Half of my guinea flock has disappeared in one go

[SuiladMellon]

Gosh I’m sorry! That must be a very painful discovery. I should have asked first where you are located, and what predators you know are around. I’ve been assuming USA, like me. I am going to guess that you had multiple coyotes, a pair or pack. It can be hard to tell coyote, fox, and bobcat scat apart. However, that diameter seems pretty large for a fox, leaving coyote and bobcat. If you broke some apart and found berries, grass, or insect parts then it would be coyote. If some scat is covered, then bobcat is more likely.

https://thfoutdoors.com/trapping/coyote-scat/

However, killing that many free ranging guineas at one time seems more like the work of multiple coyotes. Most guineas don’t get to learn predator evasion from successful adults; they learn as they go. So domestic Guinea flocks are somewhat notorious for standing there as a dog or car decimates the flock. However, I’ve had a fair amount of bobcat attacks on our guineas, and have not lost more than one per day. Bobcats will take out whole chicken flocks, but those are usually after the bobcat gets in the coop, or the chickens are otherwise unable to get away. I think that your guineas would have wised up to a bobcat and flown before losing so many birds. Coyotes and foxes though can take a lot of birds quickly. A pair of coyotes with pups would be motivated to kill as many birds as possible, then feed to pups and cache at their leisure.

Ahh, yeah I'm in Virginia, I should have specified, sorry!! I don't think we have bobcats here, afaik ^^; But we do have foxes and coyotes for sure.

I think I have the confirmation I was seeking, though... drove up to the pastures today where all this happened and lo and behold, there's a big ole coyote out there in broad daylight poking around >.> He took off as soon as he saw me but I have an idea of where he & his friends might be holed up...

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Ahh, yeah I'm in Virginia, I should have specified, sorry!! I don't think we have bobcats here, afaik ^^; But we do have foxes and coyotes for sure.

I think I have the confirmation I was seeking, though... drove up to the pastures today where all this happened and lo and behold, there's a big ole coyote out there in broad daylight poking around >.> He took off as soon as he saw me but I have an idea of where he & his friends might be holed up...

Returning to the scene of the crime is typical, so a coyote seems very likely. Info on bobcats in Virginia: https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/bobcat/

 

[SuiladMellon]

Returning to the scene of the crime is typical, so a coyote seems very likely. Info on bobcats in Virginia: https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/bobcat/

Huh! Sure enough... I must be a little too far east for bobcats to really be a big presence here, I don't think I've ever heard any mention of them being in this area since I've lived here, much less ever seen one haha. How interesting! Now I have something new to look out for

 

[Liz Birdlover]

So sorry for your loss. I can't imagine...I'd be devastated. You'll need more female Guineas for your boys, but probably also need to build predator proof pens like I did.

I'm in Delaware, we've got lots of foxes, some coyotes, & believe it or not, occasional Bobcats or Cougar. It's rare, but it happens & they've been caught on camera...so, never say never.

 

[Guinea flock]

I'm planning on taking a long hike through the more heavily forested areas today along the edges of our property to check for any signs of a struggle, so I will give your sound recording idea a try! They are quasi-whistle trained as well, so I will bring that with me too to see if they will respond to it. Unfortunately the wind has been just awful lately so I'm not sure how well the sound will carry, but its worth a try... I desperately hope they were just scared off and not all killed! The weather has been just horrible the last couple of days which has made it very difficult to properly search for them, and I'm praying they've just hunkered down somewhere out of the elements...

I will definitely be keeping the rest of them cooped for a while, there are a couple of my remaining guineas, namely the one missing all his butt feathers and a hen who has suddenly developed a big swelled up area on her abdomen, that I want to keep a close eye on... But, I will also see about breaking out my old game cameras! I've been debating recently about digging one out to set up near the coop anyways, since we've been seeing a lot of wild turkey droppings around there lately... I'll definitely be setting one up now!

Wild turkey droppings resemble female guinea who are brooding. Could you have females who have gone broody?

 

[R2elk]

Wild turkey droppings resemble female guinea who are brooding. Could you have females who have gone broody?

This thread is from over a year ago. If you read the whole thread you will learn what happened.