When Guineas Attack.. For Those of You Wanting Guineas

[speckledhen]

I was cruising through my old photos from a year ago when I had guineas, right after I got my BR rooster, Hawkeye. I found this picture of my alpha male, Dodger, attacking the rooster I thought you should see. I miss my Fearsome Foursome, as I called my two males and two females, but they were not about to live peacefully with any of the RIRs or Hawkeye..and yes, for those of you who dont know, they were in with the chickens from the time they were four weeks old in a nursery inside the coop.

 

[mdbucks]

I think the rooster was teasing the guineas first.

its always the retaliater that gets blamed

 

[lacyloo]

thats a awsome pic

 

[speckledhen]

Nope, my Hawkeye is very mild-mannered. He never even offered to attack the guineas. Dodger was always testing him. Dodger was a mess of a guinea, tame as he could be, spoiled rotten, if you can spoil a guinea. He was always the instigator of trouble around here. Guineas are just alien helmet-heads that I adore, but I love my chickens more.

 

[mdbucks]

So your showing your bias towards the chickens, I know that the guineas are nut cases, I have a couple that will jump onto chair arm and sometimes my leg to get treats, but will run if you try to pet them. I haven't had troubles with guineas vs. chickens, but guineas vs. guineas has been rough at times. I think my guineas think they are chickens they follow one of the EE roo's like he is thier leader.

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

Cool Picture Cyn!!! I did want to get a couple of guineas, but not too sure... my mother had them and they never bothered her chickens... well at least I never heard of them doing so. However, they did like to attack their dog. I wonder if the guineas would keep my turkeys in line LOL... heck my turkeys have started attacking my chickens... they never ever have before and now they are... especially one of my BR roos... "Big Boy" I just dont understand. Oh well.

 

[speckledhen]

Dodger moved to Asheville to another member's farm where he wasn't the toughest thing in the barnyard, LOL. He got his goose cooked by a goose and she also has turkeys. I think they all settled in because they've become parents since then.
md, yep, if I have to choose between my guineas and my chickens, my chickens stay. They lay during the winter and guineas don't. I LOVE guineas and it hurt very much to let them go, but I was mopping up blood and was afraid that they would actually kill one of my RIRs or my rooster. They never bothered any of the other chickens for some reason. Guess Dodger didn't like my RIR, Rosemary's attitude because it was his grudge against her that started his road out of here.

 

[mdbucks]

Quote:
Same goes for here, but if anything I do have a EE roo(the tailess roo) that picks on them or they pick umongst themselves. The tailess one got wifes vote as the first to go get processed, he was picking on one of here favorites. So he wont last much longer if that turns into habit.

 

[wren]

My chickens (20 or so) have always picked on my guineas (30). They are free range with plenty of room to separate themselves which they almost always do even though they were raised together.

They have access to eachother's feed, water and roosting areas but keep to their own areas mostly. I even give treats out in different spaces.

I have NEVER had any problems with guineas attacking my chickens. Whenever I have observed the chickens chasing the guineas around I put out a new water and feeder to allow the guineas unhassled access to both. My guineas are not sexually mature yet and that may tip the scale.

My feeling is any animal that has maintained more of it's natural instincts from generations in the wild will come back hard in a fight over needed resources such as space, food, a mate and water. In my opinion we can push a normally lovely well-behaved species too far i.e. guineas by expecting them to be happy under the same conditions a more domesticated animal would like.

On a different vein, it is possible that a spoiled tame bird will choose a person as their mate. I had to get rid of a show quality hen who chose me as it's mate and was thrashing the others in the pen including the rooster. I have never heard of a guinea that tame though.

Just my experience-

 

[speckledhen]

The guineas could come and go at will. They had a landing bar into and out of the pen and all the acreage they wanted to roam. Guineas are not like chickens in any way, shape or form, other than being birds. They are not as domesticated as chickens and do not fight like chickens. You have been lucky, but if a guinea holds a grudge, your luck will run out, believe me. I knew plenty about guineas before I ever raised them from keets, so I didn't go in unprepared, except to the sudden viciousness of my one alpha male, who by the way was EXTREMELY tame. See pics below-I had two lavender males, one lavender female and a large pearl female.