Con of guinea fowl... poop?

[BeyondBlessed]

I have been researching guinea fowl as a way to stop the ticks/garden bugs in our area. We also have tons of fire ants and yellow fly (like horse flies.. but meaner!) season. I am hoping they would help with these pests around our property.

I realize there are cons that I have read about. ie- Hiding eggs, very loud, and can be a bit of a bully to other birds. But I recently read one article and it stated that they poop all over everything. All over every part of houses and cars... etc.

I pictured their poop being all over the yard and such, as they picked for bugs... but I guess I didn't realize they would be so interested on going onto window sills, roofs, cars, etc.

Is this a big problem with guineas? Or is that not typical behavior?

Out of all the videos/websites/opinions and research... only one has mentioned this poop experience. I wasnt sure if this was an isolated experience... or typical behavior. Not sure I want to deal with that.

Thanks so much for all of your input!

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

Chickens do the same thing. Put them on a surface, they will poop on it.

 

[BeyondBlessed]

Chickens do the same thing. Put them on a surface, they will poop on it.

Haha I realize that. Our chickens def do. But they are kept in a run. With a free ranging guinea, I wondered if they typically stay within the yard and stay away from the house.. foraging. Or do people typically find them chilling around the house/cars rather than spending time in the yard.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

Haha I realize that. Our chickens def do. But they are kept in a run. With a free ranging guinea, I wondered if they typically stay within the yard and stay away from the house.. foraging. Or do people typically find them chilling around the house/cars rather than spending time in the yard.

Haha I realize that. Our chickens def do. But they are kept in a run. With a free ranging guinea, I wondered if they typically stay within the yard and stay away from the house.. foraging. Or do people typically find them chilling around the house/cars rather than spending time in the yard.

I used to have a Guinea , and he would stay around the coop.

 

[SamLockwood]

I've got a roughly equal number of guineas & chickens (15 and 17) that free-range most of the day. They've got about 4 to 5 acres of territory, about half of it wooded, around the house and coop to forage around in.

Other than mine are on the larger side (French Pearl Grey, the smallest of which is equal to one of my bigger chickens) they don't poop more than the chickens. I keep the coop & run open during the day (and the feeders in the run under the larger of the raised coops), so the birds sort of do this spiral pattern during the day: they'll start in the back yard and work their way around the area.

Some days they'll hang around the yards, other days they're out in the woods, and every couple hours they'll circle back home to feed & water.

Sometimes they invade the deck on the back of my house and hold flying demonstrations off the rails. That gets a bit messy.

If I'm outside doing yard work or house maintenance, they'll all hang around and that area will get messy.

The walkway and deck I sweep & hose off every couple days. I have to be careful to keep the garage closed, otherwise they'll wander in there and make a mess. Particularly two of my oldest chickens like to hang out in there when they get the chance.

 

[sourland]

I think that the 'poop experience' is much ado over nothing.

 

[BeyondBlessed]

I've got a roughly equal number of guineas & chickens (15 and 17) that free-range most of the day. They've got about 4 to 5 acres of territory, about half of it wooded, around the house and coop to forage around in.

Other than mine are on the larger side (French Pearl Grey, the smallest of which is equal to one of my bigger chickens) they don't poop more than the chickens. I keep the coop & run open during the day (and the feeders in the run under the larger of the raised coops), so the birds sort of do this spiral pattern during the day: they'll start in the back yard and work their way around the area.

Some days they'll hang around the yards, other days they're out in the woods, and every couple hours they'll circle back home to feed & water.

Sometimes they invade the deck on the back of my house and hold flying demonstrations off the rails. That gets a bit messy.

If I'm outside doing yard work or house maintenance, they'll all hang around and that area will get messy.

The walkway and deck I sweep & hose off every couple days. I have to be careful to keep the garage closed, otherwise they'll wander in there and make a mess. Particularly two of my oldest chickens like to hang out in there when they get the chance.

Thank you sooo much for typing all of that out! That was super helpful!!!

I think that the 'poop experience' is much ado over nothing.

Thank you!! This is why I asked! I had a feeling!