Thinking about getting a guinea for my quail

[mtgrl]

I'm thinking about getting a guinea to protect my quail, for example to get rid of snakes, mice, and to alert to predators. I have a small flock of bobwhite quail right now, and I love the little guys, but they're so quiet, last night a skunk was trying to get into their cage and they just sat there in dead silence. I have been getting a lot of predators frequently checking them out including foxes and so I was thinking about getting a guinea to raise the alarm. What should I know about guineas? Can they be kept with the quail? How do they do as far as disease and such is concerned?

I really want a vulturine guinea because they look the coolest in my opinion, but they seem pretty expensive. Anywhere have them available for a reasonable price?

 

[R2elk]

I'm thinking about getting a guinea to protect my quail, for example to get rid of snakes, mice, and to alert to predators. I have a small flock of bobwhite quail right now, and I love the little guys, but they're so quiet, last night a skunk was trying to get into their cage and they just sat there in dead silence. I have been getting a lot of predators frequently checking them out including foxes and so I was thinking about getting a guinea to raise the alarm. What should I know about guineas? Can they be kept with the quail? How do they do as far as disease and such is concerned?

I really want a vulturine guinea because they look the coolest in my opinion, but they seem pretty expensive. Anywhere have them available for a reasonable price?

If you want to know about guineas then read the Raising Guinea Fowl 101 thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/312682/raising-guinea-fowl-101

Guineas are a flock bird and the recommended minimum number of guineas is 10. Adding a single guinea to your flock of quail is not likely to produce the results that you desire. I know that turkeys do a good job of keeping snakes away. Depending on their nature they may also hunt and eat mice. My best mousers were cornish and brahma chickens. I also had a vicious hen turkey that would kill anything small enough for her to eat.

My experience is that the best "guard dog" type are African Geese. When they raise an alarm it is real and not imagined as is the case with some guinea alarms. In many cases of alarms made by guineas, only they know what real or imagined threat they were concerned about. The geese will also alarm at anytime, day or night.

As I recall vulturine guinea fowl are not only expensive but also have special care requirements.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/299250/vulturine-guineas

 

[mtgrl]

African geese. Thanks for the tip. I'll look into that.