Some advice please

[kyle142]

Hello, After reading about Guinea fowl (pro's\\cons etc etc) I've decided to get a group of 9. (was going to get 6-8 however the lady threw in the extras so they weren't left behind)
I've decided to get them for our 8.5 acre property, the closest neighbour is about 50meters away from the current chook house.

It is "possible" if absolutely necessary be to build a new house for them however I'd prefer not to of-course, Do you think that 50m is a reasonable distance for noise? The other neighbors would be well over 125m away.
The lady that sold them to me was literally 10-20m from the neighbours! When I saw them they were content and she said that they are only loud when there is a reason to be.. I get mixed views from different sources!
There are plenty of bugs here and also quite a lot of spiders.. will they jump up and eat those out the webs?(would be pretty good, sick of walking through webs every time I walk out the door)..

They are currently 1-2 weeks old, I'm keeping them warm with plenty of fresh water and food.

Thanks

 

[robin416]

Your topography will play in to how much any neighbors can hear. If your neighbors have anything over there to draw the Guineas that might be a problem. Things like bird feeders, other feeds for livestock. Once they discover that nothing short of a fence will stop them from going back.

Young Guineas are quite a bit noiser than an older flock. Anything and everything will set them off. Birds over a year old are quite a bit quieter.

Even one of my dogs recognizes the difference in which birds are alarming. The older part of the flock, over a year, he's up and checking that all is well. If its the less than one year olds, he ignores them.

 

[kyle142]

Thanks for the reply
The land is on quite a steep incline towards the neighbor, roughly 45c in large parts

They seem pretty good neighbours and they do have 2 dosg, they are across the road.
Do you think the dog will keep them at bay? Just by his\\her presence or by scaring them? Mind you I do have a dog of my own (rottweiler) which is good with the chooks, are they smart enough to tell the difference between danger?

 

[robin416]

Then they will be able to hear them. I'm on a hill, my neighbors down in a hollow can not hear my flock of 25 +/- at all. From a distance the day time noise of Guineas is not bad. Its worst when you are in the coop with them.

Guineas will alarm, flock together and run off anything that is not part of their usual scenery. The problem is getting one or two birds that are wandering away from the flock because they don't have much chance as individuals. I've watched mine chase off deer, cats, chickens, big birds. I watched one of my males create a diversion with fox to protect his mate in tall grass by taking flight just above the ground and flew towards the coop where the rest of the flock was. The fox taking the bait and chasing after him. But it wasn't the flock that came to the rescue, by the time I hit the door the fox had the Guinea. He dropped it. The bird was sore but essentially OK.

 

[kyle142]

Thank you robin

I'll have to have a chat or mail them to let me know if there is any problems.