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Post by steev on Jun 7, 2011 20:22:21 GMT -5
I'm browsing poultry catalogs. Tell me about guineas; I get the impression I might be able to leave them free-range in my 3-acre fenced garden. The fencing is 7' deer fence with 2' rabbit fence. Any advice gratefully received, as I know squat.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 7, 2011 20:36:22 GMT -5
Guineas are magnificent birds. They are extremely territorial, excellent parents, dedicated to each other as a family, their eggs are fabulous, they stay away from humans....
What is your budget for acquiring birds and what is the going cost for adults and keets? If you get adults you will want to pen them for a couple of months before allowing them to "graze" You MUST have a mated pair. This is necessary to keep them from trying to "go home".
If you start with keets, you will have a difficult time knowing what sex they are.
We started with adults who were picked off one at a time until only a single pair were left. They laid a nest of 21 eggs all but a couple of which hatched. The siblings were mating and starting nests in several good locations but the adults were being picked off by predators. We are down to only 2 birds now. Again a nest is being laid and she will probably set it any day now.
I DO feel that they have had a positive impact on the insect population. They will need a shelter for the night, but you can allow them free range during the day. They will trample things in the garden if the garden gets in their way. They do nibble some things, but not to the point of destruction.
They make great, noisy parades. I think you would enjoy them.
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Post by steev on Jun 7, 2011 23:31:22 GMT -5
Would my neighbors enjoy them as much as I enjoy their barking dogs? At least the guineas are quiet at night, I assume.
The price seems to be $4-$5 a keet, by the dozen or so. Would it not become obvious whether pairs had bonded, and whether there were birds that would be more useful for supper?
If they avoid people, I suppose one goes to the shelter at night to select the next for the pot.
What about supplemental food and health issues? Do they all flock together, or by pairs with keets?
Their predators are raptors, or mammals, or both?
If their mature weight is 3#, is that walking, or dressed?
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Post by johno on Jun 8, 2011 10:06:34 GMT -5
If you want to repay your neighbors for their singing dogs... get a peacock!
Around here, guineas' primary predators are four-footed, though I'm sure any raptor that could fly off with a chicken could also with a guinea. All I can say for sure is that guineas disappear much faster than chickens. I never had them long enough to eat one.
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Post by johno on Jun 8, 2011 10:08:51 GMT -5
But then again, we don't have a perimeter fence...
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Post by steev on Jun 8, 2011 10:55:47 GMT -5
No peacocks; they eat snakes, but not rodents; self-defeating for me to get them.
I don't want to irritate the neighbors, much. Actually, the dogs are quiet when the coyotes are singing, now that I like, "The children of the night, such beautiful music..." to paraphrase Dracula.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 8, 2011 13:12:50 GMT -5
At least the guineas are quiet at night, I assume [glow=red,2,300]Don't assume. They are a watch animal and will go off if something comes around that shouldn't. That's a plus in our book.[/glow] The price seems to be $4-$5 a keet, by the dozen or so. Would it not become obvious whether pairs had bonded, and whether there were birds that would be more useful for supper? [glow=red,2,300] If you are going to slaughter, I would strongly suggest slaughtering the pair as it seems (don't quote me here, this is based on minimal observation over a 1 year period) that if one goes, the other sort of suicides.[/glow] If they avoid people, I suppose one goes to the shelter at night to select the next for the pot. [glow=red,2,300] I wouldn't know because we haven't slaughtered them for food yet. Still learning the chickens. Also, we are trying to get a big enough flock that they become sort of naturalized.[/glow] What about supplemental food and health issues? Do they all flock together, or by pairs with keets? [glow=red,2,300]They take about half the food a chicken would and they are a bit more picky. Our like mash only. They seem healthy but I did have to bind a broken leg once. It healed fairly well. Our flock were all siblings and they paraded all over the place. We took the keets at birth and returned them when they were about a month old. So, we didn't observe normal behavior. The parents were very stressed about it and as soon as they were allowed they took over the babies like nobody's business. When we separated the broken leg bird, keeping it in a coop by itself, the others would "visit" several times a day.[/glow] Their predators are raptors, or mammals, or both? [glow=red,2,300]I would say both.[/glow] If their mature weight is 3#, is that walking, or dressed? [glow=red,2,300] It depends on if it's casual dress, beachwear, or full evening attire.[/glow]  ok, ok... Guessing here but I would say 3# dressed.  |
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Post by steev on Jun 8, 2011 14:30:54 GMT -5
I'm thinking evening gowns for the males, a la J. Edgar Hoover, and leather corset-bustiers for the females. Got to have some way to tell them apart.
As for going off at night, that's my issue with the dogs, which is why I appreciate the coyotes; they make a more flowing sound from at least 1/4 mile away, not 80 yards.
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Post by wildseed57 on Jun 8, 2011 15:35:26 GMT -5
When I was a boy we had some that looked like Vultures, they come in different colors and most will form a noisy flock and can really sound off especially if they see something they don't like.
They are also a dark meated bird, if I remember right and had less fat to them than a chicken if left to free range. Ours would fly into the trees to roost and the Big owls loved them as much as the raccoons which would climb into the trees to get them. Eagles where another problem as they would take a full grown bird , eat about half of it, stripping the feathers as it went and would fly off with what was left. At one time we had 30 and with in 6 months we has 8 left so my dad got them to come into the chicken coop where he promptly caught and slaughtered them. They did keep the ticks and other bugs ate up and didn't bother the garden to much and they would really go after June Bugs which are the same as Japanese Beatles I think. Even though they are a noisy lot they can be fun to watch, but will fly off like mad if disturbed.
George W.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 8, 2011 17:50:19 GMT -5
They do make a racket. No denying. I find it rather soothing. But then, I like hearing the rooster crowing endlessly in the morning. I'm weird. I like to hear our German Shepherd baying as well. He doesn't do it much though.
The bug eating is a HUGE plus. And I do mean HUGE!!! June bugs are not the same as Japanese beetles, June bugs are about twice the size of Japanese beetles. Guineas eat them both.
You can tell them apart by the hangy downy skin things on the sides of their faces. I'll have to find some photos....
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Post by wildseed57 on Jun 8, 2011 18:39:04 GMT -5
We got them Both then, and then some, the neighbors here had some hens and a rooster that didn't know the time, he would crow half the night and quit at dawn. I had a Coon Hound and loved to hear her croon while chasing a coon, real music in the light of the moon.
She's long gone and I've got is a memory of her song.
Guineas can be a handful but at least I've never had one come after me like some of the rooster's I've had, I had one that would hide and lie in wait for you and then let you have it. He did it twice with me, the second time he was dinner.
George W.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 8, 2011 19:18:21 GMT -5
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Post by steev on Jun 8, 2011 20:21:28 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, although their ability to fly is a problem if I freerange them. I suppose they could be wing-docked, but that doesn't attract me much. If I were to confine them as I expect to do with chickens, it would limit their bug-control value. Always decisions to make.
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Post by johno on Jun 9, 2011 0:41:59 GMT -5
What about ducks? I got my first ducks recently and plan to put them to work in the garden.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 9, 2011 1:28:08 GMT -5
Cousin tried guineas as the final exotic on the homestead farm. For ever after, they were always referred to as "those God d---ed guineas"! We were well acquainted with peafowl at Taliesin as well as turkeys and could live with them. Somehow the guineas went truly wild on the farm since much of the acreage was woods. Their downfall was when they abandoned the buildings in favor of roosting in trees. Owls and coon eventually got rid of them.
Martin
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