Why do guineas….

[Unicornlife3316]

So the three guineas hatched back in august are plenty big enough to be free ranging. So I’ve been letting them out with the big birds and the big birds will NOT accept them. I have 11 roughly 2-3 year old guineas (7 hens and 4 males) and the new birds are either 2 hens and 1 male or 3 hens. I know for sure 2 but I’m not 100% on that third one. Anyways. I have NO idea what to do.
I’ve considered locking them all in together for a few days to try to get them together? Idk. I have 7 more babies from a few weeks ago that will also need to integrate in a few more weeks - I don’t even care if the babies all make one flock and the other 11 stay their flock, just COEXIST!!!
And yes - I did a see no touch cage for 2.5 almost 3 weeks.

 

[R2elk]

So the three guineas hatched back in august are plenty big enough to be free ranging. So I’ve been letting them out with the big birds and the big birds will NOT accept them. I have 11 roughly 2-3 year old guineas (7 hens and 4 males) and the new birds are either 2 hens and 1 male or 3 hens. I know for sure 2 but I’m not 100% on that third one. Anyways. I have NO idea what to do.
I’ve considered locking them all in together for a few days to try to get them together? Idk. I have 7 more babies from a few weeks ago that will also need to integrate in a few more weeks - I don’t even care if the babies all make one flock and the other 11 stay their flock, just COEXIST!!!
And yes - I did a see no touch cage for 2.5 almost 3 weeks.

Pretty much normal behavior for accepting keets that were not raised by the flock. The most likely scenario is that all the young keets will form a separate flock in addition to your current flock.

If you do try locking them all together, make sure there are plenty of places for the young ones to escape and hide. Make sure there are multiple feeders and waterers that are not close together. Without these precautions, the adults may kill the juveniles.

 

[red horse ranch]

I don't try to integrate keets in with my adult guineas until the young guineas are almost full grown. Around 3 to 4 months old. They are always able to see each other since they sleep in the same building but they are kept separate. I will start letting the young ones mingle at around 4 months but have them in their separate pen when the adults come in for the evening. The actual integration may take a month or more.
They may stay as separate flocks until the following breeding season but should become part of the adult flock when some of the adults start seeing the young ones as mates.

 

[R2elk]

I can't find thread, but remember @R2elk and I discussing fall behavior once..@r2elk even used the word "pirouette" to describe the dance they seemed to be doing. Best we could come up with at the time was that they wrre enjoying cooler temps.

I remember that. I have only ever seen one guinea do it that one time but they sure were lively that day. The one time I saw it, it was a male and he did a full pirouette as he jumped straight up 3' in the air.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

So the three guineas hatched back in august are plenty big enough to be free ranging. So I’ve been letting them out with the big birds and the big birds will NOT accept them. I have 11 roughly 2-3 year old guineas (7 hens and 4 males) and the new birds are either 2 hens and 1 male or 3 hens. I know for sure 2 but I’m not 100% on that third one. Anyways. I have NO idea what to do.
I’ve considered locking them all in together for a few days to try to get them together? Idk. I have 7 more babies from a few weeks ago that will also need to integrate in a few more weeks - I don’t even care if the babies all make one flock and the other 11 stay their flock, just COEXIST!!!
And yes - I did a see no touch cage for 2.5 almost 3 weeks.

I’ve spent so much time trying to make broody guinea and chicken hens work because I really dislike the whole integration game. When I had only one, 1 year old guinea cock with 7 guinea hens, I thought introducing two month old keets would be easy due to the sex disparity. It was not easy at all! I ended up with a very long, very slow integration with separate coops. When free ranging, I had two groups that didn’t want to spend time together, with juveniles that learned little from the established adults. Even the next spring, they still didn’t want to merge (though a few older hens defected to the younger group with more boys). I did eventually lock them all up in one coop/run when the juveniles became adults (about 7 months old) because I needed a coop back. There was plenty of drama, but my older guy was a pretty chill cock so no real injuries. After six weeks forced together, they were willing to coexist but didn’t really merge until the next fall/spring. The girls in that group are still separate, and still my lowest ranking hens. The newbies were dumb and would lead the established birds to trouble too, and this was the beginning of my “guineas in the road” problems, when my older birds had mostly avoided the roads. No great suggestions here except more time and more look but don’t touch. Hopefully your new and older keets will merge more easily with each other. Best of luck!

 

[Sydney65]

Yes, very entertaining birds!

I can't find thread, but remember @R2elk and I discussing fall behavior once..@r2elk even used the word "pirouette" to describe the dance they seemed to be doing. Best we could come up with at the time was that they wrre enjoying cooler temps.

 

[Sydney65]

I remember that. I have only ever seen one guinea do it that one time but they sure were lively that day. The one time I saw it, it was a male and he did a full pirouette as he jumped straight up 3' in the air.

All day today today the ladies have been taking running dives into the leaves, wings spread low, crouched w/head down, & then cackling. I think they've discovered fun.

 

[Sydney65]

My coop/run is one big truck, the coop enclosed, the run fenced in but both under the same roof. When it starts getting cold, I close the run up with clear poly panels. When I have added to, the juveniles have been young enough to go out in an outdoor brooder with an opening just big enough for them to get through, and still have food and water in it. The flock's food and water is in the run.
After a few days they venture out, but can quickly return to their safety. Eventually they don't go to it, but they end up sleeping in the run most of the time.
The following spring seems to be when they finally get accepted, just as courting begins.

 

[Unicornlife3316]

@R2elk @Mixed flock enthusiast @Sydney65 @Barred Rock Mama


Ok. I kind of figured this would be the answers this is my first time introducing keets ever. I introduced older females to a mostly all males group 2 years ago and had NO PROBLEMS introducing them. When my hen hatched her own keets last year - she integrated them on her own. Thankfully they aren’t being mean, just the typical chasing.
Thanks for everyone’s help!

 

[Sydney65]

My boys started doing that when the flock reformed after breeding season was over in September. The lower ranking cock will do that as a submission gesture to a higher ranking male. They also have this squeaky, sighing call that goes with it. My submissive females who are getting challenged will instead either hunker down and be pecked or run a more respectful distance from the dominant bird.

Wait...isn't this the scenario where Bella was telling Blu she was "interested"?