How to introduce a new adult guinea to the flock

[Sfraker]

I was at a local garden nursery that sells feed, chickens, rabbits, etc... They had one lonely female guinea left from last summers keets. Needless to say I couldn't leave her there living with chickens, she needed some guinea friends.

I put her in a small coop that has a little run attached to it. My three other guineas can see her and she can see them. I'll keep her in the coop for a few weeks so that when I let her out she sticks around.

How do I introduce her to the flock when it's time? Right now they are pecking at her through the wire netting on her run and she is pecking back. Will a few weeks of seeing but not touching be enough or do I need to do something else?

 

[aprille218]

When her weeks are up just introduce her to the others at night (after dark). My birds often wake up to new friends and have no issues with it especially since the new one is a female.

 

[mommaguinea]

In a bit, move the dominant of the established group in with the new bird. Let them work things out for a week or so, then she will more easily be accepted into the other bunch when you turn both of them in.

 

[R2elk]

I was at a local garden nursery that sells feed, chickens, rabbits, etc... They had one lonely female guinea left from last summers keets. Needless to say I couldn't leave her there living with chickens, she needed some guinea friends.

I put her in a small coop that has a little run attached to it. My three other guineas can see her and she can see them. I'll keep her in the coop for a few weeks so that when I let her out she sticks around.

How do I introduce her to the flock when it's time? Right now they are pecking at her through the wire netting on her run and she is pecking back. Will a few weeks of seeing but not touching be enough or do I need to do something else?

What I did was to pen up the new hen inside the coop with the other guineas. Once the guineas stopped trying to fight through the wire, I released the new guinea. It only took a couple of days for the fighting through the wire to stop. Of course they were younger guineas in my flock that bonded quickly with the new hen. Also one of the mated hens was sitting on the nest causing the new hen to be really attractive to the setting hen's mate.

Good luck.