Will guineas walk on cars?

[dianneS]

Just wondering some of the pros and cons of guineas. I was thinking of having a few with my chickens as protection from preditors, but I've read that not all of them are that great at guarding. And they beat up the chickens too. If they're capable of trying to roost on cars, then they are an absolute no for me.

Any advice on what I should consider before guinea ownership would be greatly appreciated.

 

[robin416]

Young Guineas are fascinated with the shiny parts of cars. My young birds fly up on the tool box in the back of my husband's truck and carry on with the bird in the reflection.

My birds that are over a year old could care less.

 

[Chiefs Mess]

Guineas will walk where ever they want

There is a wild one that roams between our house and my SIL. He makes sure no rabbits go in our yards, if so he chases them away. There is days he is on top of my roof looking around to make sure no uninvited critter comes down the driveway. He just pops up no where when I am outside working in the yard to keep me company.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Yes -

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Mine never did, but I was warned they would. They preferred to walk on the trailer I keep parked next to the car. Maybe because it's taller? But no, mine didn't ever get on my car.

Things to be prepared for?

1 - NOISE
2 - Guineas needing help with fences ... They will run back and forth screaming to get through field fencing that their bodies would fit through. Or to be let back through a gate they JUST flew over and don't know how to fly BACK over.
3 - Noise
4 - flying birds that you can't stop by clipping their wings. Someone (I think on this forum) once said they were convinced guineas could fly bald. I'm inclined to think they were right.
5 - Did I mention NOISE?!?!?!

I like my guineas though. They were EXCELLENT bug control in the yard and garden. They do scratch the ground so make sure they can't damage young plants. They also escape regularly and go annoy the neighbor so I have to herd them home before he loses patience. You can't keep them fenced in unless you put netting overhead. They WILL fly out. Mine have alerted me once to cats stalking my chickens, so they are proving a little more useful. Mine are also EXCELLENT foragers. They barely touch any feed so are economical to raise. Today I ate my first guinea ... She was cast out of the group and I tried to add her to the chicken flock but she wanted to rejoin the guineas. After some miserable months I finally realized she would be an outcast and miserable no matter what ... So I had guinea curry tonight. It was very good, and if I could get them to raise keets it could prove a VERY economical source of almost-chicken, since mine won't eat commercial feed.

Oh, and if you don't get them cooped in time at night, they WILL sleep in the trees. Mine have cooped themselves maybe 3 times. They usually have to be herded in. But I've never lost one to any predator, and they roam far and wide and have spent more than one night out of the coop.

 

[cgmccary]

Mine have never gotten on any of my cars or vehicles. They fly on top of the barns.

My turkeys will sometimes jump on my vehicles and walk around (a bigger problem).

 

[noodleroo]

One of the interesting things that mine did was to eat the squished bugs off the front grill on cars. They didn't hurt anything, but it may be somewhat surprising to your visitors and neighbors...

 

[sonjab314]

I've seen them on top of my house but never on my cars.

 

[bockbock2008]

Quote:

That actually did make me LOL

 

[bockbock2008]

As soon as I let mine out the take off flying for my neighbors bird feeder. Well , my neighbor is my aunt and she puts bird food in the feeder, some at the bottom of the feeder and two piles for the guineas and chickens. It was just one pile until one guinea wasn't allowed to eat with the original 3. Now I'm up to 13

Back to the story, I had just let them out and was driving back up to the house and the lane kinda curves and cuts into their flight path. I didn't stop because there weren't any in front of me but 3 of them landed ontop of my truck while it was still going. I had to get out and brush them off with a broom.