Guinea Fowl Enjoy Year’s First Free Ranging
As predicted in an earlier blog, the weather on Saturday was nice, and our flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl was allowed out for their first free ranging of the year. The dogs were happy to finally get back to being with their Guinea fowl charges. We were glad for too many reasons to list here. The Guinea fowl were clearly thrilled at the opportunity to free range – despite the lingering snow and sticky mud. It was a real red letter day around the ranch.
We did have noticeably more moderate weather and temperatures last week, often above freezing and just as often with decent sunshine. Still, the winter’s snow did not completely melt. In fact, even to my surprise, there is still a pretty good bit of snow on the ground – especially on the north sides of hillsides, buildings, etc. I would say that on Saturday, which was the first day we let the Guinea fowl back out to free range, 60% of the ground was cleared of snow.
While our Guinea fowl did not have to cope with much snow on the ground, they did get their first introduction to Montana gumbo. I’ve been to several places in the US that have gumbo, but I’ve never been to anyplace that has gumbo like we do in some parts of Montana. To clarify, ‘gumbo’ is soil that is fully soaked with moisture and has become sticky and heavy. The spring snow melting creates our year’s worst gumbo. It’s so bad that a person cannot walk through it because a) it is very slippery b) it instantly clings to shoes/boots adding amazing weight and c) because if you sink too deep it will not release your foot. The Guinea fowl had their problems dealing with it – which really surprised us, since the Guinea fowl are so light.
When we let the Guinea fowl out to free range, they encountered the first gumbo just a few feet outside the coop yard. Their tiny feet instantly became caked with the sticky, heavy substance – immediately causing the Guinea fowl to have trouble walking and flying. It was both sad and entertaining. In fact, we were so entertained that we added a video to Guinea Fowl TV on YouTube. You can watch the short video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1i-eTD0evM.
We also allowed the Guinea fowl out to free range on Sunday and Monday, since the weather was so comparatively nice. I’ll be putting more in this blog about how our dogs and Guinea fowl acted during these first season free ranging opportunities over the next few days. I’ll also be trying to get some good Guinea fowl photographs of their free ranging in the gumbo.
If you haven’t watched any of our Guinea fowl videos, tune into Guinea Fowl TV at http://www.youtube.com/user/GuineaFowlTV.
Our Pearl Grey Guinea Fowl Establish Pecking Order
Every bird in our entire flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl is the same age: 11½ weeks today. Birds that live the flock lifestyle, such as Guinea fowl, establish a pecking order. The pecking order is an important component of the flocking birds’ social structure. The pecking order establishes which bird reigns supreme, and then all the underlings – each with their own place in the hierarchy.
It is my opinion that in the pecking order, there are two very noteworthy positions: the top of the pecking order and the bottom of the pecking order. I’m sure the birds themselves put plenty of stock in the positions between the top and bottom ranking Guinea fowl, but it’s hard for us to observe any behavioral aspects of those positions.
At the top of the pecking order a male Guinea fowl will usually be found. Exceptions would be Guinea fowl flocks without any males. There may also be other exceptions, but I am not aware of those.
Either a male or female Guinea fowl can be found at the bottom of the pecking order. I am unfamiliar with any study which demonstrates whether a male or female is most often at the bottom of a Guinea fowl flock’s pecking order.
It would be reasonable to assume that the Guinea fowl at the top of the pecking order gets there predominately by virtue of his physical prowess, size and aggressive tendencies. He must, after all, become the dominant Guinea fowl and then hold onto that coveted position.
How a Guinea fowl is relegated to the bottom position of the pecking order is surely a mystery to me. Of course, one can look for the opposites of the dominant bird in the pecking order: physical prowess, size and aggressive tendencies. Perhaps, however, it is simply a Guinea fowl with no desire or will to fight for a higher position.
Over the past couple of weeks we have noticed that our flock of Guinea fowl has been establishing its pecking order. I should say, we suspected that was what was going on. Then, just a few days ago, our suspicions were confirmed.
We have no idea of which bird in our flock is the dominant Guinea fowl. But we are utterly clear about which Guinea fowl is at the bottom of the pecking order. We named the lowest bird in the flock hierarchy Forrest – after Forrest Gump. In that delightful movie, Forrest is relating his story and comes to a part where he says “and after that, everywhere I went, I was runnin’.” Since our Guinea fowl is always running from the other members of the flock, we thought the name was appropriate.
Forrest spends much of his time just as shown here - away from the guinea fowl flock.
The flock doesn’t pick on Forrest unless he gets too close, and only then when the flock is outside. If the Guinea fowl are all inside the coop, they will roost right next to Forrest. They will allow Forrest to eat with them at the feeder and drink with them at the waterer. But when the birds are outside, when Forrest gets too close, the flock quickly chases him away.
Some interesting observations about Forrest and the pecking order: •The flock has not injured Forrest. •Once Forrest runs away, the rest of the Guinea fowl go back to whatever they were doing. •Forrest is very aware that he is low bird in the pecking order, and he is always very cautious about getting close to the other Guinea fowl when they are outside. •At the first signal of being chased, Forrest will run for the safety of the coop. •The Guinea fowl higher in the pecking order never chase Forrest into the coop. •Sometimes the Guinea fowl will chase Forrest when he gets 6-7′ away, but other times they will allow him to within a foot or so – but never closer than that. •Forrest never makes a stand against any of the Guinea fowl higher in the pecking order. •When the Guinea fowl are free ranging, and Forrest cannot make it to the coop for safety, the flock will only chase him away from wherever they are. Once he is removed by a certain distance, they quit the chase. •Forrest is about the same size as every other Guinea fowl in the flock.
One other slightly interesting point is that of recognition. We simply cannot tell our Guinea fowl apart. We know about Forrest only because of the video cameras we have trained on the flock and the time we’ve spent with them. Forrest is the Guinea fowl that is always somewhat removed from the rest of the flock. But the Guinea fowl can easily spot Forrest, and have no qualms about lavishing upon him the irreverence due to the bird at the bottom of the pecking order.
This week we are going to be watching very closely to see if we can determine which of our pearl grey Guinea fowl is at the top of the pecking order.
