Teenage behavior?

[MichelleBelle]

This is my first time keep guinea fowl from chicks that I hatched (I bought eggs) until adulthood. I've got a little group of what I suspect are hormonal pubertal guinea fowl. There are 12 that are nearly 4 months old and I've also got 12 that are about 2 months old. All living together, and out of the older birds I've got 4 males (I think- they developed larger, differently shaped wattles that seem to point a little bit different direction, forward if that makes sense). Up until this morning everything seemed just fine, no drama whatsoever. I go out this morning to scare off a pack of dogs that was trying to break in, and everything seemed fine still. I go out a few minutes later to bring some fresh chopped veggies, and there's 2 males in the center of a guinea circle, fighting each other pretty aggressively. It looked like a high school boy fight, with the rest of the guineas circled around. I feel like I have enough guinea fowl and enough ladies for the males. Are they just fighting to establish pecking order?

 

[R2elk]

This is my first time keep guinea fowl from chicks that I hatched (I bought eggs) until adulthood. I've got a little group of what I suspect are hormonal pubertal guinea fowl. There are 12 that are nearly 4 months old and I've also got 12 that are about 2 months old. All living together, and out of the older birds I've got 4 males (I think- they developed larger, differently shaped wattles that seem to point a little bit different direction, forward if that makes sense). Up until this morning everything seemed just fine, no drama whatsoever. I go out this morning to scare off a pack of dogs that was trying to break in, and everything seemed fine still. I go out a few minutes later to bring some fresh chopped veggies, and there's 2 males in the center of a guinea circle, fighting each other pretty aggressively. It looked like a high school boy fight, with the rest of the guineas circled around. I feel like I have enough guinea fowl and enough ladies for the males. Are they just fighting to establish pecking order?

It is a dominance fight. Next spring when their first full breeding season happens there will be chases and feather pulling. When two are fairly evenly matched there will be more of the face off fights. Those seem to be the last resort for settling disputes but they do happen.