Guinea talk.

[pattyhen]

Your halarious Rhonda.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

Next year will be easier, everyone will have outdoor access when they want and the turkeys will have a huge 2000 sqft run around my garden and the chickens and guineas will have the community coop. Ducks will have their own home.

 

[guineapeeps]

Next year will be easier, everyone will have outdoor access when they want and the turkeys will have a huge 2000 sqft run around my garden and the chickens and guineas will have the community coop. Ducks will have their own home.

You may want to consider letting the Guineas roam through your garden. The main reason I got Guineas instead of other poultry is because I heard they are good for the garden. In the 4 years that I've had them, I've not been disappointed. They spend time in the garden every day picking the bugs off the plants and have never destroyed or eaten anything other than the bugs. I rarely use any pesticide now and have never seen the Guineas disturb any fruits or veggies.....unless you count the few times that I've found 30-40 egg nesting sites. (Last year was in my pumpkins and this year was in the butternut squash!)

 

[pattyhen]

Pest control is their middle names.

I just wish they went after mice the way they do bugs.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

You may want to consider letting the Guineas roam through your garden. The main reason I got Guineas instead of other poultry is because I heard they are good for the garden. In the 4 years that I've had them, I've not been disappointed. They spend time in the garden every day picking the bugs off the plants and have never destroyed or eaten anything other than the bugs. I rarely use any pesticide now and have never seen the Guineas disturb any fruits or veggies.....unless you count the few times that I've found 30-40 egg nesting sites. (Last year was in my pumpkins and this year was in the butternut squash!)

I want them to roam free but my neighbors have brought in most of the land predators on the highway, everything from a small opossum to a large black bear, and where I would love to let them be free like they are intended to be my overall worry of the bad outcome is what is keeping them inside specially with winter here. Just last night the air was -20 with the wind still kicking around until early this morning. I was out there at 10 till 7am and they were cold I gave them warm food with cayenne pepper and oatmeal to help warm them up as well as warm water as I brought the waterer in the house last night to prevent it from damaging it.

An my garden will have a fence around it with a top that allows helpful bugs like bees and butterflies through but will keep hawks and crows out so everyone can have a chance at the garden

 

[guineapeeps]

Pest control is their middle names.

I just wish they went after mice the way they do bugs.

I completely agree. I am hesitant to put the normal quick kill mice traps in my coop. Even though I hide them behind things, the guineas have gotten in to them a few times and one even got his toenail ripped off by one. The last time I used one of them, I caught a house sparrow in one by its leg. I think it might have broken its leg, but it flew off before I could check it out. It seems like I catch more birds than mice in them! I use a live trap a lot of the time now but then you have to worry about what to do with it. My guineas have actually killed mice before but its not something they do all the time. The few times that its happened its been young mice that the guineas have pecked a few times, which was enough to kill them. They didn't eat them so I think they were just curious about what they were and were probably not intending to necessarily kill them.

 

[guineapeeps]

I want them to roam free but my neighbors have brought in most of the land predators on the highway, everything from a small opossum to a large black bear, and where I would love to let them be free like they are intended to be my overall worry of the bad outcome is what is keeping them inside specially with winter here. Just last night the air was -20 with the wind still kicking around until early this morning. I was out there at 10 till 7am and they were cold I gave them warm food with cayenne pepper and oatmeal to help warm them up as well as warm water as I brought the waterer in the house last night to prevent it from damaging it.

An my garden will have a fence around it with a top that allows helpful bugs like bees and butterflies through but will keep hawks and crows out so everyone can have a chance at the garden

I hear you on the predator issue! It is a constant problem where I live too, especially in the main growing/farming season. Thankfully I don't have to worry about bears, but I have had fox, coyote, and raccoon get my guineas before....it seems like a never ending battle. I think here in Iowa we are expecting those -20 temps with high winds this weekend. My guineas are a picky bunch but I will have to try the oatmeal and cayenne pepper.....Good idea!

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote:
We've got a couple of mouser cats that keep things in check here. The cats give the guineas and chickens a wide berth.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

I hear you on the predator issue! It is a constant problem where I live too, especially in the main growing/farming season. Thankfully I don't have to worry about bears, but I have had fox, coyote, and raccoon get my guineas before....it seems like a never ending battle. I think here in Iowa we are expecting those -20 temps with high winds this weekend. My guineas are a picky bunch but I will have to try the oatmeal and cayenne pepper.....Good idea!

The oatmeal and cayenne is mixed in with their normal feed which i soak it because my kids are picky as sin and will not take their layer pellets dry.

 

[pattyhen]

We've got a couple of mouser cats that keep things in check here. The cats give the guineas and chickens a wide berth.

I wish I could have a couple of mouser cats but the dogs hate cats. They don't mind the ducks, chickens and guineas but they will attack a cat. They think of cats as predators and will destroy them. I used to have chickens that loved to go after mice but the ones I have now think of them as their pets. I've seen them eatting out of the food bowl with a mouse sitting in it.