Ok, this will run off the tracks but hopefully hidden in here somewhere will be some useful information. Long story short, I got 4 Rhode Island Reds and 7 Guineas this Spring, all straight run. The chickens turned out to be 2 (beautiful) roosters and 2 hens. The Guineas, 1 hen and 6 roosters. Now, for my, ah, problem. The Rhone Island Roosters don't want to have anything to do with the 2 hens, only the guinea hen. Obviously the 6 guinea roosters are of the same persuasion. That poor little guinea hen is afraid to move or eat and the back of her neck is just bloody from the 8 boys giving her non stop attention. Any suggestions on what to do here? I really hate to get rid of (eat) all but 2 guineas and the "extra" rooster. I almost regret posting this already.

If you don't wanna eat 6 guineas, why not eat the hen?

Just eat them before the varmints eat them for you. Every day you wait, those birds are getting tougher . Then you'll need the pressure cooker.

The thought seriously crossed my mind. A mercy killing of sort. The value to me in the guineas is the bugs they eat and the alarm system. NOTHING moves in the yard without them sounding off and letting me know. The last time I had them I had several that were 5-6 years old before I butchered them.

What are you afraid of? Uncle Joe coming after your guns?

More like you showing up in your Wonder Woman costume again. Heck, it wasn't even Halloween. It was May for crying out loud.

Believe it or not that has produced hybrid offspring.

As long as don't want to breed the guineas, Angela's solution is a decent one.

I always cull any birds that get beat up or that look down, but I sell them to grind up for pet food.

Keith

No way! Seriously? I like the fresh chicken eggs but the hens primary purpose is to eventually sit on the guinea eggs because they are terrible Mothers. These birds are only about 100 days old. I am hoping the roosters start to take a fancy to the hens and the guinea roosters figure out a pecking order and leave the little gal alone to some extent.

THANK YOU! That was a very good read and I never knew such a thing was possible. Being a hybrid, the sterile part makes sense.

I've seen guinea/peafowl crosses sell for thousands of dollars at auction. I've actually considered learning artificial insemination to make guinea/peafowl crosses to sell.

Keith

Breeding is all but over for the guineas. Dang old roosters never figure anything out, they are just dumb! Look in they’re eye on one side of they’re head….you can see the ground on the other side! I’d eat one of the roosters, more meat, and chances are they aren’t fertile anyway till next spring! Why do you want more than one roo?

I feel it's always worth the xtra $ for Non straight run purchases

Man card please.

My guineas are still laying well and I'll probably hatch guineas into October again. Just like in my chickens, I usually keep the first and last keets to breed from the next year. Over time it makes them have a longer laying period. I cross rare colors on French pearl jumbos, get the colors back the next year and then breed in the jumbos again. I've taken the rare colors from 2.6 to 2.8 pounds to over 6 pounds, working with them over years. I've had colors disappear from my flock and come back 4 to 6 years later when the multiple recessive genes pair up again.

Guinea roosters won't cover a lot of hens compared to chickens. If I go past a 1 to 4 ratio, fertility drops. Guineas lay well for at least 2 years.

Keith

Haven’t eaten Guinea in 60 years. Mom would cook then to death and add pastry at some point.

My guineas have quit laying about two weeks ago. My flock has shrunk, but have some young ones coming up. Dang coyotes and some jerk on the road took out four in one whack. You could tell that he didn’t slow down…..just run them down. Glad I didn’t see it, i’d treat him the same way!