What are guineas for?

[happytxchick]

Quote:
Do they ALWAYS roost on the cars...if so, I will no longer consider them for next spring's purchase. Do any of you other BYCers have this problem????

 

[sred98]

Quote:
Do they ALWAYS roost on the cars...if so, I will no longer consider them for next spring's purchase. Do any of you other BYCers have this problem????

I have 9 guineas and have never had this problem. Mine have only flown up to the fence, never on chairs, tables, cars, etc.



Shelly

 

[Soccer Mom]

Mine have never gone near the cars.

They like to get up high on fences and trees. Maybe it's that there are so many other things for mine to roost on.

 

[gostlady6]

I love mine they are so funny to watch. They run with my chickens and when it starts getting dark they round up the chickens like cowdogs do the cows. They can get angry if the chickens dont mind them. Too funny.

 

[txchickie]

Guineas are for flying up on your metal roof, right as the sun is coming up, and sliding and scratching around, waking you up for the day

They are also for letting you know things are happening. They will scream/screech for (but not limited to) the following reasons: wind blowing, leaves falling, sun rising, wind not blowing, armadillo in your yard, leaf blowing across your yard, .....get the picture?

Truly, I love my guineas. We have no fleas, ticks, grasshoppers, beetles, etc...They are awesome for pest control.

The only place mine go where they shouldn't is on my roof.

Ever heard 21 guineas on a metal roof?

I've never caught one ON my car, but they do peck the bugs out of the grill of my car

And they love to look at the reflections of themselves in the bumper of my DH's pickup. They really are little clowns. They're not very smart, it takes a few guineas to have one whole brain. It's like a bunch of really REALLY loud 5 year old , bored, kids turned loose outside all day long.

Mine roost in the trees at night and are 95% self sufficient. I do throw them some feed everyday in the summer, just to be sure they "know" me. I probably only throw out 2 cups of layer crumble and a cup of corn.
In the winter I do leave out a feeder for them, just because they don't have the protien from all the bugs they would otherwise be getting.

I

guineas.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Quote:
Every morning mine get on the chicken barn, then they fly to the horse barn, then they try out the old milking barn.

It does take at least a few to make a complete brain. We call this the "UNIBRAIN". You can hear them talking to each other (they never seem to shut up) as they go by you in their little groups.

As my sig says. I LOVE my Guinea fowl.

 

[blackred]

About 10 years ago we had grasshopper ascend on us and proceed to eat everything. It was biblical. They even ate the peaches off of our trees and left nothing but the pits hanging.

Since then I have not been without Guineas. Nowadays we usually keep around 30-40 guineas free ranging in the spring. We use to keep 75-100 but that got so noisy that a local airport decided to move......

I start the winter with about 20 more than I would like to have in the spring in case predators try to clean us out. Then come spring any extras we have we sell off. All my guineas are free range.

For the record I have never seen or heard of anyone having problems with guineas on their cars- now Peacocks are another story.

Bob

 

[SimplyForties]

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When you get your guineas in the fall do you keep them cooped up until spring before turning them out?

 

[blackred]

Quote:
When you get your guineas in the fall do you keep them cooped up until spring before turning them out?

I bought my first guinea keets 10 years ago since then I hatch my own. When we find nests we set the eggs, it is like a grown up Easter egg hunt.

We sell 95% of the chicks. Along towards the end of the hatching season we will keep a batch for ourselves. We brood them till they are about 8-10 weeks old and then we turn them loose. At this point they are able to fly up into the trees (although that doesn't mean they will) and they are on their own. It is basically survival of the fittest, which is why we turn loose more than we really want. Young free range guineas are creative when it comes to meeting an untimely end.

When we sell our chicks (less than a week old) we try tell people to buy twice as many as you want to keep, stuff happens. I sell the chicks locally for $1.50 each and $1 each if you buy 20 or more and I wont sell less than 10. So you see that I am not trying to get rich, just trying to rid the world of grasshoppers one guinea at a time.

Bob

 

[Aj1911]

my guineas break up chicken fights (both between hens and roosters)

protect mama hen and her babies (they even eye-ball me when i get close to her)

they chase off feral cats that stalk my chickens

and they eat bugs (we use to have fleas really bad but now i havent seen a flea in a year)

oh and if there is a big bird flying over they dont like they alert and run the chickens under cover.

my guineas are Awesome!