Ok, so I have sad news for the BackYard Chicken community...... Racoon massacre!

[Luv Ducks]

I also leave my Guineas out, in hopes I'll be lucky enough for something to come take them all! The most irritating animal on the face of the earth.

If you don't like them can you rehome them???

 

[BastyPutt]

If you don't like them can you rehome them???

I was being facetious

 

[BastyPutt]

If you don't like them can you rehome them???

Or you can have them... free of charge.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Or you can have them... free of charge.

Gee thanks my friend but it is too far for me to drive, lol.

 

[Luv Ducks]

I was being facetious

Sorry, I wasn't sure. I have heard that they are very loud. My friend raised his from babies. When full grown he let them graze in his front yard while he was weeding his the flower garden. When he turned around they were all gone never to be seen again. He was not a happy camper with his.

 

[BastyPutt]

Sorry, I wasn't sure. I have heard that they are very loud. My friend raised his from babies. When full grown he let them graze in his front yard while he was weeding his the flower garden. When he turned around they were all gone never to be seen again. He was not a happy camper with his.

I would assume he dropped them off in woods and is pretending they disappeared

Yes very loud and obnoxious.

But, they have a great utility in eating bugs and weeds, if you are able to put up with their nonsense.

 

[Luv Ducks]

I would assume he dropped them off in woods and is pretending they disappeared

Yes very loud and obnoxious.

But, they have a great utility in eating bugs and weeds, if you are able to put up with their nonsense.

How are they so different nonsense wise? I was just curious.

 

[BastyPutt]

How are they so different nonsense wise? I was just curious.

They are touted as a good alarm bird for the rest of the flock - making an incredibly irritating noise when something isn't right - scaring away potential threats. This is true. But they also make this noise if a plane flys overhead, a car drives by, or a million other reasons. They are constantly calling. They also have small groups within the group. If one separates - we are talking 20 feet - they all scream until they are reunited.

They are incredibly unintelligent. They will run into things, bite fences, just do really, really dumb things with zero regard for real threats. Roosting in trees by an owls nest, making a nest on the side of the road, etc. One of the best was a cock trying to jump to a branch that was about 40 feet in the air. And he attempted this off and on for weeks.

What they are best at is secretly hatching large clutches of chicks. The hens will all lay in a communal nest, which one will then sit on and the cocks will take turns "standing guard" over the hen on the nest. It's not like a broody hen where you get one occasionally, they will all have an interest in this. Then - the hen will sit on the hidden nest (they are super hard to find) and hatch a clutch of eggs that has been collecting for a week or more. We started with 11 hens and the first secret hatch was 47 keets - or atleast that is how many we counted by the time we saw it. They will then run around with these keets in tow, and seemingly no idea how to actually raise them. So we collect the keets, brood them and give them away. Fortunately, we have managed to stop this.

We spend about 30 mins a week searching for the nests because we absolutely do not want them hatching more keets.

However, the fly population has gone down to about zero, as has the ticks on the property. We attempted to pen them, only to have the flys and ticks reappear. So free range they are.

It is estimated a Guinea can eat up to 1000 bugs a day.

They will also walk through the garden, eating weeds and completley leaving the veggies alone. They do sometimes dust bathe in the beds, but rarely.

For these reasons, we keep them around. We have a large property, and they will roam for acres for the most part, so they aren't that intrusive most of the time. But they sure do come at a cost.

 

[Luv Ducks]

How are they so different nonsense wise? I was just curious.

They are touted as a good alarm bird for the rest of the flock - making an incredibly irritating noise when something isn't right - scaring away potential threats. This is true. But they also make this noise if a plane flys overhead, a car drives by, or a million other reasons. They are constantly calling. They also have small groups within the group. If one separates - we are talking 20 feet - they all scream until they are reunited.

They are incredibly unintelligent. They will run into things, bite fences, just do really, really dumb things with zero regard for real threats. Roosting in trees by an owls nest, making a nest on the side of the road, etc. One of the best was a cock trying to jump to a branch that was about 40 feet in the air. And he attempted this off and on for weeks.

What they are best at is secretly hatching large clutches of chicks. The hens will all lay in a communal nest, which one will then sit on and the cocks will take turns "standing guard" over the hen on the nest. It's not like a broody hen where you get one occasionally, they will all have an interest in this. Then - the hen will sit on the hidden nest (they are super hard to find) and hatch a clutch of eggs that has been collecting for a week or more. We started with 11 hens and the first secret hatch was 47 keets - or atleast that is how many we counted by the time we saw it. They will then run around with these keets in tow, and seemingly no idea how to actually raise them. So we collect the keets, brood them and give them away. Fortunately, we have managed to stop this.

We spend about 30 mins a week searching for the nests because we absolutely do not want them hatching more keets.

However, the fly population has gone down to about zero, as has the ticks on the property. We attempted to pen them, only to have the flys and ticks reappear. So free range they are.

It is estimated a Guinea can eat up to 1000 bugs a day.

They will also walk through the garden, eating weeds and completley leaving the veggies alone. They do sometimes dust bathe in the beds, but rarely.

For these reasons, we keep them around. We have a large property, and they will roam for acres for the most part, so they aren't that intrusive most of the time. But they sure do come at a cost.

Thanks so much for the information. I loved reading about them. My sister in law I use to have had them and used them for watch dogs for if anyone ever came around her property in WV. She loved hers, I just wanted to know the down side of them. Thanks for telling me The Rest Of The Story, lol.

 

[BastyPutt]

Thanks so much for the information. I loved reading about them. My sister in law I use to have had them and used them for watch dogs for if anyone ever came around her property in WV. She loved hers, I just wanted to know the down side of them. Thanks for telling me The Rest Of The Story, lol.

As they mature, the get less trigger happy with their calls.

Truth be told, I love them - but on that note, I love watching chickens, quail - etc. it relaxes me spending time with the birds.

The guineas just add a little extra flair. I am always walking away smiling, and shaking my head.

My one piece of advice, if you ever brood them - make sure to put a towel or some kind of fusion around the outside. The keets will run so out of control in there that we have had them kill themselves from running into the wall.

Bang! Dead as a door nail.