Considering Guineas

[Tre3hugger]

The Guinea fowl we had were loud!

Can't argue with that. The guineas I had yelled at each other pretty much all day. I find it endearing though. Maybe cause I have a very loud stereo system, and very good headphones lol.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have lost guineas to hawks 2/3 their size. They just eat em right there where they catch em.

I do think guineas would be a good addition for your situation though. When I moved onto my property it was tick heaven. I am taling like, 10+ ticks on the dogs every time they went outside, and plenty on us. After 2 years with guineas the tick problem is NON EXISTENT. I am currently down to 1 guinea, as they free range here with a coop for night and slowly they do get eaten. But I just ordered 13 more because they really do the job. It is worth it for me to order them every couple years and not have any ticks. I ordered them late in the season so I can keep them in their coop all winter. This will (hopefully) home them to the coop, so when I let them out in the spring, they will return to the coop at night.

Guineas are a real adventure, and quite loud, but also extremely entertaining and extremely proficient at their exterminator job. Another bonus is they (mostly) leave green plants alone. Sometimes they will pick the bugs right off my garden plants and just move on. A wonderful addition to the garden.

Sounds like our situation after a warm rain. The ticks this year are MADDENING with this weird weather we've been having. Yuck! But I have a real problem with guilt when something happens to an animal I care for - lol. I'm a wuss when it comes to losses.

 

[Aunt Angus]

The Guinea fowl we had were loud! I would find another way to deal with the ticks.

This I know, but our goat pasture is pretty far from the house and down a steep hill. Part of the year, we move the goats into a ravine. I don't mind loud. But the echo might drive the neighbors batty! The nearest neighbors are about 1/3 mile away. I've asked if they can hear the goats (my Nubian SCREAMS like the world is on fire when she's in heat), and they said no. But guineas....

And that's why I'm here, learning and weighing my options.

 

[R2elk]

And that's why I'm here, learning and weighing my options.

Read the thread Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA .

 

[R2elk]

The Cooper's hawks that show up here have never bothered my guineas.

In all fairness, the Cooper's Hawks here are my friends because they concentrate on the overabundant Eurasian Collared Doves that have moved in uninvited.

 

[Sydney65]

Our Coopers are so sneaky! I rarely see them yet when I do, they seem to appear from out of nowhere. Once it was when I let the chickens out to free range. I stayed out with them to “keep them safe”. One hen had ranged pretty far (100 ft?) from the coop and flock to a lawn area. As I gazed her way, I suddenly noticed a blur of motion near her, which abruptly pulled up and left almost too quickly for me to track. Neither she nor I reacted until the hawk had already called off its attack. I guess the hen looked bigger close up, or maybe that’s when the hawk noticed me standing nearby. Last year we had lost two Guinea hens before I realized we had a predator and not hens on a nest. We then proceeded to cut back lots of brush as I thought it was a bobcat (oops!). That’s when I realized that the very nervous guineas were hiding in the brush a lot. The
Guineas saw me outside and came out of the brush to be near me. That’s when a sudden streak of motion came out of nowhere to dive near my head. A Guinea cock near to me flushed in a panic and the hawk left as quickly as it had come. The only good thing to come out of that is the experience seemed to spook the hawk enough that it stopped preying on the guineas. Red tails are bad too, but nowhere near as sneaky as those Coopers.

Yes, that's their attack method, or one of them. Stay low, swoop, then pull up. At best, though, a full grown guinea & full grown female cooper might weigh the same, but she's not getting off the ground w/a guinea, she'd be eating in place.
We took out the small juniper one liked to hide in, so none are hanging out here that we know of. Every once in awhile I'll see a sparrow or wren doing the frantic dive w/a cooper on her tail, but not often. Too many big hawks and vultures patroling the fields.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Guineas spend 96% or more of their daylight time on the ground. They walk everywhere and only fly to get away from each other or predators. Young,adolescent guineas wil fly to test their wings and hang in trees some but the food is on the ground and thats where adult guineas are. If you get guineas, you'll want at least 8 -10 because they are flock birds and do best with their own kind. Guineas return to their coop every night if they are trained well and are very fun to watch. Their main down side is their constant chatter. Good luck

One other quick question. How much of a threat is a Cooper's hawk, d'you think? We have a couple who nest here in the spring.

 

[Shadrach]

The Guinea fowl we had were loud! I would find another way to deal with the ticks.

 

[R2elk]

One other quick question. How much of a threat is a Cooper's hawk, d'you think? We have a couple who nest here in the spring.

The Cooper's hawks that show up here have never bothered my guineas.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Read the thread Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA .

Thank you! Will do!