guinea with silkie hens?

[Billy-jean]

I have 7 silkie hens and 1 rooster,,I have someone offering me a guinea fowl,,I want to take it but not sure if they are good with other hens? I also have 7 ducks,2 mini goats and 1 giant rabbit that all share the outside quarters. They have seperate housing for night. If I house the guinea at night with my hens,will they accept her? and will the guinea attack my hens? thanks

 

[Linlou]

Hi, I am no expert on this but we have two Silkies and four Guineas. When we first put them out side they all roosted together. Now the Guineas have taken to roosting with the larger hens and roos, at least off and on. It seems like they can't make up their minds as to which house they like the best. So far there have been no problems between any of them. However, the Silks and the Guineas are a little over 2 months old. My roos are about 4-5 months old and the hens are 13 months old.

There was a add on Craig's List to give away 4 Guineas stating they were to mean to their chickens. As timid as ours seem to be I find that hard to believe. But guess you can never tell.

Hope this helps in some way. Guess if they are in adjacent coops and pens where they can see each other through the fence, and they don't seem to have any problems like trying to attach each other through the fence, I would give it a try.

Good Luck

 

[Billy-jean]

Thank you ,,
I don't have any adjacent fencing,,they're all together like one big happy family so they would have to get along,,or it wouldn't work. I will try it,,I think if I only had 1 guinea,it wouldn't feel the need to become aggressive,and would just become part of my silkie flock?

 

[PeepsCA]

If it's a Guinea Hen you are thinking about getting you shouldn't have any issues... she will be alone, in a new place and want the company of the Silkies so she should fit in fine after an integration period... but your Silkie rooster may eventually try to mount her. Shouldn't be an issue tho... but just in case I would not let her brood and hatch her own eggs, lol.

If it's a male Guinea instead... there may eventually be issues with ongoing aggression between your Silkie rooster and the male Guinea, and then come Springtime the male Guinea will most likely start chasing and trying to breed your Silkie Hens (and he may end up doing that successfully). He may end up terrorizing them all, all season long (Guineas breed/lay Spring thru Fall). At minimal the Silkies may end up losing a lot of their crests and cushions... but the worst case scenario would be that he may injure or even kill them. Male Guineas can be incredibly relentless.

IMO, male Guineas aren't the best addition to any flock other than a decent sized flock of Guineas consisting of plenty of males and females that keeps them all focused and preoccupied with themselves. I keep both Guineas and Silkies (lots of males of both breeds), they free range fine together because the Silkies have learned to keep their distance from the Guineas wen the males start getting cocky and aggressive, and the Guineas have an adequate enough sized flock to keep the male Guineas focused on their own flock instead of picking on the Silkies... but I do not and will not house them together.

 

[Billy-jean]

Oh wow,,nice herd!! Thanks for you info,I will make sure it's a female,,this way it will ensure everyone's saftey and happiness. I definitely don't want to lose any silkie crowns!!

 

[critters]

mine all get along but if it were me I would only add if she is a female...agreeing with Peeps...

 

[Mysterious]

Do they get together fine?

 

[Farmerfro]

I have male and females guinea hen with silkies & banties together and the are fine