Guineas on the Fence

Is your world a little quiet?
Do you long for a little excitement?
Consider adding a few guineas to your world!

This is a quiet as they get...


I swear, guineas talk all the time.
If only I understand their little bird-brained language.
This noise is nothing, though....
you should hear it when somebody new sets foot on the farm.
What a ruckus they cause!

Seriously, though, if you are on the fence about adding a few guineas to your property...
here are a few facts you might like to know.


First, it is nearly impossible to train your guineas to stay in their own yard...
they love to wander.
They especially enjoy visiting neighboring homes, sitting on their porch furniture,
and peeking in their front windows.
It's true.  Guineas are voyeurs!

Unlike chickens, however guineas don't seem to find particular satisfaction
 in tearing up your flower beds!
Guineas make good organic gardeners....they love to eat insects.
They will, on occasion, lay a large clutch of eggs in the middle of your most beautiful flowers...
and then promptly forget where they laid them.


Guineas will provide you with hours and hours of comedic relief, 
as you watch them patrolling your yard in straight-line formation...
searching for pests like ticks and stink bugs.
And for this reason, we will always have guineas!

I am happy to report that we entered winter with 10 guineas...
and came out the other side with those same 10 guineas.
Although not particularly bright birds, they did manage to figure out that
the henhouses were heated.
Needless to say, the hens will be quite relieved when they move out permanently.
It's a little hard to sleep when your housemates chitter-chatter all night long!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Peering in the windows! You must have very tolerant neighbours! Or maybe they enjoy the entertainment. Your descriptions of the guineas always sound very comedic. Sounds like the hens have also been very tolerant. Great that they have all survived the winter.

Kathy from Tasmania
BaileyWife said…
We are down one guinea. Happened early in the winter. We only have 7 left, all males. I think we may get some eggs this spring and hopefully the new kids on the block will learn from the old timers where the safest perches are. I thoroughly love having guineas on our lil farm! ~Kim
Sharon said…
We had one guinea and she used to screech that squeaky door sound for hours (she was caught by a predator). Your's seem fairly quiet. I liked that there were a lot less ticks around when we had her, so I've ordered five more.
colleen said…
Love those guineas!!! We have hens but live were we have to be careful of noise :( We even got rid of Denny our Bantam roo (he was beautiful) as he was too noisy and we didn't want neighbors c/o the noise and ruin it for us having what we do. I love to decorate with guinea feathers and have a few here and there.
Bee Haven Bev said…
Sharon....turn up your sound a little....not so quiet. But I agree, that is the quietest they get!! And yes, much less ticks.
Bee Haven Bev said…
I have used them to make dangly earrings....and I think they are quite stunning feathers. I have also seen them dyed....very cool!
Bee Haven Bev said…
Best of luck with the eggs! I have found that guineas are terrible at hatching out their own. Are you using an incubator? I suppose if I found guinea eggs, I could put them under one of our hens....Oh what a shock when she saw that baby of hers "grow up"! Yikes!
Bee Haven Bev said…
Although it looks as if they are peering in the windows, they are actually just looking at their own reflections. Guineas are quite vain!
Junebug said…
I will have to pass on the Guineas!!! I want to keep peace in the neighborhood. It would be fun though to hear my neighbors reaction, LOL! We have a pair of doves that live in the next door trees and they coo all day long. I enjoy it but it sure bugs one of the neighbors, ha ha can you image Guineas? Have a great weekend Hugs!!
Anonymous said…
Our three guineas bullied our chickens so badly that we were not upset to lose them to foxes. And I definitely do not miss their noise! We had zero ticks on our farm when we had them, but now our neighborhood flock of semi wild turkeys perform the same service of eating the bad bugs when they stop by to visit and they are much quieter. We will not be getting any more guineas. LOL I think you either love'em or you don't!!

Heather in PA
They're cool looking creatures. :)
jaz@octoberfarm said…
we took teddy to a farm that had guineas once. they ganged up on her and chased her back to the car. she was on a leash and i pulled or i am sure she would have stood her ground and fought them.
Anonymous said…
I like being able to view your blog as it can cheer me up when things are tough. We just put our Sheltie, Max
down a couple days ago.....I wrote you a while back that we were going thru a similar thing as your family was with Maddie.....and he finally reached a point where it was best to be done. It is way more painful
than I ever anticipated as he was our only dog and had been for ten years. So, thanks for posting the fun stuff ... it helps me.
Leenie said…
Fun info. Looks like noisy good company and good insect catchers. I learned they bite---hard when I was a kid and have had an aversion to them since. Going to re-think that.
Anonymous said…
Would love to have a few just to get rid of the ticks, but we also have a fox who patrols our property in search of chipmunks , their population has greatly diminished since he has been around.

Annie v.
Country Gal said…
Great post video and photos ! But nope our world is full of animal sounds from wild birds to Guineas and other farm animals from the farm just steps from us and farm animals half a block away it is amazing what echoes in a valley lol ! The Guineas come and visit us here every now and then lol Miggs loves to chase them off lol ! Thanks for sharing . Have a good weekend !
This N That said…
Gotta love those guineas..Cute post..We need some around here..Long day..Have a great weekend..xxoo
Lynne said…
Love their color and markings . . . they look so rich, precise, definite . . .
Jennifer said…
When I get my farm, my first farm critters are going to be chickens and guineas. I think I could watch both for hours. :-) I suppose I could probably get some now but I just couldn't let them roam safely during the day and that just doesn't seem right.........one day. :-D
happyone said…
They really are noisy. I think the are pretty and glad to hear they all made it through the winter.
I always enjoy your guinea stories. I'll listen to the video later after the dogs are awake and outside. I think it would startle them at this "still dark" hour.