It has finally gotten warm enough so that I can leave the chicken yard gate open, and my crew is happy. 5 banties ranging in age from 3 almost 2yr. old small black banties, a gift. I large banty rooster and 1 large aracauna (sp) hen, they are about 7 yrs old.
And here is a photo I took of my 2 year old Pied male guinea. I call him Guinea Guy and he will come when called. The picture is of him standing on the rock step in front of back sliding door. He wants to come into the house. Had bad luck with his partner, neighbors dog killed her. I bought two more, one flew over my deer fence and never saw him again. I am sure that a couple of days later a Great Horned Owl got the new female, so he, my original one, is lonely.
Donna
guinea fowl
Donna, you forgot to add the pic, and I wanna see him!!
Donna, I've not found the guineas to be much trouble dusting in the gardens and I can bet your bantams are even less of a problem in that respect. I hope you can find a couple young guinea fowl hens for your lonesome Guinea Guy. I've got 7-8 guineas walking across the lawn in front of our picture window from the driveway as I'm typing. They've been off down the gravel lane. They have been foraging wider today because I didn't toss out feed for them. I do that about 1 time a week where I require them to work for their keep. Show us a picof your guinea please.
I did forget the photo, got interrupted
Him's pretty, Donna. Don't know what I'm gonna be getting from Ideal as I asked them for an assortment, but hopefully I'll get one of the Pied in with mine. Don't really care though, as long as they are healthy.
Thanks granny g., His partner was a lavender one and very pretty, sure hated to lose her. Good luck with yours
Donna
You're very welcome.
and Thanks.
"Dont care as long as its healthy"
Spoken like a true parent to be!!!!
Isn't that true of all of us? Of course, I am not raising them for show, mainly because DH has been talking about them for a couple of years. Ever since we saw a flock of giant guineas cross the road on the way to the doctor's office. So, being a good wifey, I have decided to get some. (I know, sounds just like a good wifey) After all, we have to make DHs happy to get our way. LOL. I would like to get giants, but McMurray has a minimum of 30 and I don't want that many. So, Ideal is it for 10.
Hi Donna, thanbks for the pic! Sorry you guy is lonely. I hope you can get some more guineas soon!
hugs,
tf
Does his roost in a house at night? They are easy to train to come back and roost in the house/coop at night and then you should not lose them to owls. I lost one to an owl this winter during the day, it was a barred owl starving. He picked her clean. New Hampshire has had the most snow fall since they started recording snow fall. It is deep and the prey birds are hungry so losing a chicken or guinea to an owl doesn't bother me, what else would they eat. I haven't seen a squirrel, we have red squirrels mainly and there is only one in the neighborhood, in a place with a horse barn, they store the birdseed outside and is protected by two huge Rottis, hey haven't gotten him so he safe so far! I think the reason for no more day time attacks is my dogs. I even saw a pair of Bald Eagles with last year young at the river, people say the follow it looking for food, they never went far from the river.
I am not sure how your poultry is kept, guineas are smart and can be trained to return to a coop at night in a matter of weeks.
If you would like the only guinea site I would recommend it is http://www.guineafowl.com/board/index.php they would help you with any problem or anything guinea!!
Yes my Guinea Guy goes back into the chicken house at night along with the banties. They get along quite well but I know he wants a friend. Comes to the sliding door between the deck and my Morning room and watches my little dog and me as we eat and move around, then goes back out to chicken house area and feeds on grass, etc. The neighbor cats also try to catch the guinea and the banties. I called them and asked them please to keep their cats in as I know they are also killing the quail that I feed. Haven't seen the cats as much since I called, so maybe they are trying to keep them close.
Donna
I am so glad that my cats don't know there is no top to the fence around the yard. They don't think they can get out because it is fenced. Before we fenced the yard for them and the dog, my Littles--- used to chase deer and come back just wagging her tail as if she did a great big thing. It was so funny. She also chased a pack of coyotes out of the yard back then. But she's quieted down since we fenced her in.
