Adding to the Guinea Fowl Population

Baytown · **Posted:** Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:45 pm

G'day everyone.
We have 5 adult Guineas free ranging on our property, and we love them. They are approx 2 years old, and all grew up together as babies. I would like to add another 6 or so to the mob. My question is, do they form the one roaming group, or will I end up with two gangs of birds?
If so, do they get aggressive with each other? I don't want gang warfare on my turf!
Thanks for any advice, and best wishes.

Ken

Baytown · **Posted:** Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:41 am

Thanks for the detailed reply.
We have one bird that seems to be a loner for the same reasons, although they all sleep together in a large tree we have.
I'll look into getting more accordingly.
Thanks again, and best wishes.

Ken.

danny boy · **Posted:** Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:12 am

Hi Ken.
Welcome to the wonderful worl of mental guineas. :lol:

I have kept guineas basically since I was a kid.
If I introduce new guineas to my original flock I always do it at night, it seems to stop the fight doing this, they do have little tiffs with new birds but this would just be to sort out the pecking order. I have one dominate male out of my whole group, & he sometime gives the young birds a bit of grief but nothing major, kind of shows them who is boss.
I have friends with big groups of guineas that all hang out together, & Lou has some that split them selves into 2 groups, so it basically depends on the temperament your birds have & how they will establish the pecking order.
I once let some guineas out during the day with my older breeders & it was like world war 3 broke out, so I had to run around 2 acres trying to catch the buggers & split them up. :roll:

A quick note as well, let my cinnamons out with the other one day also & if I hadnt caught the cinnamons and locked them back up the normal guineas would definately have killed them, so yes they can be savage.
A breeder has told me the silver, lavanders & pearls will try to kill other rarer coloured guineas, seems a survival of the fittest thing I think.
So basically to sum it up, add them slowly or keep the new birds in their own pen near your original birds to get used to each other or add them at night but keep an eye on them the next day, if any major dramas happen seperate them and try again later.
Hope this helps :-D

OzLark · **Joined:** Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:43 am **Posts:** 4

Good advice mate. I do the very same thing as you

keet · **Posted:** Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:07 pm

Ive had them split into groups too but eventually mine rejoined up at one stage I had 100 or more boy were they noisy

Lou · **Joined:** Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:12 am **Posts:** 387

The same advice as above & now that the breeding season is over it's probably the best time to do it. I have 23 adults who did split into 2 groups at breeding time. The male of the 4 outsiders group was beaten to a pulp (as was another 3/4 white boy) by the other males & would have been killed if I hadn't picked him up, yes picked him up, they had him against a fence with no feathers or skin left on his back just meat his head & under his wings was pretty bad to.

He stayed in hospital for a week then went into a pen before being let out to free range again. He looked funny being purple & no tail but came good in time, stole 3 hens & started his own harem. Now that breeding is over they are all free ranging together again with not much squabling.

I have young birds about 15 weeks old to intoduce to the main flock, they have mingled a couple of time but the older lot are a bit brutal on them still but hopefully after a couple more out of pen meetings they will join up.

JUNIORPOULTRY · **Joined:** Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:26 am **Posts:** 1

I have a male that keeps pulling out the feathers of my rooster is they any way of stoping him its realy annoying and my rooster look silly with no tail

Ralph&hisGuineas · **Joined:** Fri May 08, 2009 6:01 am **Posts:** 5

Don't let them come in contact keep the rooster in his coop. You won't stop the guinea from doing it its a game they love to play

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