Before you get guineas you must go see and especially HEAR some in person to determine if you & your neighbors could live with their noise. That to me is their biggest drawback. Their calls can be loud, frequent, and repetitive. My kids like to think they're saying "butt-CRAAK!!! butt-CRAAK!!" and sometimes they sound like a deranged marching band going around the yard.
I have gotten accustomed to their sound, and none of the neighbors complain. But my friend's husband said to her "I don't care if they s**t gold bricks, don't you ever get birds that sound like that!"
I like having them for comedic relief, they look like something drawn by Dr Seuss. They are very easy to care for since they free-range around the yard by themselves all day, and put themselves to roost at night. Before I clipped their wings they would fly over the fences and up on the roof, but now they stay in our 1.5 acre yard. They lay their delicious bullet-proof eggs in a communal nest.
I have 3 lavendar hens now since something recently got the 4th hen. These particular girls have docile temperments, not bothering the children or the other chickens. But I also had a lavendar guinea cock from this same batch (all 5 bought at the feed store) who attacked my then 5-year-old son, pecking him all around his eye, while he was just innocently playing in his sand box. Though we excused him by saying he'd been driven crazy by his 4 shrieking wives, we still dispatched him within the hour. The 4 hens never seemed to miss him.
I think temperment depends on the individual birds you get, some will be more aggressive than others.
I wish you the best with your decision!
I have gotten accustomed to their sound, and none of the neighbors complain. But my friend's husband said to her "I don't care if they s**t gold bricks, don't you ever get birds that sound like that!"
I like having them for comedic relief, they look like something drawn by Dr Seuss. They are very easy to care for since they free-range around the yard by themselves all day, and put themselves to roost at night. Before I clipped their wings they would fly over the fences and up on the roof, but now they stay in our 1.5 acre yard. They lay their delicious bullet-proof eggs in a communal nest.
I have 3 lavendar hens now since something recently got the 4th hen. These particular girls have docile temperments, not bothering the children or the other chickens. But I also had a lavendar guinea cock from this same batch (all 5 bought at the feed store) who attacked my then 5-year-old son, pecking him all around his eye, while he was just innocently playing in his sand box. Though we excused him by saying he'd been driven crazy by his 4 shrieking wives, we still dispatched him within the hour. The 4 hens never seemed to miss him.
I think temperment depends on the individual birds you get, some will be more aggressive than others.
I wish you the best with your decision!
