Guinea hen questions

[cajunrose]

We just moved to a 'farm' and are having a TERRIBLE problem with ticks...more like an infestation than a problem. It's bad. We are working on keep the grass down, etc, but want to get guinea hens to help out too. I know NOTHING about guinea. I have 18 chickens so I know about them.

 

I can't let my chickens free range because they decimate my gardens...within 10 minutes they are scratching and tearing down all of my flowers and veggies. This doesn't work for me, so they are fenced in. I hate it, but I don't know how else to keep them from tearing everything up. Will I have to worry about this with guinea's? Will they scratch everything up and eat my plants, etc?

 

My husband seems to think that when they grow up, you just let them go and they roost in tree's, etc. I'm more inclined to think that they should come back to the coop at night. I know you have more loss if they are in trees. We DO have predators here...lots of them. The coyotes run right by my house all the time.

 

I was thinking about getting 12, knowing we will loose a few.

 

I don't know why but this makes me incredibly nervous!

[Remudamom]

I had a bunch of guineas that lived with my chickens but I eventually ended up getting rid of them because they were such a pita. At night they would refuse to let the chickens back in, and in the daytime they made so much noise they drove everyone but me crazy.

 

They will tear stuff up but not quite as bad as chickens. They love to look at themselves in mirrors. I don't know that they eat that many ticks, but every little bit helps.

[2squared]

We had guineas for a few years, and we would still have them if a predator hadn't gotten them. Yes, they cleared our property of ticks which was fabulous. We kept them with our chickens, and neither had trouble sharing the same barn. They roosted in different areas, but no problems of any kind.

 

They are rather flighty, so once it snowed, we locked them in for the winter. If we didn't, they wouldn't come back to the chicken barn. The snow scared them, I guess. They will roost in trees at night, but would expect to lose all of them that way. They aren't the smartest birds.

[Denisemomof4]

We plan to get around 12 ourselves. My husband, a daughter, a son, myself, AND one of our dogs have Lymes. I will order them as chicks, raise and feed them in the barn, and hope that they will return at night for food and water. I don't want them roosting in trees because they'll all disappear, but there's not a lot I can do to get them back to the barn. My daughters and I would have a hard time every time we noticed one missing.

 

One of my best friend's knows someone who has never even seen ticks in his yard. He also lives in the middle of the woods, but he has an entire flock of New Guinea hens. We have GOT to do something. It's getting really bad here.

 

We're going to put electric poultry fencing around our vegetable gardens.

 

Also, check Amazon for tick tubes. I may try both.

[laughing lioness]

We started with 5 last summer and have 3 left. They are flighty but ours are very social. They cleaned out the grasshopper investation and ticks last year (the grasshoppers are why we got them). Ours always come to our shed in the evening. They consdier our "yard" their yard. we kept them in a large pen for the first 10 days- fed and watered them near the pen after that. They get very territorial- anyways, ours stay close to home and welcome any visitors (loudly). I like them- they are fascinating to watch- we aren't doing a garden this year though.

[JuanitaL]

My neighbor has 3 guineas. I love them, they are so entertaining to watch! They range through about 4 yards - I would say they range about 3-4 acres. They're in my front/side yard a lot, I've never seen them in my back yard where our dogs are - when one of our dogs sees them, he runs straight to his barn and sticks his nose out fussing at them. I want to get guineas for the ticks also, I'm hoping that If we bring in chicks the dog will be used to them as they grow up and won't be as stressed by them as by the neighbors. They are hilarious to watch run.

[fairfarmhand]

They can be loud, but they will eat some ticks. Why not fence your garden and let the chickens and guineas have at it? That's what I would do.

'

Oh BTW. WRT to near the house landscaping, I've found that certain breeds of chickens are better to roam far and wide to find bugs. We've had some that would only sty by the house scratching up the plants and pooping on the sidewalks. However, the other breeds are more likely to roam out in the fields to find bugs. They do decimate my veggies if I don't do something, but they are better about leaving the landscaping around the house alone.

[Matryoshka]

The guineas never bothered my gardens or were destructive. They will even eat the pests in your garden. Chickens are much more destructive - guineas seem more interested in the bugs on the plants than the plants themselves.

 

The big problem with the guineas is that the stupid birds would never go back into their coop at night without a lot of prodding or often group effort. It was really annoying. And they kept getting eaten. But they do eat lots of ticks!!

[cajunrose]

They can be loud, but they will eat some ticks. Why not fence your garden and let the chickens and guineas have at it? That's what I would do.

'

Oh BTW. WRT to near the house landscaping, I've found that certain breeds of chickens are better to roam far and wide to find bugs. We've had some that would only sty by the house scratching up the plants and pooping on the sidewalks. However, the other breeds are more likely to roam out in the fields to find bugs. They do decimate my veggies if I don't do something, but they are better about leaving the landscaping around the house alone.

 

I bought a house that was owned by professional landscapers and there are at least a dozen pretty flower beds...most are up by the house and not really fence-able....border beds and what not. The veggie garden is something we need to fence to keep wild animals out of but haven't had time due to just moving.

 

I would love to start over with chickens and get the kind that don't tear things up but I've got a bunch already and they are destructive..lol

[Callie]

I had a bunch of guineas that lived with my chickens but I eventually ended up getting rid of them because they were such a pita. At night they would refuse to let the chickens back in, and in the daytime they made so much noise they drove everyone but me crazy.

 

They will tear stuff up but not quite as bad as chickens. They love to look at themselves in mirrors. I don't know that they eat that many ticks, but every little bit helps.

 

 

All of this plus:

 

1. Cannot have a conversation outside because they are attention hogs and will stand at your feet and "talk" over you. The louder you talk the louder they get.

 

2. When they are not squawking at your feet they will travel to your neighbors doorstep. I live in the middle of 60 acres my nearest neighbor is about 1 mile away and you can see NO ONE from my house. We couldn't keep them on our property.

 

3. Did I mention they are loud? And on my front porch peering in the screen door?

[cajunrose]

Sounds like you either love them or hate them...lol I will give them a try and if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, right?