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GUINEAS
My property used to be called "chiggerville" but now I have guineas.
If you have bugs then I highly recommend you get yourself some guineas. These birds are the best natural control for ticks, grasshoppers and most other crawling bugs. If you keep bees, you don't want to keep guineas. They'll stand by the hive and snap up the bees as they come out.
These very noisy birds look like a bunch of odd looking vultures with helmets on as they run across the yard.
Guineas often lay their eggs out in the fields and hatch their young by themselves. Finding the eggs can be a real challenge it is like a constant Easter Egg hunt. If you wish to incubate them, the time period is 26 to 28 days and you treat them like chicken eggs. Young guineas are called "keets." Being native to dry areas of Africa, they are very susceptible to dampness during their first two weeks, and can die from following the mother through dewy grass. After two weeks of age, they are just about the hardiest of all domestic fowl.
Sexing guineas is not easy to do by looking at the birds, although in older adults the helmet and wattles of the males are usually larger. The easiest way to sex them is by voice. Both males and females make a single syllable, machine-gunlike alarm call, but only the females have a two syllable call. I think it sounds like they're saying "come-back." All though most people think it sounds like "buck wheat" I like to believe that when I pull out of the driveway in the mornings they are calling to me to "come back" and when I come home at night they are saying "your back"
When you get new guineas, don't let them out right away or they may well disappear down the street. The best way to acclimate them is to pen them where they can see the area where they'll be living. After they've been penned a week or two, you can let them out. Guineas are social and like to hang together so if you keep a few penned up they won't go far, but will learn their way home. Only don't expect them to be the brightest bird on the block. I still have to open gates for them after they fly over the fence. They forget they can fly back and just run up and down the fence line for hours. I have friends who think that guineas all share one brain cell between them and therefore the more you have the dafter they get. I tend to agree with them.
A guinea can be entertaining as well as useful. My guineas are allowed to free range over 5 acres. As I have mentioned they are very social and often come right up to the house to check out what I am up to.
I have added a rainbow of colours to my original flock they are: Royal Purple, Coral blue, Lavender, Buff Dundotte, Brown, Chocolate, and Slate. I only have 3 original pearls left. Click here to SEE more pictures of my guineas
| This is me with a week old keet "BUZZ" he travels back and forth to work with me. As you can see in the picture he is being very helpful dictating for me while I type. |
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I am saddened to announce Buzz met an untimely end by a stray dog that happened on my farm. She is missed not only by me but by her soul mate Tex
Last updated 2-5-06
