Guinnea Back Damage

[Coveykn]

If so, guineas are not for you. It is standard guinea behavior.

Giving a problematic guinea male a time out can significantly change his behavior and the flock's behavior.

guineas are fine with their pecking each other to get away but damage another bird for no reason was what I was getting at. We got them mainly for pest control. We have lots of Chigers and Ticks. I am trying to keep as many as possible to hopefully have babies and keep them in a decent flock status. I know they are happier that way. I know that I will lose many more as time goes on. I have them cooped and with a long run right now for the winter to try and keep from losing all of them to predators.

 

[Coveykn]

If you have a small chicken saddle you can put it on the guinea to help protect its back.

she keeps it covered most of the time with her wings. When she sees me in the coop and looking at her, she hurriedly covers it. there is only about an 1/8-inch separation between her wings when she does that. She is so clever.

 

[R2elk]

but damage another bird for no reason was what I was getting at.

They have their reasons even if we don't understand why. Guineas are bullies by nature
and they will attack each other too, to the point of killing one of their own..

This can get really ugly when the current dominant guinea male gets dethroned. I watched the whole flock attacking the once alpha male. He barely survived it.

 

[R2elk]

she keeps it covered most of the time with her wings. When she sees me in the coop and looking at her, she hurriedly covers it. there is only about an 1/8-inch separation between her wings when she does that. She is so clever.

That still isn't as good as putting a chicken saddle on her.

 

[Sydney65]

If you think it's bullying, then standard advice is do not remove the victim, remove the bully. If you take the bully out of the equation for a cpl of days, it restructures the hierarchy & the bully gets taken down the totem pole, so to speak.
I had a group who, while still young(5-8 mo? I'd have to dig back further than my short term memory is digging today) who picked on EVERYONE, even the adults. There were 3 males and 2 females in the group. I watched until I figured out that the 2 females were just groupies that ran with them but cause no harm, so they also went in the coop.(they're still groupies).
That left the 3 young male troublemakers, and 2 adult jumbo males. For 2 weeks, the hens all slept safe and comfy locked in the coop & got to free range undisturbed. My coop is divided by a pop door so the front can be closed up or left open to the run. So for those 2 weeks, none of those 3 slept in the same place or with the same bird 2 nights in a row. They didn't get to free range with the hens or all together, they got to go out for awhile on their own with the jumbos. For all of their attitude, they didn't like sleeping out in the run in the dark by themselves, and the jumbos weren't cuddlers.
It took the full 2 weeks for 2 of them. Zuri caught on quickly & got to go in the coop early. But after that, there was no further bullying. When I added 14 keets this year, I had a cpl of hens who needed time to warm up, but no trouble out of the previous bullies.

 

[Coveykn]

Hi! I'm so sorry! I haven't seen an injury like that when I had guineas. I know you love them, but Ernie may have to go

I'm sorry I replied earlier but I guess it didn't go through. I agree if I catch him he may have to go. Thank you.

It is very possible it was a raptor.

If you think it's bullying, then standard advice is do not remove the victim, remove the bully. If you take the bully out of the equation for a cpl of days, it restructures the hierarchy & the bully gets taken down the totem pole, so to speak.
I had a group who, while still young(5-8 mo? I'd have to dig back further than my short term memory is digging today) who picked on EVERYONE, even the adults. There were 3 males and 2 females in the group. I watched until I figured out that the 2 females were just groupies that ran with them but cause no harm, so they also went in the coop.(they're still groupies).
That left the 3 young male troublemakers, and 2 adult jumbo males. For 2 weeks, the hens all slept safe and comfy locked in the coop & got to free range undisturbed. My coop is divided by a pop door so the front can be closed up or left open to the run. So for those 2 weeks, none of those 3 slept in the same place or with the same bird 2 nights in a row. They didn't get to free range with the hens or all together, they got to go out for awhile on their own with the jumbos. For all of their attitude, they didn't like sleeping out in the run in the dark by themselves, and the jumbos weren't cuddlers.
It took the full 2 weeks for 2 of them. Zuri caught on quickly & got to go in the coop early. But after that, there was no further bullying. When I added 14 keets this year, I had a cpl of hens who needed time to warm up, but no trouble out of the previous bullies.

good advice thanks. I needed to know how long to separate them. I appreciate it. Thanks. The victim removed herself from the situation for a couple of days to heal. She sought comfort with the chickens but never entered their coop she slept outside on the ground. Bad place I know but my care takers (husband and brother) while I am away, they are not very good keeper's. At least they water and collect eggs. However, after a couple of days she flew back in the guinea run and teamed back up with the others and she also got to sleep with the others in which she wasn't allowed to do before the incident.