Fox Threat- Guineas?

[Welshies]

So, I recently lost $300 worth of birds to a very persistent (and well known chicken-loving) fox. I live in the country, but our birds (chickens, ducks, and quail) are kept half a mile away (long story, tough situation). Frankly, all 20 of my 9 week old Wyandottes and 20 8 week old Quail were killed after I made the mistake of free-ranging my chicks and the fox dug under the quail coop to get inside. The chicken coop is totally foxproof, though, and I've built pens. Yet I want to go even further and was wondering what people's experiences with guinea fowl as predator control were. I'd free range and let fly a pair of guinea adults...
Mostly as an alarm system for the chickens and intimidation factor for predators.
How well might this work?

 

[GGBEAR]

Are guinea fowl not small how would they deter predators would they not be at risk themselves?

 

[Chickassan]

They just get eaten really loudly.

 

[GGBEAR]

OK I'm with you sorry I cannot help with that

 

[Wickedchicken6]

In our experience, a couple of guinea fowl aren't enough to work well. I'd say it's not a choice you could depend on. We started with 4 guinea fowl. We free range our chickens and guineas. We got hit by the foxes; full daylight, during supper, the four guineas and the dog were in the area and the coop is close to the house within sight.

Foxes are incredibly intelligent, and they have nothing better to do than to watch and hit when you're gone for the moment. In 3/4 of an hour foxes killed 8 chickens and left only feathers. My husband interrupted the killing spree. The foxes were still waiting and watching for us to leave so they could hit again! Not only did we not hear a thing...they spooked one of the guineas into the rabbit pen leaving us to believe they came through the guineas to get to the coop.

We now have 13 (soon to be 20) guineas and that seems to work much better. They pair off and spread out over the farm. They seem to work in tandem in giving an alert so nothing gets missed. Our baby bunnies stick pretty close to the guineas in the main yard...more so than the chickens. They seem to understand that they're safer with the guinea fowl. Unfortunate for the foxes...they took my husband's favorite little rooster. The offending foxes were taken care by the next morning.

I should note that guinea fowl are completely incapacitated at night. They are sitting ducks. They can't seem to see, even in dim light...and their only defense is to burst up in flight if they're touched. Our first pair accidently got left out when we had a relative shut the coop one night. They laid on the ground until we got home. A person can walk right to them and pick them up. If a predator had come along they would've been killed.