Uneven number of guineas?

[Sydney65]

To be fair, the twins haven't had much experience w/nail trimming; I was out of commission for awhile so it was over due. I break all protocol- proper flock size, they say, is 10 & up, I have 6. I lost 2 females last 1st spring, so until "the twins" were added, my 1 female spent months w/3 males. They're usually quiet, unless there's something they don't approve of, like an eagle in the tree, someone pulling in the drive, my neighbor coming into the yard.
Mine have similar behavior to my dogs. Wherever they are, when they hear my truck coming up the road, they run to the drive to meet me. They get excited when they see me, and they're content to graze or sit near me.
"The Twins" (nicname only, they're the only survivors of my 1st incubation) are just shy of 5 months old - and yes, females at this stage through mating season are quite vocal, constantly calling "come back come back!" Or some variation there of. My grown female isn't so loud anymore, she wanders around asking for "cocoa" most of the time. My boys' calls crack me up bc it's somewhere between a mocking laugh and a quack. But as R2elk said, you either love or hate them. A cpl of yrs ago, I cldnt have imagined having them;they were my husband's idea for tic control. Now I can't imagine not having them.

 

[HuffleClaw]

I like the guinea noise. Just not the aggression. I haven’t seen a tick, nor snake in idk how long since having them. I love what they do... minus the attacking.

 

[R2elk]

I like the guinea noise. Just not the aggression. I haven’t seen a tick, nor snake in idk how long since having them. I love what they do... minus the attacking.

It appears that your flock is teaching new members the chicken attack behavior. One method that might help in your situation is to closely observe them and remove the ringleaders.

Guineas are delicious.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

22...yeah, see, as much as I wld love them, you'd be calling me the Guinea Lune instead of whisperer. Lol. I trimmed everyone's nails today. The 4 patiently waited, wrapped in their towel, watching everything I did & quietly commenting every once in awhile. When I finished, they'd stand on my leg taking in their surroundings before hopping down.
"The Twins" screamed their bloody heads off like there was a fire, bit the towel, glared, and then flopped out of my arms when I finished. The grays were also squittish when they were "little", but not this much.
I did hold Mouse long enough to get a good look at her up close. Her neck ruffles are brown rather than the purple/gray. When it's bright out, her body looks more brown, but when overcast, it looks more gray. Regardless of the lighting, I think her screech cld break glass!

This cracks me up Sydney!!! My guineas had better be trimming their own nails! Chickens too! Since I lost my silkies, I actually don’t have a bird that would let me pick it up without screaming bloody murder...

 

[akostka1988]

If you are looking for a male and live in New England I have one left (one died as a runt 3 days after I got it, the mated male and female disappeared together one day and I don’t think they eloped) he’s on the small side compared to the other male I had and wasn’t the top of the pecking order either but he is a typical guinea doesn’t like people and squawks whenever he sees something new. I wouldn’t mind rehoming him to a flock of his own instead of being the funny looking chicken lmao

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

It appears that your flock is teaching new members the chicken attack behavior. One method that might help in your situation is to closely observe them and remove the ringleaders.

Guineas are delicious.

Yes, getting rid of my aggressive ringleaders has helped tremendously. The new guineas that were brooded only with guineas just don’t care much about the other birds. If I had had the heart to also get rid of my least aggressive original cock when I got rid of the worst aggressors, then I would likely have guineas with minimal interest in other poultry.

Reminds me of a funny story: Welch is a RP guinea hen who was hatched 2.5 yrs ago in my first clutch of guinea eggs, along with chicks and ducklings. She was brooded with them too,
So knows chicken behaviors well. Welch is not very aggressive and I don’t see her going after chickens or much of anything.

So, the other day I was throwing some millet out as treats, and Welch flew into the rooster pen, which is protected by an electric fence. One roo came her way, trying to decide between attack or breeding her. Welch was having none of this, and immediately attacked this rooster who is at least 3x her weight. What was so funny to me is that she used rooster fighting techniques, not guinea fighting techniques! Instead of going for the head or butt feathers, she flew at the rooster feet first! I saw her make this move several times and I was dying laughing.

The roo was quite taken aback by this response, but then another roo came to help and she was probably overmatched. However, having seen Welch’s moves, the two of them were confused and just kind of paced around looking concerned. Welch went back to eating the millet that she was stealing from the boys. I figured that she had it under control. I left them and later told my daughter about all of this, but instead of being amazed by Welch’s fighting moves, she was horrified that I’d left poor Welch in with the boys! It was hours later but we went out to check on her: she was out of the pen hanging with her flock, not a feather out of place.

edit: added a pic of Welch and her babies.

 

[Sydney65]

This cracks me up Sydney!!! My guineas had better be trimming their own nails! Chickens too! Since I lost my silkies, I actually don’t have a bird that would let me pick it up without screaming bloody murder...

I've always trimmed their nails? I feel bad that they had to go so long this time, bc some were causing misalignment so they were walking on the sides of the toe. Nugget was esp hilarious afterwards. The giant uncertain steps he took at 1st reminded me of when I had Blue in shoes.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I've always trimmed their nails? I feel bad that they had to go so long this time, bc some were causing misalignment so they were walking on the sides of the toe. Nugget was esp hilarious afterwards. The giant uncertain steps he took at 1st reminded me of when I had Blue in shoes.

Well mine have had plenty of toe issues... I just really can’t imagine trimming their nails. I do have some rooster spurs that could use trimming... When I’ve tried to trim chicken nails, I’ve found the quick is really close to the tip and easy to hit? So I stopped trying with chicken nails too.

 

[Sydney65]

Yes, getting rid of my aggressive ringleaders has helped tremendously. The new guineas that were brooded only with guineas just don’t care much about the other birds. If I had had the heart to also get rid of my least aggressive original cock when I got rid of the worst aggressors, then I would likely have guineas with minimal interest in other poultry.

Reminds me of a funny story: Welch is a RP guinea hen who was hatched 2.5 yrs ago in my first clutch of guinea eggs, along with chicks and ducklings. She was brooded with them too,
So knows chicken behaviors well. Welch is not very aggressive and I don’t see her going after chickens or much of anything.

So, the other day I was throwing some millet out as treats, and Welch flew into the rooster pen, which is protected by an electric fence. One roo came her way, trying to decide between attack or breeding her. Welch was having none of this, and immediately attacked this rooster who is at least 3x her weight. What was so funny to me is that she used rooster fighting techniques, not guinea fighting techniques! Instead of going for the head or butt feathers, she flew at the rooster feet first! I saw her make this move several times and I was dying laughing.

The roo was quite taken aback by this response, but then another roo came to help and she was probably overmatched. However, having seen Welch’s moves, the two of them were confused and just kind of paced around looking concerned. Welch went back to eating the millet that she was stealing from the boys. I figured that she had it under control. I left them and later told my daughter about all of this, but instead of being amazed by Welch’s fighting moves, she was horrified that I’d left poor Welch in with the boys! It was hours later but we went out to check on her: she was out of the pen hanging with her flock, not a feather out of place.

edit: added a pic of Welch and her babies.

Proud momma. What color did the white ones end up being?

 

[Sydney65]

The more we trim, the more the quick recedes, so if it's really close, I just tip the nail, then go back a week later and trim a bit more. Can be drawn out process, esp w/22 of them. Lol. For me, it's usually easy enough to do, protects them from having it rip off or hurting each other, and me from puncture wounds when they use me as a perch or launch pad. You were right back in the day, Blue did end up losing a nail on that foot, aside from the toe he lost. Neither phases him a bit these days, and he's still my cuddle bug.