The Middle Tennessee Thread

[DMRippy]

Thank you! I'm sooo hoping they are beneficial by just eating the garden pest instead of destructive and eating my garden. We live by a creek and a pond so we have many snakes and of course the ticks. I don't really want to put up an electric fence though, cause I want to have my lil one in the garden with me and not have to worry about him grabbing it.

I asked her and she has a fence to keep the dear, cows and donkeys out but I have seen the guinea in her garden. She said she never has a problem. I think they are more about the bugs than the garden. I will find out.... we don't have a fence.... we need one since the ground hog at the creek, dear and every other kinda varmint has had a nip at the garden before. We had a killdear nest in there the last time. She didn't like us and abandoned the nest and before I could get to the eggs they were gone.

 

[Brown Chicka Brown Cow]

I sure hope they only go for the bugs. In the past, the bugs have always been my biggest problem in the the garden. Our dogs run off all the deer...cows are fenced though...Our dogs only rarely take care of the snakes though ...

 

[DMRippy]

I sure hope they only go for the bugs. In the past, the bugs have always been my biggest problem in the the garden. Our dogs run off all the deer...cows are fenced though...Our dogs only rarely take care of the snakes though ...

If they can keep the bugs out of the squash, tomatoes and corn I will be happy.

 

[Brown Chicka Brown Cow]

x2 and my cucumbers ... guess we'll keep our fingers crossed ...

 

[DMRippy]

x2 and my cucumbers ... guess we'll keep our fingers crossed ...

I always have WAY too many cucumbers LOL.... one plant is enough usually.

 

[Brown Chicka Brown Cow]

We do too...but they are the only "veggie" my oldest son will touch...gonna do a lot of pickeling and canning this year I guess...on another note...this might be interesting to watch for anyone who has ducks or any fowl at all for that matter: http://home.myhughesnet.com/tv/3/pl...c-woman_sues_for_275000_over_duck_attack-5min

 

[DMRippy]

If I can find the time I am going to try to grow the vines on wire or some kind of frame..... My back is not the best so if I can get them UP I will be better off.

One of my customers had 30 chickens killed in a do attack and she sent her a bill of $8500.... I don't think she will see that much......

 

[FeyRaine]

Since the Guineas are primarily eating insects they are much less destructive in a garden than chickens.
The chickens will eat your vegies while the Guineas will do a little damage to leaves etc when they take a bug but in general they are not seeing the garden as an open invite salad bar like chickens will.

The main damage I had from Guineas the yr. they had full access to my garden (15 yrs ago in NC) is they insisted on picking their own dust bath spot,
I had made them a nice area, but they chose one of the raised beds (Borrage & parsnips) that area they ruined but everything else was fine and they fixed a crisis level tick infestation in 6 weeks so it was well worth their dust bath spot to spare myself & all the farm animals from the ticks!!

I will say they are very dumb, and get themselves killed in the dumbest ways so get 3-4x as many as you think you need.
That summer they sat 3 nests, 90 hatched but only 6 survived to Sept. when I let nature take its course so as others have said if you want to raise more you'll need a broody chicken hen or some other way to keep them safe while they grow up.

 

[DMRippy]

Since the Guineas are primarily eating insects they are much less destructive in a garden than chickens.
The chickens will eat your vegies while the Guineas will do a little damage to leaves etc when they take a bug but in general they are not seeing the garden as an open invite salad bar like chickens will.

The main damage I had from Guineas the yr. they had full access to my garden (15 yrs ago in NC) is they insisted on picking their own dust bath spot,
I had made them a nice area, but they chose one of the raised beds (Borrage & parsnips) that area they ruined but everything else was fine and they fixed a crisis level tick infestation in 6 weeks so it was well worth their dust bath spot to spare myself & all the farm animals from the ticks!!

I will say they are very dumb, and get themselves killed in the dumbest ways so get 3-4x as many as you think you need.
That summer they sat 3 nests, 90 hatched but only 6 survived to Sept. when I let nature take its course so as others have said if you want to raise more you'll need a broody chicken hen or some other way to keep them safe while they grow up.

Hubby was asking me the other day "would a hen raise keets better?" Not that I use broodies but was an interesting question. I know guinea are not the best moms..... I would never let them brood keets.

I have lost 4 big guinea this year.... didn't lose any last year except to the dog. They fought and I lost 2, one we found the other day in the middle of the drive and had a cut on the back of its neck and gut was cut open and some organs missing.

I hope the guinea keep snakes down. Look what my son found while he was cutting trees the other day. It was near his foot and he dropped the HOT chainsaw on its head. It was still alive but the head was not moving. He finally got his lawn mover working and is clearing the hill so he can get through there with the mower to try to keep these kinda thinks at bay. That is the same area he ran over a Rattler last year. I need to buy about 400 of those snakes that eat these and let them lose all over the farm where we live and work.

 

[Nava]

can any one tell me where i can find more information about the Knoxville nationals?