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Discussion on Guinea fowl for tick control etc.
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Member:
Sross
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Posted on Monday, Sep 9, 2002 - 12:34 pm:
I just checked with my mother who has guineas.
She says that they make for fabulous watchbirds, very noisy, and easily startled. I don't know about the tick eating, though.
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Member:
Swiley
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Posted on Monday, Sep 9, 2002 - 12:43 pm:
Let me tell you about guinea hens!!!
I have a small flock of about 7, which is big enough.
Yes they are noisy, When they are young they holler at everything they percieve as dangerous(which means everything). When they are mature they usually only holler when they are separated from their mate( they mate for life and are very attached to one another).
They have done quite a number on my fly population and also those awful meat bees.
They are very funny to watch their antics. I have a cat who loves to ambush them, they in turn surround him and chase him off.
I have "trained" mine to go into thier hutch at night. This keeps them safe from the owls and raccoons that will get them in the trees. It also keeps them from waking me up in the morning.
I have lost several to hawks which are very numerous in my area, there must be a couple nests. The rest of the guineas seem to have gotten very wise to the hawks because I havent lost one in some time and I can see and hear them on a daily basis. here is a web site that will tell you everything you need to know about these birds.
https://www.guineafowl.com/mb/gfmb1.html
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Member:
Kari
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Posted on Monday, Sep 9, 2002 - 7:26 pm:
I don't know about the tick control but they are great watchdogs however in my area the coyotes and fox just love them. They are also very poor at crossing roads.
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Member:
Dres
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Posted on Monday, Sep 9, 2002 - 7:30 pm:
sorry again.. but why would the guinea want to cross the road..??
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Member:
Kari
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Posted on Monday, Sep 9, 2002 - 10:24 pm:
I could be cute and say to get to the other side, however guineas tend to wander a bit in search of food and for some reason the only time they seem to cross is when a vehicle is coming and then they just take their time as it is a pedestrian crosswalk. In my hilly area where there are a lot of "cowboys" driving pickup trucks the fatality rate is quite frequent. I would suspect if you lived far enough from a well traveled road this might not post such a problem. I don't know if this is a fact or not but oldtimers here say the guinea start to lay its eggs when the oak tree leaves are the same size as the guinea's feet.
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Member:
Bonita
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002 - 10:05 am:
Do guineas "work" the manure piles as well, or are they strictly "bug patrollers"?
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Member:
Goodpony
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002 - 10:34 am:
Wow, thanks for all the good info. I have just purchased the farm and will look into the Guineas in the spring. I'll try to read up on them. We do have foxes, hawks, owls, raccoons etc., but no busy road nearby. I was told that they are a collective intelligence and the more you have the smarter they are but the fewer you have the dumber they are. Is that right?
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Member:
Kari
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002 - 7:10 pm:
That theory doesn't work for humans but maybe it does for Guineas.
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Member:
Paul303
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002 - 8:44 pm:
Ahhh, but you must never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
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Member:
Kari
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002 - 10:06 pm:
That's exactly what concerns me.
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Member:
Suzym
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Posted on Friday, Sep 20, 2002 - 10:30 pm:
At the stable where I boarded in Dallas, they had Guineas as "watch dogs" (watch birds?). Whatever - they did that job VERY well. But, they are extremely, how shall I put this? - intelligence challenged I don't recall that the Guineas got hit by cars much though. The Peacocks now - that was another matter. But, at least the Peacocks are purty 
Suzy
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Member:
Mftgirl
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Posted on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 9:08 pm:
I know I'm a little late on the discussion, but my grandpa has had guineas for years and his place was one of the only in the area that didn't have ticks in the yard. He swears by them. We had old fashioned bantam chickens for a while that ran loose (until they were all eventually eaten by an opossum). We had very few ticks that year on us or livestock.
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