# Guinea Fowl?



## BlueMoonSpot

I'm thinking about getting a few guinea fowl to help keep the ticks down on our property. We keep our two-acre yard mowed and trimmed and all, but our long-coated border collie manages to pick the bugs up just by playing outside.

Do any of y'all have guineas? Is there anything I should know about them before I look into getting a few? I know that they can fly pretty high...I think that's the main kink in the plan. I guess we'd either have to clip their wings (probably not a good idea since we have "free range" border collies), string up some sort of high wire on our fence (maybe like what our neighbors have for deer...), or get the okay from the neighbors that they won't mind the guineas wandering their pastures. We'd definitely lock the birds up at night, probably with our chickens (which we have yet to get).

Well, this is mostly in the idea stage. I have to gather all the info I can, decide if I want another species to care for, and then present the info to my parents to see if they want to get guineas. =)

Thanks!


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## apachedowns

I have been raising them for about 7 yrs and as annoying as they are...LOL they do their job very well...they will go out into traffic though...so plan on more than you want...I have 10 acres here so only lost a couple over a few years,,,but if you want to have 10 order about 14...don't plan on them loving you either...LOL...they are there to do a job and that is how it is....will be a good farmers cheap farm alarm as well...anything that isn;t the normal they will let you know. I have several for sale, not sure how far you are but if you are far try your local farm supply place...usually abotu $3 a bird...we raise them on gamebird crumbles and cracked corn...during the summer and spring their feast is usually bugs so you save more on feed that time of year. They are also ETREMELY quick and I have 4 guard dogs on the property and none of them have ever gotten even close to catching them...LOL


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## BareCreekFarm

We have had guineas before, and they are great! We have not had them for the last 2 years, but picked up 1 dozen keets Saturday :dance: ! They are really good at keeping the bugs, ticks, and snakes away from the house. Like apachedowns said, they are alarm systems! They warn you when someone comes, or when they find a snake. They are LOUD and if you have neighbors close they will get annoyed  They are fun and interesting birds to have :thumb: 
I would keep not clip their wings, just because they need to be able to fly away from predators. Once they are fully grown, we do not lock ours up in the coop at night, they just roost in the trees :thumb:


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## Utterly Blessed Farm

We have three Guineas, two females and one male. Originally ours lived in the coop with our chickens (they were all raised together) but the male started fighting with our rooster when they were both about six months old and I think the Guinea roo could easily kill the chicken roo so now the Guineas live outside the coop and we lock them in when we want the chickens to be able to free range. They sleep on top of the chicken coop at night and just roam around our property during the day. They can be extremely loud. They are not happy with us getting very close to them but they follow us everywhere (staying a foot away or so) we can hand feed them but if we try to pet them they jump out of the way of our touch. We got them to keep the rattlesnakes away and have not seen one since we got them. We don't have any ticks here so either they are eating them or we just don't have any.


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## potentialfarm

I was so happy to see this topic on here! 
I have very limited experience w/guineas. Had one "dropped off" here. It spent 2 days entertaining us, then went on to entertain the neighbors (we live 1/2 mile from any of them & some of them are obviously snobs AND unappreciative!) That was 2 years ago...I just ordered 30 keets last week (minimum hatchery order). I am going to keep about 8? & have buyers lined up for the rest of them. 
The ticks are already horrible this year. The winter was very mild, so it didn't slow them down much I guess. I've had goats for 5 years & never found one tick previously...have already pulled 4 ticks off my goats this spring! Lost count how many I've pulled off the dogs! 

Since I have no experience of my own, and am researching...this website really appealed to me... http://www.guineafowl.com/fritsfarm/guineas The site talks a lot about "taming" them from the time you get them as keets, teaching them about where "home" is, and how they CAN live with chickens! Seems really informative, hope this helps!

Oh, and it says they also eat Japanese Beetles...they are getting bad here also!


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## dobe627

I have had guineas for about 10 years now(in 5 different colors) they do their job well. And what's funny is whenthey start screaming my pyrenees goes to that area. I have lost a few to fox, and a hawk. Although we have 20 acres they do go to the neighbors. I explained to him they eat bugs and he was ok with it. You will find they aren't always the smartest.


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## Frosty1

dobe627 said:


> You will find they aren't always the smartest.


UNDERSTATMENT!!!! :ROFL: :ROFL: :slapfloor: Yes, they are truly dumb, but are very helpful birds in that they eat grasshoppers, ticks, etc.  We like our guineas!


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## BlueMoonSpot

There are more guinea owners out there than I thought! =)

It seems to me like them going over to the neighbors would be the most trouble for us. That and the noise...we have about 4.5 acres and our neighbors pretty much hear whatever goes on in our yard. =P


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