Guinea Fowl are great but I wouldn't get any

[DarrenP]

Hmm, maybe not a good choice for our quarter acre block then. Plus our dog probably go out in the yard if we had guinea fowl. He's not the bravest of guard dogs, lol.

 

[OskarDoLittle]

I wouldn't say that Darren, your pup looks like a savage beast!! As does mine...

 

[DarrenP]

He's only really savage with the postie. For some reason, he always wants to eat her. He barks at the neighbours if they come over, but if I mention the neighbour's name, he's off out the gate running to his place.

 

[Letsgokate]

I think they are an interesting bird. We aren't on a big enough block to have them otherwise I might consider them. Wonder if they keep possums away.

 

[Vicky]

Guinea Fowl EAT BULLANTS!! yep, I yelled that one out!! We are on an acre and a quarter and last year, we couldn't stand anywhere on our place without being attacked by bullants, we used to have guineas in numbers about eight years ago, (ever since we moved here, it has been a battle to keep ant numbers under control and I thought it was my efforts early on but it seems not!!) their numbers dwindled but then late last year, our remaining pair laid a stack of eggs and I incubated them, we hatched out fourteen keets, kept them with some silkie chicks to grow while we decided what to do with them and I decided to keep them when their cage area was free from bull ants and everywhere else was crawling with ants. I literally had to put our chickens food in dishes that would sit in a big bowl of water so that they could get something to eat! The day I let the keets out, they just ran around the chickens yard gobbling up all those bullants and now, five months later, we have hardly any ants here at all, that includes the area just outside our property where the guineas roam. What a WONDERFUL thing.
Guineas are loud, especially when they come under our rather large verandah and get a fright!! They are the sheep of the bird world (as in Incredibly stoopid), they dislike strangers, but they tolerate us. Years ago, I saw our seven chasing a fox across the paddock behind us but last year our two walked around a snake that was on our place and just kept going
They will eat your garden if they can and they do dig, I cage the gardens that I don't want the animals in or birds to eat and I just rake the mulch back into place every now and then because all that scratching reveals weed seeds and lots of things like curl grubs which the guineas then eat - means I don't have to feed them so much and we have less annoying things in our garden. I feed them so they will follow me around at times but then wander away when I don't throw them any seed.
I've noticed just recently they tend to groom each other (as birds do) but they also groom our chickens (chinese silkie bantams) I thought they were picking on my girls initially because they were chasing some around relentlessly and then pecking them a lot but it's only when the chickens freak out and take off that this happens. If the girls stand still, the guineas then gather around and peck off any fleas or mites that are on them! We are in cropping country, which means we always have rats, mice, pigeons and sparrows, all which carry and spread fleas and mites. I think they are working it out?!? but I'll have to keep a close eye on them all for the next few months I think. Not really sure what to do with the older and younger chickens that I have put in enclosed areas to protect them!!
Anyway, all up, for us, on this place, Guinea Fowl are worth having even with all their downsides!

 

[reeeen4]

Wow they eat bullants!! my place is crawling with them! I'm sold! going to try get some and try them out.

 

[Karla]

A neighbour up the road keeps guinea fowl. The first time I saw them I had a guess they might be guineas but I really wasn't sure until I looked them up.

We often see them by the edge of the road and outside of their property boundary roaming along the nature strip clucking to each other. They can move quite fast and are definitely quicker than a chicken - speaking of which, they're about the same size as a hen too.

People keep them for pest control and to eat, apparently they taste like a gamey chicken/turkey; I haven't tried them but they don't look too appetising to me and they don't look to have much meat on them.

People also say they can be noisy and are good for scaring away snakes! They don't dig or scratch too much so this makes them good for orchards or gardens and they roost in trees.

Personally, I'm not really sold on them but obviously my neighbour is and it's nice to see them around (without having to care for them myself).

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Love our guineas. Great alarms when something or someone comes up especially at night that doesn’t belong. I have seen them eating small snakes and they really have helped with the tick problem and getting worms off garden plants. Not really a meat bird but great guardians.