the sound files online, I believe my new visitor/resident is a male. He flies into and out of the fenced area at will, but spends most of his time inside the fence.

He is not tame at all, unlike my girls, who run to us whenever they see us, and jump on us like puppies! We have been spending some time just hanging out near the guinea without trying to approach him, occasionally tossing out some grain. Hopefully, if he is going to stay around, he will feel less nervous about us.

 

[livenwpeeps]

I have guineas and a few chickens and feed them both the same feed. Mine free range and have kept the tick population way down. Everyone else is complaining about how bad the ticks are and I haven't seen but a few. They are not domisticated like chickens so they will always be a little wild. I raise mine from eggs and try my best from day one to make them more comfortable around me but once they get older, they just kinda got their own agenda. I love to watch them go about their scheduled route. They love to watch for the post man to bring the mail. Then they sound the alarm even though they had been waiting for him. And the poor UPS driver .... once he gets in the drive way, they won't let him leave. I was sitting on my front porch one morning drinking coffee and a jogger goes running down the road and there goes my guineas following the jogger down the road. They range for a ways and they can fly very well. I trained mine to come to a cow bell so I could get them to come home when I needed them, for example a thunderstorm on the way, etc..... I also put mine in their coop at nights so they are not roosting in trees and are safer. I have not had any problems with the chickens mixing with the guineas. They pass each other and don't even acknowledge the other. They stay in the same coop at nights without any problems. I hope you keep your guinea. They are real funny and have a lot of personality!!

 

[tsparrow]

Do you live in Michigan There was a storm and they lost the direction and all flew off and seperated. I am sure that might have happened with your new found friend. One came back home and found one next door. The have a mind of their own and a personallity. I love hearing them sound out and run around with my chickens and turkeys. They seem to enjoy my turkeys and interact with them more then the chickens. If there is someone new coming over they sound off. They are not a breed to come running to you, but are fun to watch. I feed mine higher protein then the chickens, but in the summer there are a lot of bugs they love to eat.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Had the same thing happen to me about 2 months ago! One just showed up on the farm.
My LGD was stressed over it until I told her it could stay and now I have added a girlfriend for him.
He cooped up with the chickens until the girl came to live here and now they go behind the barn into the tree s and sleep. He would rather come inside but she insists it is too hot. They have been spending the 98 degree days under my back deck along with the ducks and LGD.