Guineas for Tick Control

[BlueMouse]

maybe if you put the guineas seperate during breeding season? I'm trying to work out possible solutions if a problem arises with our six guineas. I simply do not have room for 10-15 of anything that is a permenant resident (the meaties in their tractor don't count!). I'm thinking that if it's just a breeding season issue maybe we could put the breeding birds in the turkey tractor (4x12x6 feet high) during the mating season then let them back out? I guess that depends on how long the mating season is too... Better put on my researching cap!

 

[PeepsCA]

maybe if you put the guineas seperate during breeding season? I'm trying to work out possible solutions if a problem arises with our six guineas. I simply do not have room for 10-15 of anything that is a permenant resident (the meaties in their tractor don't count!). I'm thinking that if it's just a breeding season issue maybe we could put the breeding birds in the turkey tractor (4x12x6 feet high) during the mating season then let them back out? I guess that depends on how long the mating season is too... Better put on my researching cap!

Breeding season for Guineas is Spring thru Fall... and normally that starts up the Spring after they were hatched (the following year). The young, hormonal males can start to get cocky and aggressive as young as 10-12 wks tho, no matter if they are old enough to breed or not.

Typically the Guinea Hens are more docile/easy going... but it really depends on the individual birds. But maybe if you just keep 1 male and the rest Hens you can breeze by with minimal aggression, especially if you can free range your chickens in a different area than the Guineas tend to hang out (its much easier to relocate/move chickens around than it is Guineas).

Sometimes tho, once one Guinea becomes aggressive towards a targeted bird (usually a chicken), the rest of the flock will do the monkey-see-monkey do thing, and take on the same aggressive behavior and join in no matter what you try to do. Many say they have a gang mentality... and I have to agree, I've seen it in my own flocks (picking on a targeted Guinea within their own flocks

).

 

[wesandsam]

after reading this I think we're going to get some of these birds. They look cool and the tick thing is a plus. What is a good price for them in Canada, if anyone knows? The RB we use for our chickens sells them I think, and I want to know if we well be paying too much. Thanks

 

[BarbaraNH]

I've seen an ad for a breeder in Quebec. They sell guinea fowl keets for $2.50 each for quantities up to 25. I don't have any idea how much they would go for in other areas of Canada. Just like in the U.S., it can be a supply and demand thing and vary so much by region.

 

[PeaChick C]

We lose a guinea or two a year to a car. It's just part of being free range during the day. We usually have about a dozen to twenty guineas at any given time and they keep our acreage tick and flea free. We even struggle to find a cricket in the summer. They roam in rows all day long pecking any bug that moves from one corner of our farm to the other. A friend of mine said that they found 10 ticks on their dog the other day. We haven't seen one yet.

 

[MargieLu]

After reading several threads....I'm guessing that guineas won't work for my scenario.   I have a house and 32 acres in northwest Arkansas...but I don't live there.  (someday)   My wife and I got eaten alive by ticks this past weekend. (first time I've found ticks this year)   The home and land is approx 1 hour from where I live.  I get out at least once a week....sometimes more but minimum once.  Thought about guineas for tick control but it sounds like they wouldn't make it without me there more often.   Thoughts/suggestions?   Don't want to get hens just to have them die quickly.

Tomm, mine are totally self-sufficient on a weekly refill of a waterer and a range feeder with a creep fence around it. They keep the back property free of ticks and fleas. I don't intervene unless one becomes injured ( the only time that happened was when a new dog was up at the house and a hen jumped the pasture fence to wander up our way. She lost a good many feathers, and had two small puncture wounds, which healed nicely during three weeks of isolation. She even layed for the first few days of iso.)

Finding the nests of free range guinea hens is a challenge on wooded property, but it can be done. My neighbor and I both have free-range guineas that co-mingle, and finally located a nest of 60 eggs after alot of searching. We hope to have a good hatch date around Fathers' Day next month.

If you can visit your property as frequently as once a week, and install an automatic waterer and range feeder, you'd have very little else to do for these very self-sufficient birds until they need shelter for fall/winter.

 

[Triple Willow]

After reading several threads....I'm guessing that guineas won't work for my scenario.   I have a house and 32 acres in northwest Arkansas...but I don't live there.  (someday)   My wife and I got eaten alive by ticks this past weekend. (first time I've found ticks this year)   The home and land is approx 1 hour from where I live.  I get out at least once a week....sometimes more but minimum once.  Thought about guineas for tick control but it sounds like they wouldn't make it without me there more often.   Thoughts/suggestions?   Don't want to get hens just to have them die quickly.

 

[Triple Willow]

Sorry about that blank post, a touch screen kinda stinks sometimes for posting. lol I was going to mention that "game chickens" might be a good option for a place where you can't be there to manage the flock every day. Many times they decide to live a pretty much wild life in the trees and brush and do very well. Is there a natural water source nearby, some type of shelter if they did choose to use it?

Ticks are very bad at my place this year too. In one two week period I found about 25 or so on me, most of them just crawling thank goodness.

 

[kristip]

What happens of you have the chickens raise the guinies? When mama is out foraging, will they stay with her when they are little or wander?

 

[PeaChick C]

When they are little they will stay with her. When hey become pre-teens they get wander lust and start going further off. Keats raised by chickens seems easier to handle, return to the coop and maybe more apt to lay in there.