Mixed flock (chickens, guineas, pheasants)

[Luke 13V34]

So I have 5 guineas, 21 bantam chickens, and 2 pheasants that are all about 9 weeks old. They are a very close group, and instead of roosting, they just pile up in the coop (there will be questions at the end of this post, hold on). Of the chickens, there are 6 roosters with a possible 7th that is just really hard to sex as a slow developing mixed breed. Of the guineas, I am pretty sure 3 are males. And the pheasants, I cannot tell the difference so far but I think there are male and female based on body size and temperament.

























So for now, they all stay together. I have better pictures from today I haven't loaded yet. They basically stay as one giant flock, with the pheasants going a little further than everyone but always running back into the flock.


Does anyone know when this will end? Will it end? Will the guineas become aggressive, the pheasants wander off, the guineas go their own way, or will they stay a flock?

I am waiting for their hormones to increase, I am sure that will be interesting. But right now, they are allowed to free range and do not really go very far, they just all stay together and rest in big piles.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

Will the guineas become aggressive, the pheasants wander off, the guineas go their own way, or will they stay a flock?

Those are all strong possibilities but only time will tell.

 

[Luke 13V34]

I guess so! I haven't met anyone on this thread who raised these three types of fowl together. And what is probably contributing to their closeness is that they were all raised in too close of quarters in their for the first 6 weeks, and the chickens were maybe a week older so in the beginning the guineas and pheasants forced themselves under their wings and used them as surrogate mothers for warmth.

 

[Kevin565]

I was told not to raise pheasants with chickens for bio hazard reasons. Some of the diseases that won't bother chickens much can apparently be fatal in pheasants.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

I was told not to raise pheasants with chickens for bio hazard reasons. Some of the diseases that won't bother chickens much can apparently be fatal in pheasants.

This is true whenever you mix species but my understanding of it is this: it's not so much that chickens pass diseases to pheasants, its that raising pheasants like chickens kills them. Pheasants need lots of room, clean space (not dusty/moldy), very clean water and cannot be in contact with their feces. Chickens could survive poor conditions but pheasants can't. This is mainly where the idea pheasants/chickens can't be together comes from. Since these chickens/guineas/pheasants are free-ranging, I think they will be fine.

Pheasants are pretty closely related to chickens actually and can hybridize with them. For a long time chickens were considered a domesticated pheasant by scientists.

 

[Luke 13V34]

Thanks for the input, BYC friends! I heard that too of course after I bought them. They do spend a significant amount of time free ranging, but during the first part of the day M-Th they are kept in the run. They seem to be pretty hardy so far. I am curious to see how they are in another 9 weeks, but as you can see in these pictures, the guineas and chickens are pretty much inseparable right now. The pheasants join in the party, but also wander on their own way sometimes, no more than 30 feet from the rest. They all spend a lot of time together in the sun and dust.
























The short fence is supposed to discourage them from going that direction. It's mediocrely affective...


















They can free range, yet they sit right by the gate half the time haha

 

[HeritageGoose13]

They look happy and healthy!