Raising Guinea Fowl 101

Pics
Date sort Score sort
PinkyLee said:
The mountain lion looked like something straight out of a movie. I was waiting for it to talk. it was just lounging. I was thinking did this escape from someone's compound? and then reality hit and I realized.... he's lounging because he wasn't afraid of me... so then I became afraid. My husband doesn't get it... he has 2 weiner dogs, he just lets em out. I tell him all the time a weiner in the eyes of a predator be it a lion or an owl looks like an overstuffed smooth haired rabbit! Lucky I have my big american bulldog in the yard. But... I would hate for any of my family to get hurt. As for the squirrels I have too many to trap... I counted 20 on the boulder outside my kitchen window.... Sorry to say I was feeding them scraps cuz they were too adorable. But with your news... I have to close the blinds and let all the men have their fun. My husbands friends are honing their 22s and pellet guns... I am collecting raffle prizes for the big squirrel hunt. We plan on having a big bbq and hunt.
Click to expand...

The traps will hold at least ten at a time maybe more.... Be careful handling the carcasses fleas hop off a dead host....

Mountain lions are very dangerous. A gal here was raising Ostriches... One night during a thunderstorm there was a commotion in one pen. A mountan lion killed one of her ostrich males and couldnt get it out of the pen so he pulled it UP and over a five foot pipe corral.... Male ostriches way around 250 pounds.

It might be worth while to mention it to the local Game Warden. A lion that is not afraid of people is in danger itself. The wardons will keep track of it hopefully catching and relocating after some Aversion training.

deb
 
I am going to look for the trap... I have a CHP officer that stays at my place when I am not there so he was going to tell the warden. When I told the Warden he said because my neighbors feed the deer, which they're not suppose to, it attracts the predators. I don't want to be a mountain lion meal. My friends laugh when they come visit because I carry a gun and a big bowie knife ... I have a long walking stick with a slicer on the end for snakes. My one friend says you carry all this protection but you don't wear sunscreen... ha ha ha! Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
Are guinea fowl able to forage for most of their food in the summer? We are considering getting two to help decimate our tick population, but if they can forage that would be a help to the feed budget
 
GldnValleyHens said:
Are guinea fowl able to forage for most of their food in the summer? We are considering getting two to help decimate our tick population, but if they can forage that would be a help to the feed budget
Click to expand...

best to feed them at certain times just to get them to come in. And Two is good for company but five is better.... they tend to pester each other better. Not to worry about gender they pair off...
 
I have 13. When they are out foraging the do not eat their pellets or scratch. I think it depends what you have in your yard. Mine eat a lot of weed seeds and bugs. I think if they are hungry they'd find something to eat. The main thing is to make sure they know where their water is. My flock left the yard once and I found them a hill over panting under an oak tree. I think they learned their lesson they don't venture far. I have a cow bell i ring to get them back in their coop. They know that if I ring the bell and they come they get free dried meal worms.
 
I don't know how many females I have. But I get 4 a day. So I am assuming 4. They lay in the spring and through summer and then go dormant.... so would that be seasonal? I don't know if my males are doing the deed either.
 
GldnValleyHens said:
ok thanks. Can you eat guinea eggs? How many do they lay in a year? Probably seasonal like geese, right?
Click to expand...


I live in SE Iowa and my guinea hens lay eggs from about April through October. They are about the size of a small chicken egg. I collect some and use them for baking as they have a very rich flavor. The rest of the eggs I let my hens sit on, hatch, and raise themselves. Each hen usually lays an egg a day for about 30 days or so or until they go broody.
As for the amount of guineas to get, I would say that 4 is a bare minimum. They are very flock oriented and have a real "herd" mentality so tend to do better in bigger numbers. Mine mostly survive on bugs spring through fall. I do still put crumble out for them but they tend to not eat much of it. I highly recommend them for tick and bug problems. I was overrun with ticks, grasshoppers, and crickets when we moved here, but now, almost 4 years after getting the guineas, they have almost completely eliminated all of them!
 

Similar threads

T
    • Like
Lonely guinea
Replies
1
Views
699
R2elk
R2elk
GuineaMania
Dried grass for keet bedding
Replies
9
Views
1K
GuineaMania
GuineaMania
M
Guinea fowl egg
2
Replies
16
Views
2K
Mountain Roost
Mountain Roost
Spacee
Does this egg look fertilized?
Replies
7
Views
1K
Zenmonkey
Z
L
Sudden death of Guinea Fowl
Replies
3
Views
345
SamLockwood
SamLockwood

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom