TOO FUNNY!!!! Great guinea article

[MTtroutwithwings]

A friend of ours who is fasinated by my obsession with birds sent this link to me...only a guinea lover could appreciate it! Enjoy

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912/bowden-guinea-hens

 

[Akane]

Yep that's about what happened to mine except the first day they got let out they just decided to sleep in the middle of the yard that night. Attempts to catch them at least sent some into a nearby tree where fewer predators could get them and they reappeared a few days later. 2 decided to go exploring and were gone for 5 days before 1 reappeared. For awhile they hung around just fine eating bugs and all my grapes. 2 more were lost though when a group decided to sleep on the roof of a grain bin and I wasn't going to climb up there to get them. The great horned owl has staked out the tree across the yard ever since. Then they decided to go visit the neighbors 2 fields away. 1 did not come back, 1 came back missing all it's feathers on it's back. Now they are locked in the coop so they don't go wandering off in the middle of our 3 day blizzard warning.

 

[MTtroutwithwings]

mine have never wandered off, overnight anyways, but man the description of guinea talk and their actions following had me rolling...

 

[BeccaOH]

Great article. I had 3. They did the wandering thing, I tried to herd them and even catch them, but they did come back the next morning. They were wild and I couldn't trust them. They'd wander too close to the chained dog. I sold them. If you can't free range a guinea, then what good are they?

 

[greathorse]

Great story and I have had that same wanderlust with some of mine. This reinforces my opnion that one should always get twice as many guineas as you think you would like to keep around they just go looking for a place to finish themselves.

 

[annette'spets]

Very amusing article.I've decided not to get guineas for now because of the noise mainly. Just live vicariously through you on the forum!!

 

[artsyrobin]

mine haven't wandered like that, maybe the treats of sunflower seeds is the trick, they follow me and the chickens- but the descriptions of their chatter was on target!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

With new young guineas, as with any kind of poultry, it's a smart idea to train them to come when called before letting them out to free-range. It sure saves a lot of frustration & running around, as well as saving the lives of birds. Most poultry like cracked corn, and if you put some in a can, shake it & call "heeere chick-chick-chick" or something, and then give them some corn, you'll soon accustom them to expect a tasty treat whenever they hear that sound.

Another thing to do when beginning to free-range any group of birds is to do it more gradually. You can let just a few birds out, and just before nightfall, to begin. Those few should not go far away from their flock-mates, and want to return to their home by dark. If things go well with those first few, you can gradually increase the number of birds and the length of time you let them out until you can free-range them all day long.

 

[Akane]

I only let mine out 2 hours before dark the first time and no earlier than noon for several days after that. It made no difference. Also unfortunately despite having much fewer guineas than chickens the chickens follow the guineas. They lead the flock off into the middle of nowhere. The chickens all always return. The guineas steadily kill themselves off. If I can keep guineas in the future I'm just going to get a whole bunch of mixed pieds from the guinea farm 45mins away from here. Unfortunately we might be moving somewhere I can't free range and I don't know if I want to build good enough fences for guinea fowl containment. It's a large chunk of land but it's surrounded by busy roads and a 4 lane so guineas that aren't contained well will be road kill.

 

[SimplyForties]

Love that illustration!