Noise and Roaming Tendency- are guineas right for me?

[chickenreferee]

I am trying to determine if a small flock of guineas would work on my land....we keep chickens and ducks right now (hope to add a couple turkeys soon) but I'd sure like to see a little more variety out in the yard/fields. My neighbors have never complained about the roosters crowing in the last eight years, but I don't want to make them angry if guineas are going to be super loud and not stay home. I'd love to have peafowl, but I think they will just be too loud and all over the place for our little neck of the woods.

We have maybe 3 or 4 acres, the neighbors aren't right next door, but you can see their house from ours. So I guess my question(s) is this:

Are guineas louder than peafowl/constantly make noise? Will they be okay in a small flock of say 5 or 6 birds? The plan would be to buy keets and 'coop train' them to return at night. Will they have enough sense to stay out of the dog's fence?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[JLeigh]

Guineas are loud, but they aren't as loud as Pea Fowl - bird for bird - until all the guineas start yelling at the same time. Then it's pretty loud, but most guineas don't scream all day. Maybe a little talk with your neighbors would do the trick. You could tell them the benefits of guineas eating ticks - no normal person likes ticks.

Guineas will roam during the day, but come home at dusk to their pen or coop (takes at least six weeks to train them where home is). Odds are they'll roam to your neighbor's property, which is another reason a little talk with the neighbors is a good idea if you have a decent relationship with them.

I'd give it a try!

 

[mnferalkitty]

I have 7 guineas and combined they make more noise then peafowl once one starts making a ruckus the rest follow, they stay close to home and do not wander far but mine do fly in the dog kennel if the dogs are not in it

 

[lazyacres2012]

I've had them in the past and even though they do not stay home I can't seem to live without them. I got mine when they were only a few days old and kept them in their coop for a month or so. I have 8 total and got that many with hopes of a few females. If nobody around you has any guineas they will most likely always come home. I have about 4 acres of pasture and 2 acres of lawn for them but they still fly over the fence and prefer the neighbors lawn to mine. I even tried leaving half in the coop during the day and no matter; they still roam. They do come home several times though unless they can't seem to figure out how to fly back over and then they squawk squawk squawk pacing back and forth by the fence until I go show them the way back home. I really think this is where the term bird brain comes from because they seem to have little to no sense.

 

[chickenreferee]

Hmmm...maybe they aren't a good idea for me after all. My family all live next door to one another, there are four of us in a row plus the pastures out back with our yards....then there are neighbors on either side- one is a rental and the other has a dog. My chickens free range during the day (but stay home) and the dog grew up seeing them- he's never been up to the house or gone after them, but if guineas roam that much he may decide to put them on his hit list.

Too bad. Ugh. Maybe I will just stick to waterfowl and turkeys as my oddballs. I so would love to have them eat the ticks though!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[SaraBT]

We also live on about three acres, and have had several flocks of "ginners" through the years. Our neighbors don't mind at all -- they love the fact that the birds eat their ticks.

Unfortunately our females insisted on laying their eggs in the woods, and all with the exception of one were killed by predators. Now we have two males, and won't be getting any new birds this year. The guys'll just have to tough it out 'til next year

Ask your neighbors -- they may not mind. The ginners don't make noise all the time, and we hardly even notice it anymore. In fact, if they go off and the chickens go off at the same time we know someone or something needs to be checked out. They're a great alarm system!

Our lab chases the ginners all the time -- we suspect that they provoke her. They just fly onto our roof.

 

[damselfish]

I love my guineas but we have 40 acres. If someone had guineas next to me on a two or three acre lot, I would be very ticked off (ha ha, tick pun!). I think they are way too loud and wander-y for that kind of spacing. Keep 'em in mind for a future place, though. They are lots of fun.