Will Guineas accept new Guineas?

secuono

Crowing
13 Years
May 29, 2010
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Virginia
I may add more keets in the spring, I'll be raising them like I do all birds that live in the coop. Once they are 6wks or so, they live with the adults, always introduce them in groups so they have friends to run and be with.
Do you think the older Guineas will freak at the younger babies?
My adult chickens never bother my babies, they are used to how I raise them.

Also, if I expand my chicken yard, will the Guineas still follow the chickens back to the coop? They were raised with them, so they have a 'chicken mind', hoping that stays. From a 60x40ft grass area to idk, 1/3 acre or so. If they fly the fence, then far more land.
 
Do you think the older Guineas will freak at the younger babies?
My adult chickens never bother my babies, they are used to how I raise them.

Freak might be an understatement, lol. They will most likely not accept them for quite a while. If you just shove keets in a pen with adult Guineas without an introductory period... the keets will probably be pecked/harassed to death in a very short time. Chicken minds or not, Guineas are Guineas. Territorial and insistent on maintaining their earned position in the established pecking order.

It's recommended that you house the young keets next to the adults (and chickens) for about 6 weeks (and preferably only try to start integrating after breeding/laying season is completely over with), so they all get to know each other but the keets can't be harmed by the adults and their pent up breeding season aggressions. Some get away with less time, some need more time. Depends on the dynamics of your flock and coop/run situation and how many are in the flock. Longer is always better tho.

Even in a large piultry yard, once one Guinea discovers that it can fly over the fence, usually they all go. And then they are usually too stupid to fly back over the same way to get back in, and will just squawk up a storm pacing back and forth, mindlessly stressed out until you either let them back in thru an open gate or predators get them.

You may want to have a back up plan in the works for a covered run/coop set-up just for the Guineas... your whole flock's mentality may change come the next breeding season.​
 
What should I expect next spring with my current Guineas? Today they annoyed a Jap hen, 2 of the Guineas mindlessly just followed the others.
There are several pine trees they can roost in, 1 big littering tree and then 2 other trees near the road. Just don't want to loose them to the road or their own stupidity.
Yes, I've experienced their massive range of dumb...It's kind of sad, really. If they keep w/the chickens or the back of the yard, slightly, they won't go to the road. They will have 27+ neighbors acres to roam and then 4acres of out horse pasture and then idk how many acres of cow field.
 
I think you are already getting a taste of what you can expect next breeding season. The males tend to get stupid/lose their minds and get aggressive/protective. Adding more will help keep them focused on each other, and hopefully they will leave the chickens be. Some chickens can handle it, some can't, depends on the breed and temperment of both Guineas and chickens.

Once you integrate everybody, try to be as diligent as you can about chasing them away from the road. Eventually they will figure out that's not the place to be and stick to the ranging out on the acreage. Horse pasture and cow pasture is Guinea heaven... bugs, bugs, bugs and poop with bugs and worms in it, what more could ya ask for, lol. I have my 42 adults trained to stay inside my fenced 10 acres (horse pasture and goat pasture) but it took a lot of work, a lot of hollering at them and a lot of chasing them back in shaking a grain sack at them... and I yes, I looked like a complete lunatic in the process
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Luckily I have no neighbors that could really see me, just the occasional car driving up/down the road, lol. They learned tho!
 
It was a Black Jap hen w/red comb/wattles. They left alone the ones w/black instead. I think I have 3 boys, other two are girls and those two just followed the leader totally dumb and confused as to why they were doing it.
No issues w/roads yet, they went over the fence to the dogs, closer to the road, but one got snacked on by my devil dog. Put up a 3ft fence extension and they can't go over. They flew over when I chased them back, but the deadly dog chasing them wasn't enough incentive....
 
When we lived in California we had guinea hens, lots of em! I found one hen hiding under some tin sheets with 37 eggs, more than one hen laying eggs in that nest. Another hen sat on eggs till she died of thirst. I just found guinea hens last week here in Costa Rica. I bought two and brought them home, the first night they spent in a parrot cage inside the coop, the second night they were put in with 3 turkey hens setting on eggs, the funny part, they snuggled right up under on of the turkey hens, no problem. After that they were let out with the chickens and turkey tom they were no problem. I found them snuggled in a corner with a bunch of the silkie chicks. Who knows where they will snuggle tonight. My backyard is fenced with 2 meter chain link which either the chickens, silkies, bantams or the guineas could fly over. What we do is to clip one wing when they are young and keep that wing trimmed till the are mature adults. They have plenty of food and water so as adults they don't bother trying to fly. We've got to figure out what to do with the silkies and bantam hens, they are very good at laying eggs and they have a great percentage that hatch. We had placed 3 regular hen eggs (under the bantam hen) from a friend to start raising replacements for our egg layers, they hatched three weeks ago and they too will snuggle with the guineas (I'm guessing the guineas are about half grown). I don't know if it is because we have such a variety living together that we have no problems or what but am very happy with the results.
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