Guineas as Guard Dogs?

[tulie13]

I've heard that Guinea Fowl can be good guards, and they make a lot of noise of something's happening. But I've also heard that "something happening" can include a neighbor coming home in their car, an ambulance 2 blocks away, or a tree moving in the wind...

Are they just plain LOUD for no reason or do they really know what's normal and what's not, and learn to scream at what's NOT normal? Would they possibly be OK to keep in a semi-rural neighborhood with 1/2 acre lots? My neighbors don't mind my roos, they do hear them but they don't mind them, even though I've got one dumb one that wants to crow at 2 AM.

Also, can they be kept in with chickens, in the same coop and run?

 

[Jennings Gamefowl]

yes they can be loud at times..but they do make the best guard dogs.. i keep mine in with the chickens, but they had to get use to the rooster being top dog... males guineas can run off what he thinks might get his female.. mine will let me know when something is wrong, like you said neighbor, dogs running around, or anything he thinks is out of place, he'll let me know

 

[Akane]

About the same as a regular watch dog except less trainable. If you get a guarding breed puppy they will bark at anything and everything until they learn what is a threat and isn't or you teach them when to bark and when not to. Same with a guinea except like I said not so trainable. The first year they will alert to everything and as they get used to things they will make a little less noisy. They are still rarely quiet.

Guineas won't stay on a 1/2acre lot without a good fence. Usually they get along with chickens but sometimes they don't. No one seems to have a good theory as to why. Everyone says something different when someone's guineas start harassing their chickens.

 

[Big Chicken Little]

They make noise all the time. Had 10 of them and blessed the day that they left. I would never have them again.

 

[Lollipop]

Yup, they make noise all the time, and loud. It is however, the females that are most obnoxious and the males (without the females) tend to quiet down some with maturity. Akane`s suggestion about a fence needs to be taken with a grain of salt as they fly like pheasants and will come and go at will over a fence less than 20` high. They do roam and sometimes you don`t see them all day until roosting time. The ones that are raised with chickens do well, but with multiple males, my experience is that they are like street gangs and will work over a rooster as a group. Fight one/fight them all. Good luck.........Pop

 

[annaserv]

Mine have quieted down a lot as they got a little older. But when the first started wandering, every other thing set them off, getting separated, the garden hose, a crow flying over.

My mob has a daily routine of covering about 20-30 acres, half of which is the neighbors yard and field. Thankfully, they get a kick out of them and look forward to seeing them each morning.

 

[SimplyForties]

Mine are sort of like a car alarm. They go off so often that I don't even look any more!

 

[Akane]

The trick to a fence is not to have a landing platform on the top. Make sure your fence has no where that can easily be landed on. A loose fence will actually hold them back better than a tight fence. Most birds will fly to the top, perch, and fly down. If it's just fly over they are less likely to try it. If there isn't a good reason to go over such as too little food on their side or something scaring them they usually won't bother. Mine don't bother going over a falling down 3-4 foot field and barbwire fence when they have 20 acres to free range. If they do decide to go over it a fence can be extended with cat fencing (which will also keep cats out) quite cheaply. The feral cat society has some good instructions for a diy version http://www.feralcat.com/fence.html . Really all you do is extend the fence with cheap plastic or fiberglass rods (I can get 5' fiberglass ones for about $.20 at the feedstore) and attach a light weight mesh to it. Poultry netting, light hardware cloth, baseball netting, etc... Lean it in slightly so it looks even more intimidating because they have to fly around the angle to get over and there's nowhere to land on top without sinking. If you start with a 4' field or chainlink fence you can then get another 5-8' high and they are unlikely to go over except as a last ditch effort as something is chasing them. Even if they run up to the fence and spook into flying so long as you have the top angled they just hit the net above their heads. They have to start out several feet and fly several feet over plus up to clear it which makes it not worth it unless there's a good reason.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

In order for them to be effective, you need about 30 or so.

If there is REAL trouble the entire mess comes a running and goes off.

It happened just the other day here and they were on it, alarming to a hawk attack.