Henriettasmum
Chirping
I just noticed your fantastic 'scarecrows' for the first time. They are so beautiful - I hadn't thought of using girls too. Their dresses would, of course, blow in the wind. I think anything that moves is great - as I mentioned we have decorated ours with lots of CDs that spin in the breeze and flash circles of light all around the area. I can't say for sure if that's what has deterred the hawks, but we certainly used to have a lot riding the thermals over our property before the scarecrow and we just don't see them at all now. And, believe me, we are on the lookout for them.
I have noted cactusrota's comments about guinea fowl and I know a lot of people don't like them. They can chew on timber door frames (one friend won't have them because of that problem) but ours haven't, so far. They come up a ramp to a courtyard and to one of our back doors (it's actually our outer bedroom door) - it's timber with glass panels and they tap on the glass to get our attention. When they see me leave the house they run as fast as they can towards me and walk alongside me wherever I go. They do keep an eagle eye on the sky as well and maybe they help, too with the hawks. Particularly, since they have had their young. (They started out with 16 babies and are down to 6. All but one died while they were still nesting outside as very young keets but one died/was killed??? in their pen one night - no idea what happened, it was just lying there dead in the morning when we went to let them out. A couple had been fighting so ... who knows?) But these days as they wander the property there is always one adult with an eye on the sky. He tilts his head one way - right eye up, then left eye up and continues until they move along. They are noisy, they aren't the prettiest bird on earth but I do love them. They even keep an eye on the baby chicks when they are around. They can be a bit bossy too so I can understand cactusrota's preference not to have them.
I have noted cactusrota's comments about guinea fowl and I know a lot of people don't like them. They can chew on timber door frames (one friend won't have them because of that problem) but ours haven't, so far. They come up a ramp to a courtyard and to one of our back doors (it's actually our outer bedroom door) - it's timber with glass panels and they tap on the glass to get our attention. When they see me leave the house they run as fast as they can towards me and walk alongside me wherever I go. They do keep an eagle eye on the sky as well and maybe they help, too with the hawks. Particularly, since they have had their young. (They started out with 16 babies and are down to 6. All but one died while they were still nesting outside as very young keets but one died/was killed??? in their pen one night - no idea what happened, it was just lying there dead in the morning when we went to let them out. A couple had been fighting so ... who knows?) But these days as they wander the property there is always one adult with an eye on the sky. He tilts his head one way - right eye up, then left eye up and continues until they move along. They are noisy, they aren't the prettiest bird on earth but I do love them. They even keep an eye on the baby chicks when they are around. They can be a bit bossy too so I can understand cactusrota's preference not to have them.
I think what I found most about them is how much better they seem to do in a bigger free range setting. I have way too many predators for true free ranging. Not just the aerial type, we also regulary get coyotes, feral dogs (and coydogs), bobcats, ringtail cats, coatimundi, foxes, and even the occasional mountain lion. Someday I'll have a trustworthy livestock guardian dog and be able open the pen, but until then I'll have to stick with birds that adapt well to a 20x40 jail...
