Guinea question(s)

[mustangsaguaro]

I am thinking about getting some guineas as my husband and I live out on 7 acres and whenever the dog comes in she has ticks on her. I have heard that guinea's are great as they eat ticks.

A friend was suppose to get some eggs and hatch some guinea's out for me but some unforseen circumstances have happened and she is unable to do it. I am wondering if I should just go ahead and wait till next year and get the guinea's as it seems rather late in the season (at least to me it seems late). Also, I was planning on getting at least 12 guinea's I am wondering if that is to many. Do you think I could go w/ less? I have also heard they are great watch dog's but are noisy too. I don't want to have to deal w/ a lot of noise so am thinking getting less than 12 might be best.

Any thoughts or opinions would be very helpful.

Thanks
Kim

 

[Sherry]

I started with 3 guineas. I then decided to incubate some. I had 23 hatch. Then I found the nest of one of my guineas....I have another 19 eggs in the incubator.

I think they are wonderful. Noisy? They can be, but are wonderful watchdogs and usually only make alot of noise if startled.

Is 12 too many? Heavens no. I say the more the merrier. The more guineas you have the less ticks.

As for ticks on the dog, I would use Frontline monthly. No ticks (or fleas) and you don't have to worry about tick paralysis or Lyme's.

 

[GRAM49]

I was interested in this post, but for the opposite reason. What is the smallest number you can have and still have them happy? I would only like one or two males, would this work? Have chicks but they are in a hen house/pen and not loose. Want guineas free range for insect patrol.
Gram

 

[rooster0209]

I have five on 7 acres (some of which is shelterbelt) They are doing a good job of keeping the ticks and bugs away. I want more, so I am hatching eggs and I have a few locals wanting to start with them this year.

I have heard that a Rooster wont stick around with out a female, don't know if its true or not. I have 2 roosters and 3 hens. A rooster & a hen would make a good pair to start with, if you wanted more, you could collect eggs next spring and hatch your own.

 

[mustangsaguaro]

Quote:
I am aware of Frontline and Advantage products for cats and dogs and I won't put any poisons on my animals. IMHO these products are poison.

 

[lovethechickens]

My wife is a vet tech, and we frontline our dogs regularly. We havent had a single health problem with any of them. The doctor said it wouldnt hurt them as long as we only administered the proper dose.

 

[mcsammie]

I love love LOVE my guineas!!

We have 4 acres, mostly wooded in sw Maine. Lyme disease isn't isn't as big of a problem as it is south of here, but it seems like it's creeping north every year... the two guineas, free ranging during the day have done and AMAZING job helping to control the ticks this year.

We got our keets last July, I think around mid to the end of the month. (they were supposed to arrive at the same time as our chickens, but there was a delay for whatever reason, we almost didn't get them, but so glad we did!) So, mustang, this time of year wasn't too late for me... just waited till this spring to free range them.

As for noise- yes they can be awful. We started with 2 pairs, but one of the females flew off over the winter and we found feathers...

so for a while we had 2 males and 1 female, and the "in charge" male was AWFUL. he would never shut up with his alarm call (someone said it sounds like a machine gun, and it does.) then this spring, he wouldn't go in the coop at night, and flew away in the woods... unfortunately we think he became fox or fisher cat dinner, too..

But now with just the pair, they are very good. They are adorable, too. They definitely are good "watchdogs" and let us know when something's up- I think they helped save the chicken flock earlier this spring, actually- by calling and alerting us so we could shoot at the fox! So, as for noise, my experience has been don't have 2 males to 1 female!

Definitely get keets, though- I think that if you tried to get adults, they would just fly off, not knowing where home was. They're funny, just barely domesticated... kind of cool.

Frontline- I used to frontline all of my animals- 2 dogs, 5 cats. But Frontline was NOT keeping the ticks off my cats or keeping them from coming in my house. My dogs are relatively short haired, so I can see ticks right away, and haven't had any on the dogs since starting with the guineas. I worry that ticks are just going to build resistance to it, and then we'll have to use something even more toxic.

 

[debbiez]

We had two females and three males but something got the females.Probably while they were setting.The males stay here just fine.But last summer when we still had the females all 10 of the neighbors males came to live with us because he had no females. Dh tried to take some to a new home but some of them made it back home.
I want to know how you got a pair of keets and not two of the same.I thought they could not be sexed till about 8 weeks??

Debbiez

 

[mcsammie]

we just lucked out with the numbers. I had ordered six from the local feed store, and they only had five, so I took them anyway. One of the little ones died a couple days later..

I was so sad... then we just ended up with two pair- and one pair met their untimely death due to predators...


I guess you can sex them by their call- only the females say "buckwheat buckwheat!"

 

[kees]

I went crazy and bought 24 guinea keets in all different colors. Built a coop and outdoor pen for them. They loved eating all of the little buggies on the ground and I loved it too. At night, most would go into their coop but a number of really stubborn ones would roost high up in the trees. The white ones or lighter colored ones would get picked off by owls...I remember hearing a screaming sound...usually at around 4 in the morning and then finding a pile of feathers. They make a magreep magreep noise and I would hose down the front and back decks twice daily. My neighbors didn't appreciate them as the guinea hens would start to march up the steps to their back deck. The other neighbor had German Shorthaired pointers and it was so funny, the dogs would just point...for hours. After a while, I had to get rid of them.