guineas, why are they so mean?

[chickenchickenbulkbulk]

I have 7 guineas. They pull the feathers from our chickens, they run the chickens off from their food...off of their roost and a rooster off of the hen!!! No kidding..my buffs were doing their nature thing and one of the guineas run and rolled the rooster right off of the hen. They were raised, fed, and roosted with the chickens until they became violent. Will they get meaner? Should I get rid of them? They are free range..should I keep them up? I have watched all 7 of them chase a single chicken all over the place...will they kill a chicken? DJ

 

[speckledhen]

They can and have killed chickens, especially roosters. I had four guineas that I eventually called the Fearsome Foursome. Had to rehome them and make a choice between them and my chickens. They were with the chickens from 4 weeks old and very, very tame. Just one day, things turned ugly and got uglier. I miss them, and may some day hatch some under a broody. Keeping them penned really negates a good reason for having a guinea, bug control. They are wilder than chickens, really very different.
EDITED TO ADD: Pic of alpha male guinea attacking my rooster.

 

[wilds of pa]

speckledhen, they sure can be meanies at times.. That is a pretty neat pic though..

Charlie

 

[chickenchickenbulkbulk]

SEE what I mean..they are mean..and very aggressive. I did not want any..my son brought me home 2 and my mom-n-law brought me the other 5. I will have to find a home for them. Apparently there behavior isn't going to get any better. Today they are hanging out with our 8 tom turkeys. I also heard that they will eat chicken eggs out of there nest. Is this true?

 

[Wildsky]

I slipped some eggs under a couple of broody chickens a while back (probably about 3 or 4 months ago). I have 6 young guinea's and so far no mean-ness has popped up. I see the little ones sitting next to the mother chicken GROOMING HER.

Its kinda cute!

 

[mylittlehof]

I have Guineas roaming around the back (started with 11 - now down to 2 males) - we built a coop for them and I tried in vain to get them in at night, so I gave up and let them go their own way. I have now filled the coop with chickens, but as I was at the feed store found one lonely little guinea left over, so I took it home (see pic below). Well it turns out it is a girl. So now I let the ladies out during the day and the males chase them around and out of the coop, but not too the point of real distress. The interesting part is the one lone female guinea thinks she is a chicken. She runs away from the males (they pick on her especially) and she goes in at night, just like the chickens.

Here's a separate question: do guinea eggs look much different then chicken eggs. I am assuming I'll get eggs from the female also and wondered if their look and if her behavior will be much different from the chickens.

 

[chickenchickenbulkbulk]

Quote:
Mine are about 6 months old. Mine are the same age as my chickens. They use to sleep together and get along great until about 2 weeks ago. I wish you luck with yours. I really have enjoyd mine, but I am just concerned about them hurting or killing the chickens.

 

[chickenchickenbulkbulk]

Quote:
Cute picture!! I have yet to see a guinea egg and mine are 6 months. I assume they look like chicken eggs, but smaller. My chicken and guineas are very different in their behaviors. The guineas are more wild acting. The chicken are very tame.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

I got rid of my guinea pair. They were raised with chickens and had 'friends' then they became aggressive plus the female was incessently noisy. It never shut up.

 

[Wildsky]

Guinea eggs look a little different, more pointy on the one end and more rounded on the other - like a pyramid but rounded.