Pookie Mum
Chirping
- Mar 6, 2024
- 14
- 70
- 59
I am in Tasmania, Australia, South of Hobart.
I have a small flock of Guinea Fowl - at the moment 8 adults and 3 keets. All 'Lavenders'
I just love them. They are no trouble to look after and their antics are so funny. I just wish they were better mothers. As they are free ranging on 4 acres, with 20 acres over the fence, once they see the eggs have hatched they just wander off and these poor little fledglings stagger about in the garden and cannot keep up. We have several eagles, Goshawks and the like, which are always about in our area.
I find the best thing to do is hand rear them in isolation, gradually introducing them to the flock and then they eventually get together. I am on my fifth year of doing this and I have been able to let other people who are interested in Guinea Fowl start their own flocks.
The adults are quite tame and they come when I call them for a meal. Mostly they stay in and around the garden and gather at the corner fence when it is time to go to bed. Then they hop over, one by one and walk as a group down the long driveway to a Wattle tree on the dam, where they nest overnight. They always move around as a group, like a small grey cloud floating through the garden.
We call them 'Pookies' because of the call - Pourquoi, Pourquoi (poorkwah, poorkwah)
I have a small flock of Guinea Fowl - at the moment 8 adults and 3 keets. All 'Lavenders'
I just love them. They are no trouble to look after and their antics are so funny. I just wish they were better mothers. As they are free ranging on 4 acres, with 20 acres over the fence, once they see the eggs have hatched they just wander off and these poor little fledglings stagger about in the garden and cannot keep up. We have several eagles, Goshawks and the like, which are always about in our area.
I find the best thing to do is hand rear them in isolation, gradually introducing them to the flock and then they eventually get together. I am on my fifth year of doing this and I have been able to let other people who are interested in Guinea Fowl start their own flocks.
The adults are quite tame and they come when I call them for a meal. Mostly they stay in and around the garden and gather at the corner fence when it is time to go to bed. Then they hop over, one by one and walk as a group down the long driveway to a Wattle tree on the dam, where they nest overnight. They always move around as a group, like a small grey cloud floating through the garden.
We call them 'Pookies' because of the call - Pourquoi, Pourquoi (poorkwah, poorkwah)
