by Kelli Bowen
To shake things up and keep life going on our little hobby farm, we added guineas. I haven’t convinced Hubby that we can handle creatures with hooves yet, so this is the next best thing. Go with me on this.
Guineas are a chicken’s loud, annoying cousin, but that’s also what makes them so fun! Do you like chickens but are they a little “too chill” for you? Try some guinea fowl!
Pro: they eat ticks. You read that right: they eat ticks. Is the Frontline not keeping up on poor Rover, are the kids walking in with new freckles you didn’t think were there, only to find they have eight legs and suck blood? Get the tick-assassin: guinea fowl!
Con: they don’t have a strong self-preservation gene. I watched a fox amble into our yard, walk straight for a guinea and the thing only flew away after I yelled, “Fly you stupid guinea!!” (Thank goodness guineas understand the Queen’s language, by that I mean my super-sonic shrieking as a warning to flee the area.)
Pro: when they run, they look like Victorian-era women running in those big hoop skirts, pure hilarity! No? I’m the only one that thinks that? Okay fine. They’re amusing to watch.
Con: they are loud. If they are startled,being chased, the wind blows a different direction, they feel anxious, or they’re feeling raucous, they let out a siren which is impossible to describe but kind of reminiscent of nails-on-a-chalkboard in bird form.
Pro: they produce eggs, which taste great, and I’m all for any critter who produces my breakfast.
Cons: they aren’t really good mothers, this might go with the lack of self-preservation gene. We had a pair of guineas who first made a nest right next to our house in our flower bed, which I moved so we didn’t clip them with a lawn mower or give the reason for the dogs to find the eggs or torment the birds. Then she made a nest next to the rock pile where the fox (from my previous story) likes to hang out. Help me help you. Use a nesting box!
Pro: they taste good. Yep. You can eat them. In fact guinea fowl are more gamey than chicken and are more like pheasant, so you can enjoy the deliciousness of a wild bird meat without eating around that pesky buckshot!
If I haven’t convinced you yet that guineas are a fun fowl to add to your flock, don’t feel bad, I don’t think Hubby is convinced either. He said he is going to start support meetings Thursday nights at 7 p.m., or at least I think that’s what he said…I couldn’t hear him over the guineas.
Kelli makes her home in rural Cass County with her husband, two daughters (8 and 5), two dogs, and random poultry. She works for a regional seed company by day and tries to be an alright mom, wife, friend and writer by night.