guineas attacking rooster.

[abscalise1]

My 2 guineas have just turned about a year old. They have been a part of the chicken flock,staying in the same coop at night and roaming free range all day. Just yesterday they started attacking the rooster. Has anyone had to deal with this? Any thoughts? Rooster now tucked away in a coop for safety.

Ann

 

[sourland]

Guinea fowl frequently develop a pack mentality and will start to attack other birds. This is more common during the breeding season, but can occur at any time. Once started, in my experience, such behavior does not go away until the guineas are put into the oven.

 

[PeepsCA]

The pack mentality is usually a result of not having enough Guineas in the flock to keep them pre-occupied with their own kind, especially when cooped and penned. Not sure what sex your Guineas are, or what your pen/coop and free range set up is, but you may have a male that is extra protective of his Hen right now since it is their breeding/laying season... but it's not uncommon for one Guinea to start the chicken aggression, and then the others in the flock will follow suit due to the monkey-do-monkey-see mentality that they are known for when they do not have enough of their own kind to "pick on".

My suggestion is to add more Guineas to your flock, or house and free range your 2 Guineas separately from your chickens from now on.

Altho I do eat some of my Guineas and I am not at all against eating Guineas, not all chicken aggressive Guineas necessarily have to end up in the oven just because they weren't raised with an adequate flock of their own kind to begin with.

 

[abscalise1]

I am leaving the guineas out of the coop at night. They sleep on top of it. By morning they are already out and about. I have friends with larger flocks, so I may give them away. I can't eat my birds, don't know why, but I eat the eggs. This was my first attempt with guineas. I thought they would continue with the chickens as part of the flock. Nuts!

 

[Chicken Lily]

My guineas chase my rooster too! At first they got along fine, but now they can't stand eachother. I have them in separate coops and let them out at different times. I know it's a pain, but I think that's your best bet. Good luck!

 

[abscalise1]

I was hoping for something I could put on the rooster so the guineas would leave him alone, but wouldn't make the rooster or other chickens sick.

 

[jkhenry]

quote name="abscalise1" url="/t/772121/guineas-attacking-rooster#post_11037826"]I was hoping for something I could put on the rooster so the guineas would leave him alone, but wouldn't make the rooster or other chickens sick.[/quot my freind told me today there is sumthing called no peck u put it on the chicken and whatever chicken pecks it will put a bad taste in their mouth i have not used it personally on my chicks just thought i would throw that out there for u

 

[SummerChick]

I have one male guinea that cause a ruckus and is very mean to my poor geese, I tried locking him up for a week but that didn't work, plus I feel bad for him.... I can't get more guineas because I don't have housing to keep them in separate for 6 weeks. I think the only alternative for me is to sell or give him away.

 

[Beardie Girls]

Wow, I have the exact same problem as the OP. Two guineas, not quite a year old yet (both male I believe), that have free ranged with the chickens since last summer. Suddenly they have turned on one of the roosters, and basically defend his hens from him as if taking over. I even saw one try to mate with one of the hens! So it seems apparent that they need a flock of their own. I don't want a huge flock, so bought three babies (now 5 wks old) hoping for at least one female they could focus their attention on. Right now I'm trying to determine if it's only one of the two guineas that is the problem - once the chase is on, it's always just one guinea after the rooster. Unfortunately the guinea is faster. Either way, I plan to wait it out until the three new guineas join to see if that helps.

 

[PeepsCA]

Just adding 3 new birds probably won't be enough...unless you luck out and end up with 3 Hens, then it might help the situation (but maybe not until next season). Right now they see the chicken Hens as their own Hens... and for now (with all their raging hormones) only another bird in the Alpha position chasing and whoopin' the snot out of them will change their mind about who those Hens belong to. Male Guineas are very obsessive/territorial/protective of their Hens (or whatever they perceive as being their Hens).

If you can put the keets outside in a cage where the 2 males can hang out near them (but not get to them) that may help keep them distracted from picking on your rooster. Plus the more exposure they have to the keets the more willing they will be to accept them once you integrate them.

Also, you could try keeping one Guinea penned up, and one allowed out to free range... the one you let out may want to stick close to the one in the pen, and stay away from the chickens.