I hope you get another couple of guineas for your guinea guy.
Too bad you don't live close I just hatched three great looking chicks, heaven only knows what they will feather out to look like. Tomorrow when they are dry and in the brooder I will post another pic of them, here they are
Lora what darling babies. and do send another picture.
granny g. My yard is completely fenced in with redwood. And just outside of the wood fence is the previous chicken wire fence I had installed when I had my other little dog, a Silkie Terrier type. Now that fence is bent over and fastened to the bottom of the wood fence, because the wood fence is from just above the ground to 8 or 9 inches above, however the soil level is. Darn cats even found a way under or jumped over the fence, anyway they were getting inside.
Donna
If you have a cat problem you really do need more guineas, my neighbors cat used to come by, the guineas would all run down to where he was hiding in the brush and scream and scream and scream at him till he left. They work great in a flock.
I don't know what to tell you about the cat problem. The only cats around here are mine. My next door neighbor used to have a cat, but it was kept inside. Anytime we see a cat around here, it is feral and yes, we do dispose of it. But we haven't seen any in the past three or four years, so I guess we got rid of them.
BTW, we live in ten acres surrounded by mostly woods and swamp. We do have one full time neighbor and several seasonal ones.
I live in the sagebrush country in the middle of my 5 acres. Where the cats come from is down the hill just beyond the edge of my property. One day while I was at Senior Center the cats cornered my little flock and pulled lots of feathers out of guinea and banties, but they all managed to get into the chicken house and up on roost out reach. All of my flock of 6 , 1 guinea, 5 banties, are free range and I don't want to have to keep them enclosed.
Donna
The nearest place cats might come from around here is about a mile away. If they come that far to harass my flock, then I have to decide what to do with them. Of course since there are so many other little critters for them to chase (mice, voles, chipmunks, ground squirrels, rabbits, etc.) I would imagine they would stay where they belong.
The last time any cats came around here was at night, and I figure if they are out at night, they are wild.
Donna & Granny, For those who can stomach wild-feral cats dying .... a 4X4 conibear trap is effective. We use them here to keep "control" of our property. We've eliminated roughly 80 cats and skunks in the last few years ..... with traps set for less than 8 months during that time. The conibear traps are set directly in front of a hole in a baited bucket where the animals want to go into to eat the bait (salmon/fish). We use 5 gal. plastic buckets with a 4X4 square hole cut in the bottom. Secure the bucket to the ground or fence with a wire or a stake. Stake the conibear and attach it with a wire to the to a fence or a stake as well to prevent an animal from running off with the trap around its neck. These traps come in 6X6. 7X7 & 9X9. Around here we have only skunks and cats to fear as nuisance killers. Dogs and coyotes are rarely an issue.
Photo, are you talking about a "kill-trap". We have a much simpler way of dealing with critters of this type. It's called a shotgun. And, we have many more varmints than wild/feral cats and skunks.
We also have bob-tail cats, coyote, bear (can't touch them), badger, mink, and the list goes on and on.
Photographer, where are those types of traps available.
Donna
Donna, The nice thing about traps is they work when you're sleeping or when you're away or when you're working ...... on guard 24/7. Relying on a shotgun is far too up close and personal and quite ineffective against cats and skunks. They run away too fast so one ends up not putting a dent in the predator populations in numbers (worth mentioning) by opting for a shotgun. A shotgun is not an intelligent choice unless coyotes and larger predators are the main objective. Since you're in a region quite similar and close to me ... the conibear traps are ideal. Try eBay ... I won/bought 1 dz of them for $30 with shipping included. Bait your trap buckets with stuff your guineas and bantams would not find interesting or place the buckets and pails outside the perimeter where they walk. I inadvertently caught one of our Game Fowl hens last year at this time. We now have 27 Game Fowl hens but only 6 roos (my neighbor culled 8 last week). They are sure pretty lawn ornaments ..... kinda like big quail or small pheasant but they beg for food. Kelly