One of my Guinea hens is getting picked on by the other Guineas

[outdoorbunny]

Just recently one of the guinea hens started being chased away from the group by a couple of the other guineas. What would cause this? They (6 total) all have been together since they were 1 week old (that's when I bought them). They are now 17 weeks old. They roost in a coop at night and have a large run to play in during the day. They were all getting along until a few weeks ago, one of the guineas just died. I still do not know why he/she died. It was sudden. The rest of the flock are doing fine, except now one hen is constently getting chased away from the group, food, and water. This hen used to be the one incharge. Now she is being kickout.
I realise that the pecking order had to be re-established since they are now down to 5 but it's been 2 weeks and I'm worried that the little hen will not get enough food and water. I put out 2 separate waters and 2 separate food bins but if they see her drinking/eating out of any of them, they chase her.

Is this normal? Will it eventual work itself out? Or do I need to separate her? So far I haven't seen any pecking or fighting, just the flapping of wings and chasing.

 

[sourland]

The one that died may have been the 'back up' for the once dominant bird. Provide enough feed and water stations to assure her survival and let them work things out.

 

[JLeigh]

Is it possible to hide a food and water station, like, around a corner or behind a storage bin? That way she can sneak a meal and a drink before they all see her.

If it were me, I would see if there is a leader instigating this behavior and find another home for him/her. Sometimes taking the biggest bully out can help. I had a bully who was a real jerk. When he was gone, everything was calm - mostly

.

I love love love guineas, but I'm not going to let one kill another over dominance issues. I know it's "nature" but most of us keep relatively small flocks compared to the wild, and we already circumvent nature by keeping them at all. It's gotta work for everybody or the offender goes to live somewhere else at my house.

Just my humble opinion.

Edit: All of this assumes the first one died from lack of food and water, which may not be the case. They may work it out just fine...just keep an eye on the hen who is bullied.

 

[toprat]

I have a group of 10 raised together 2 hens are being ban from the other 8 in this case its a lavender male that is the leader of this banishment i had one once before in a group of 8 and he found him another place to cause trouble since he left the others get along great with chickens i'm in the process of removing my chickens and just have gunieas in the pen i'm going to try and move these 2 hens with the other 6 from the other pen see how that works out

 

[johnsonhillfarm]

This is happening with mine. I have 9 that are 18 weeks old and a few seem to keep the smallest hen away from the group. She can eat and drink and they all stay together when they coop at night but she seems to stay by herself in the coop while the others are in the run during the day and she won't get mealworms from me when I hand feed them out to them. She waits for them to fall on ground away from others. One hen will go sit with her sometimes. Yesterday I took them out to roam and the leaders wouldn't let her roam with them and she got stuck in a bush and I had to get her. It makes me so sad! At least she can eat and drink though. But I don't want to let her out to roam now.

 

[Sydney65]

This is happening with mine. I have 9 that are 18 weeks old and a few seem to keep the smallest hen away from the group. She can eat and drink and they all stay together when they coop at night but she seems to stay by herself in the coop while the others are in the run during the day and she won't get mealworms from me when I hand feed them out to them. She waits for them to fall on ground away from others. One hen will go sit with her sometimes. Yesterday I took them out to roam and the leaders wouldn't let her roam with them and she got stuck in a bush and I had to get her. It makes me so sad! At least she can eat and drink though. But I don't want to let her out to roam now.

We've been discussing in different thread abt outcasts. Is your hen a different color from the others, by chance?

 

[johnsonhillfarm]

We've been discussing in different thread abt outcasts. Is your hen a different color from the others, by chance?

No they are all Pearls hatched together. Can you link me to that thread please?

 

[Sydney65]

No they are all Pearls hatched together. Can you link me to that thread please?

Post in thread 'New Incubation Questions' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-incubation-questions.1497417/post-25088210

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Just recently one of the guinea hens started being chased away from the group by a couple of the other guineas. What would cause this? They (6 total) all have been together since they were 1 week old (that's when I bought them). They are now 17 weeks old. They roost in a coop at night and have a large run to play in during the day. They were all getting along until a few weeks ago, one of the guineas just died. I still do not know why he/she died. It was sudden. The rest of the flock are doing fine, except now one hen is constently getting chased away from the group, food, and water. This hen used to be the one incharge. Now she is being kickout.
I realise that the pecking order had to be re-established since they are now down to 5 but it's been 2 weeks and I'm worried that the little hen will not get enough food and water. I put out 2 separate waters and 2 separate food bins but if they see her drinking/eating out of any of them, they chase her.

Is this normal? Will it eventual work itself out? Or do I need to separate her? So far I haven't seen any pecking or fighting, just the flapping of wings and chasing.

Guineas are quarrelsome birds, with a strict hierarchy and a lot of potential for unpleasant flock behaviors associated with that pecking order. I’ve had several ostracized birds, though they usually aren’t so shunned that they aren’t still part of the flock in some way. I think @R2elk has previously suggested temporarily confining the bully. I haven’t tried that because in my case, it’s usually the whole flock doing the bullying…

The things I’ve tried are to feed the bullies bird off by itself so it can still eat and to work to get it in the coop at night when the dominant birds have gone up to roost. I had heard that larger flocks have fewer bad quarrels, so I’ve also tried that. I’ve gone from 8, to 15, to 21, and now 29. I don’t know how 29 will work, but each of the other steps up in flock size has reduced bullying and aggression. I still have low ranked guineas that are bullied, but now they have other low ranked friends and it’s just all much less drama.

 

[Sydney65]

Guineas are quarrelsome birds, with a strict hierarchy and a lot of potential for unpleasant flock behaviors associated with that pecking order. I’ve had several ostracized birds, though they usually aren’t so shunned that they aren’t still part of the flock in some way. I think @R2elk has previously suggested temporarily confining the bully. I haven’t tried that because in my case, it’s usually the whole flock doing the bullying…

The things I’ve tried are to feed the bullies bird off by itself so it can still eat and to work to get it in the coop at night when the dominant birds have gone up to roost. I had heard that larger flocks have fewer bad quarrels, so I’ve also tried that. I’ve gone from 8, to 15, to 21, and now 29. I don’t know how 29 will work, but each of the other steps up in flock size has reduced bullying and aggression. I still have low ranked guineas that are bullied, but now they have other low ranked friends and it’s just all much less drama.

sounds like elementary school..