A few weeks ago one of our guineas stooped coming to roost at night. In fact, we thought we had lost her until we noticed all 5 guineas in the field one afternoon. But that night and most of the next day we only counted 4. We realized that she was on a nest somewhere and was only joining the other birds for short periods to eat and drink.
We spent the next several days searching for her nest and finally found it in the sticker brush that had grown up in the round pen. In the nest were 18 eggs! Thankfully only 13 of the ping-pong-sized fuzz-balls hatched.
After they hatched, we decided to herd mother and chicks into the garden so they would be safe from predators. That's when we discovered that it takes a village of guineas to raise guinea chicks, not just a mother hen. When the dogs got too close, the mother would sit on the chicks and the other 4 guineas would attack!
A couple of days later there was an impending big rain event. We decided to catch the mother and all 13 chicks and lock them in one side of the hen house. After witnessing how they attacked the dogs, we planned our mission for early in the morning when the other 4 adults were still locked in the hen house and the mother was asleep. After holding a squawking bird trying to peck me, and DH scurrying around catching fuzz-balls for about half an hour, our mission was finally a success. All of the guineas - chicks and adults - were safely locked up on one side of the hen house. And there they will stay until we figure out what to do with all of them and/or they get much bigger.
Peace
