Looking for a few Guineas

[dannodamanno]

Hello all. I am jsut starting my flock of hens and we live in rattlesnake country. Rumor has it the guineas will take down a rattler. Having a 21 month little girl rooming around I would like to have some piece of mind knowing that something was hunting snakes. If there is anyone in the Sonora area or surrounding area ( oakdale, Modesto, copper, Arnold,etc..) and you have some guines for sale I would love to take some. They need to be established and able to handle themselves as I am not ready for chicks at this point due to school and having a wife and kid. I need to know that when I let them out to free range in the morning they are gonna be cool until I put them up in the evening. Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

[zazouse]

I have been owned by guineas for 6 years now and i can tell ya my guineas do not kill snakes not even little ones, they do however give out the warning call and will keep calling till the snake leaves their site and that goes for other strange critters as well.
As far as being let out and left that way it will depend on your place and what kinda critters ya got lurking.
My guineas cover about 25 acres of my place so they can roam a pretty good ways.

My dog is good about keeping snakes out of the brooder she got this one last week.

PS

 

[dannodamanno]

Well thats a bummer then. Guess I will get a cat too so there is no mice and gopher issues and let the guineas take on the ticks.

 

[snyd08]

a cat WILL KILL your keets. free rangnig keets must me large enough for vats not to have any interest or they arer finished!...ask my neighbor. my cat had a field day with his 5 week old keets. and i told him it would happen. he refused to believe me. oh well

 

[dannodamanno]

Sounds like I will just deal with the chickens and leave the guineas out then. Wasn't planning on keets though. Why I posted established initially. Can handle young birds right now. Dont have a cat, less you count the bobcats.... Have a lot of red tails, coyotes, racoons and god only knows what else though and I will have a hard enough time keeping full size birds safe on free range. Oh well, still gotta try though. Never knoe what will happen till i try.

 

[PeepsCA]

Danno, I'm near the Grass Valley area... Sonora is not that far from here, a bit of a drive, but not too bad.

I have plenty of 6-8 week olds in several colors for sale right now, if you'd like to start with a flock of those. They do need a coop/secure pen those for several weeks before letting them out to free range tho...

And seriously, my adults do and have killed snakes on my land, big and small. (I know that is not the case with everyone's Guineas tho). But even if they just "sound the alarm" when they see one on your land, that is enough to get you out there to dispatch a snake if need be. They also range for other bugs and pests (ticks, spiders, termites etc) as well. I am pretty much tick and snake free here, but it did not happen over night... it took a few years, but it did happen!

You can PM me if you are interested, or reply to my ad on Craigslist in the Gold Country area.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

I don't know about snakes, but I do know that my guineas have attacked a hawk that was trying for one of my juvenile runner ducks. They ran that thing right off the property: So just like anything else...it depends on the guinea. We did discover a copperhead a couple weeks ago and the only ones that went near it were the Buckeye chickens who dispatched it pretty quickly.

Oh, and as to the cat thing....it totally depends on the cat (just like dogs). Our orange tabby farm cat Whiskers isn't even interested in the chickens, chicks, keets, ducks anymore. He used to play stalk them, but now just sleeps in the yard with fowl of all ages walking all around and sometimes over him: He could care less. My poor bachelor guinea rooster along with my Barnevelder rooster spend a good bit of the day by the back porch where Whiskers lives and nobody bothers each other.
However, give that cat a blue jay or something like it to chase and all bets are off. He seems way more interested in the challenge of catching something that flies well. I don't like that, but it is better to have him chasing something he rarely catches than bothering my bird friends who'd be no match for him.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:

I dont know about a full grown rattler but I do know both Guineas and Chickens will kill and eat the juveniles. But to be honest I wouldn't trust your precious little one to anyone but your own guardianship. there are things you can do to discourage Rattlesnakes..... I too live in Rattle snake Country. San Diego High desert a portion of the Sonoran Desert, sort of the top of Baja area. And we get some bigguns.

Last one I saw had about a four inch rattle and was as big around as your wrist in the middle. 4-5 foot long. though I have seen tracks for ones that were much much bigger.

Some tips you may or may not already know:

1. Keep down the rodent population in your area..... Guineas and chickens help somewhat with that. The snakes will follow the food.
2. Don't leave anything leaning up against your house or carport or fence. (hiding places)
3. Don't reach in or under or around or through anything you cannot see all surfaces directly.
3. One (not the only but one) of the reasons Haciendas had solid wall fences of Stucco or adobe was to help keep out snakes.
4. Don't leave out food for the dog. Rodents like dog food... Snakes like rodents. I feed all dogs inside the house. they have a doggy door.
5. Beneficial snakes compete with the rattlers for food and even eat Rattle snakes themselves. California King snake is one. And yes there are a couple of different constrictor types that live in the desert.
6. Nothing beats a good pair of eyes while your child is playing.....

Be careful of ones you find.... I have relocated about three in my lifetime.... good circumstances available safe container to herd them into. I have only killed one hated to do it but it was on my Grandmothers Front porch in the Burbs.

Like the others said Probably the best benefit of Guineas is that they are walking alarms. And when threatened the others come and join in to identify the offending ..... (fill in the blank here) therefore there will be lots of false alarms too. LOL... Also your dogs and even cats will let you know if there is a snake. FWIW you can get a snake bite vaccination for your dogs. It has to be done twice a year but will help the dog recover more easily if and when they get bit. Most dogs survive.

Natural history information centers also will have a wealth of information with regard to the species of snakes in your area and phone numbers for information.