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.

 

[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.

 

[PeepsCA]

It's possible... heavily leaning towards probable. Male Guineas are just extra prone to turning into idiots during breeding season. Is there anyway you can pen them up separately, and just free range theem separately from your chickens? I now that will be a PITA, but... it keeps the peace.

 

[Beardie Girls]

Finally decided to get rid of the one problematic bird. I remember someone saying Guineas could be "relentless", and that is the perfect word for this guy. We went to a lot of effort to select out a mild-mannered rooster (his downfall with this Guinea, apparently), and would rather keep him that the ill-mannered guinea. I realize that the problem may just start up again with the other Guineas, and we'll just have to deal with that as it comes. Going by the calls they are making, it looks like all three of the young guineas we got two months ago could be females. I'm wondering it that might keep the remaining male happy. We'll see.

We were going on the advice of an old farmer friend when we got the guinea fowl in the first place. Since we live in the country, we hoped they would help as a predator alarm. He never mentioned these problems with over-aggressiveness toward chickens, so we were unprepared. Perhaps he had a large enough flock that they kept themselves busy. Anyways, thanks all for the replies.

 

[Goosebumps]

My guineas were attacking ‘some’ of my roosters. I actually appreciated them keeping the roosters off my girls backs! I have too many roosters and a soft spot for my beautiful boys!
In my experience the ones they are raised with are the ones they will fight with, because they don’t see the difference between themselves. They do not bother the older roosters that were here before them. I have a large group 60+ of chickens and roosters. I’m not worried about their little battles, they work things out. It’s the predators that come and kill that is my main concern and there is nothing better than guineas as guard dogs for free rangers. If anyone comes up missing, it’s a Guinea not a chicken.

 

[Skydiver32757]

I had the same issue, but this worked for me. Two night in a row, twice a night I would go out and push the guineas off there roost (Nicely). One the second day early while still roosted. I grabbed them and walked around with them under my arm for about 15min. Thats all it took. They are now friendly to all my flock and ducks.
I started this 20 years ago when young roosters would come after me. Now we are all friends and they protect my ladies. Only room for one alpha.

 

[Gill-b]

Only room for one alpha.

The keet that I rescued is now 8 weeks and 6 days old, and I have been working on establishing an alpha position by not letting it get away with things I disapprove of. An example is that I chase it out of my kitchen every time it follows me in. It has now started to hover at the kitchen entrance and is hesitant about entering. I really REALLY hope this method works ...especially since the future of this Guinea Fowl is uncertain and might depend on it.

 

[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!