The Old Folks Home

[miss heny]

sure your not related to my dad?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I got two emails (DS1 and friend) and a phone call (DS2) about the Chicken People movie being on CMT at 7 on Wednesday.
Just thought you'd like to know...in case you want to watch, they said.

I think my chicken addiction is showing

Yup. I got an email from someone I met at my cemetery workshop over the summer (for 4 days, mind you). We haven't spoken to since then. She emailed me earlier this week to inform me of the show.

Guineas are wonderful... the more the better...

deb

I've seriously considered Guineas, @Wickedchicken6 as both DH and I have had brushes with Lyme disease. I've had two go rounds with it and part of the inflammatory problem I have in my joints can be traced back to the the Lyme disease along with the Rheumatic fever which caused the non typical RA. I would do anything to lower the tick population around us. We use so much DEET in the summer that I'm surprised we both haven't grown primordial tails by now.

Let me caution you on guineas. Don't get me wrong, I like them... most of the time. I'm glad I have them and they are definitely unique.

I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way but they are a lot of work. Or at least a lot of mental anguish if you're a type a personality that likes to have control over the situations within your little slice of heaven.

Having guinea fowl is like having a flock of autistic teenagers.

Eventually (after about 9 months of life) they settle down into a routine and things start running like clockwork and you feel like you have a little bit of control over your little world.

Oh, how wrong you are.

Then something out of the ordinary happens. You change your gloves, or your jacket, or let your hair down when you go out to the coop. Or the wind blows from the north instead of the west. Worse yet, you take a night off and send someone else in to lock everyone up.

Big mistake.

One guinea notices the change and sounds the alert. The rest of your flock of guineas pick up the call instantly, and start bellowing the alert sound. The entire thing is a magnified feedback loop, getting louder and louder and eventually saturating the panic flight receptors in the guineas, culminating in a flock of guineas attempting to fly in your yard. You then have kamikaze guineas smacking into the side of your house, the fence, or even making it up to the roof or a tree top.

You do not have control, you never did. You silly, silly, human.

 

[Latestarter]

One of the few things/subjects that brings SCG right out to post... guineas

I hope I haven't missed any posts from the Central Maine Guincident Center... Oh, wait... maybe what was just posted qualifies? They are virtually always worthy of a good laugh (sorry, but they are...

) I had a good chuckle at the above post.

... Having guinea fowl is like having a flock of autistic teenagers.
...
You do not have control, you never did. You silly, silly, human.

I don't take offense to the Autism reference because I have several relatives (niece and nephew) that are autistic. Autism comes in varying degrees of severity.

I'll take guinea acquisitions under advisement.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

One of the few things/subjects that brings SCG right out to post... guineas

I hope I haven't missed any posts from the Central Maine Guincident Center... Oh, wait... maybe what was just posted qualifies? They are virtually always worthy of a good laugh (sorry, but they are...

) I had a good chuckle at the above post.
I don't take offense to the Autism reference because I have several relatives (niece and nephew) that are autistic. Autism comes in varying degrees of severity.

I'll take guinea acquisitions under advisement.

I'm glad you didn't take offense. Autism is really the best way to explain it... they're good with routine but if something is out of the ordinary, it's panic mode.

I also freely post when there's a slug discussion. One of the most poignant quotes I ever read on here was "you don't have a slug infestation, you have a duck deficiency." I fully concur. When I first moved here I had slugs so big I could ride them. I haven't seen a slug in 5 years.

 

[microchick]

I'm just masochistic enough that guineas sound like they would be right up my alley. No kidding. DH and I were driving down the highway that is near our farm one day, crested a hill and I swear there was a flock of about 50 guineas marching down the road, covering my whole lane. I slammed on the brakes and just kept from slamming into them. We spent the next half mile creeping after them watching them try to decide which way they wanted to go, left, right, straight. They finally decided to go down into the ditch letting traffic pass. I think my husband asked me if they were nuts and I told them, no, they were Guineas and at that moment I started considering getting some of my own little psychotic birds. I admire animals that march to the beat of their own drummer.

How do they do with dogs?

 

[miss heny]

My experience is that they don't care unless the dog after them. We had a flock of 4 a few years back, they were the most idiotic birds we ever own

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote:
I was talking about your back and your chickens. I am so sorry for both.

 

[chickadoodles]

The only thing I ever knew about guineas on the 250 acre farm I lived on for several years was. The old man brought home a few and turned them lose on the farm. The roosted in the trees and he had to hunt the eggs. Mind you we were very deep in the woods and over an hour from any sign of a town. We had large cats attacking our livestock at random and a bear den in the back of the property and we all saw a black panther crossing farms with a chicken in it's mouth now and then. I never saw or heard those guinea. I do not know how long they lasted.

 

[Ravynscroft]

And I would be right behind you in 2nd place to receive one after you.

Gosh though...spine transplant. Can't help but think that sounds painful...the WHOLE spine. Freaky thought.

...ticks.  Hubby's uncle has had up to 20 ticks on him in a day. But that's because his dogs ride with him. Ick, ick, ick.

I got guineas Because I had them as a kid and because I wanted them as predator alarms. I'm more than shocked that people are right when they say they eat ticks. Didn't see a tick in this yard all last year with just two. Dog never had a tick until he was away from home.  I'm loving that aspect of guineas...even though they are more irritating than a pebble in your shoe.

Call ducks... better than guineas for ticks, all I got to say, lol...



Hey, Wicked...

Yup. I got an email from someone I met at my cemetery workshop over the summer (for 4 days, mind you). We haven't spoken to since then. She emailed me earlier this week to inform me of the show. 




Let me caution you on guineas. Don't get me wrong, I like them... most of the time. I'm glad I have them and they are definitely unique. 

I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way but they are a lot of work. Or at least a lot of mental anguish if you're a type a personality that likes to have control over the situations within your little slice of heaven. 

Having guinea fowl is like having a flock of autistic teenagers. 

Eventually (after about 9 months of life) they settle down into a routine and things start running like clockwork and you feel like you have a little bit of control over your little world. 

Oh, how wrong you are. 

Then something out of the ordinary happens. You change your gloves, or your jacket, or let your hair down when you go out to the coop. Or the wind blows from the north instead of the west. Worse yet, you take a night off and send someone else in to lock everyone up. 

Big mistake. 

One guinea notices the change and sounds the alert. The rest of your flock of guineas pick up the call instantly, and start bellowing the alert sound. The entire thing is a magnified feedback loop, getting louder and louder and eventually saturating the panic flight receptors in the guineas, culminating in a flock of guineas attempting to fly in your yard. You then have kamikaze guineas smacking into the side of your house, the fence, or even making it up to the roof or a tree top. 

You do not have control, you never did. You silly, silly, human. 

That is the best analogy I have ever read about guineas...

And I'm Autistic...

I'm glad you didn't take offense. Autism is really the best way to explain it... they're good with routine but if something is out of the ordinary, it's panic mode. 

I also freely post when there's a slug discussion. One of the most poignant quotes I ever read on here was "you don't have a slug infestation, you have a duck deficiency." I fully concur. When I first moved here I had slugs so big I could ride them. I haven't seen a slug in 5 years. 

Yup!

 

[Beer can]