Just have patience with them, Anne. I got a mated adult pair and 4 unrelated young ones (4 or 6 months old, I forget.......was 5 or so years ago now) from a long-time breeder in the area, and they took the time to explain a lot about them to me. One of those things was that Guineas needed to get used to the environment they lived in for a year's worth of it's changes before they'd settle down into a good "alert" routine. Things - activities, other critters, etc etc etc - differ from season to season.....more wild birds & animals & etc will be seen in warmer weather than cold (spring/summer versus winter & such), there'll be things like snowplows & such for them to get used to seeing & hearing in the wintertime, etc etc etc. Each new change like that will set them to sounding off until they become accustomed to them being a "normal" thing for that time of year, so they might be a bit noisier than you expect for the first year until they do get used to them. Mine squawked at the mail person's vehicle for about a week until they got used it's being a regular normal thing - etc etc. Now, people don't even know that I even have Guineas, they're so normally quiet most all the time. But boy - someone from somewhere around here's calf got loose & was wandering down the middle of the road in front of my property, and my one particular "guardian of the property" Guinea was up on the fence-rail looking it's direction squawking up a very attention-getting alert storm. Good boy that he was doing that too, because it got me to run out with one of the horse's lead ropes to secure the calf to safety just before it would've gotten with a car coming down the road! He'd stood on the near side of my driveway alerting me to a doe & her twin fawns grazing in the freshly-cropped corn field just on the other side of the driveway too.......I wouldn't have seen & been able to take a Kodak-moment picture of them otherwise (he hadn't scared them off - just let me know they were there <G>). Guineas can be pretty awesome after you've had them awhile - but be patient for that at-first-while.......it'll have been very much worth it.
And yeh, no ticks, no flies, *much* fewer mosquitoes - they're awesome mouse-ridders (will lay in wait at a mouse hole to catch, play "mine, mine, mine!" keep-away with the others with it for awhile, then share eating it) as well as snake-chaser-offers (except for small "edible" sized snakes, heh) - gophers, stray cats, etc - and if you have chickens, will stand a front-line of squawking a hawk at bay while the chickens are able to run to safety behind them. And watching Guineas running around the place playing chase with each other.........it's better than TV any day!!!!! <G>
Your plans for getting young ones & the way you're going to handle their being there for awhile sounds absolutely ideally perfect, Anne.
Kate in WI - 8 Guineas, 5 or 6 yrs or more now :-)
<< Posted by: "Hudson"
Hi Susan:
I'm really getting excited about have a few 'loud' guineas, because I
understand they will be very loud if overhead predators are around, plus the
fact they eat ticks and other insects, in addition to deterring snakes.
I sure hope all of this is true, and I don't get a bunch of fowl who just
love to sit around and squawk all day and night.
We have about 40 acres around the house that are full of ticks. My husband
takes the Belgian Malinois dog for a walk in the woods every day, and she
comes back with teeny ticks on her, although she's on Frontline Plus, they
still continue to be on her coat after every walk. It would be wonderful to
have the Guineas rid the place of those horrible pesky 'things'. I hate
them! They not only get on the dogs but also on my horse and of course on
us humans.
This will be my first experience with Guineas and I hope I'm not making a
big mistake with getting them. I met a man at Tractor Supply today who has
34 for them and he thinks they are the greatest watch dogs he's ever had,
and he wouldn't trade them for the world. Well! We'll see.
I may be begging someone to take them in a few months. You sure you may not
want a few more when I'm ready to 'call it quits'.....? Have a great
evening and Happy Easter.
Anne H. >>
Hi Susan:
I'm really getting excited about have a few 'loud' guineas, because I
understand they will be very loud if overhead predators are around, plus the
fact they eat ticks and other insects, in addition to deterring snakes.
I sure hope all of this is true, and I don't get a bunch of fowl who just
love to sit around and squawk all day and night.
We have about 40 acres around the house that are full of ticks. My husband
takes the Belgian Malinois dog for a walk in the woods every day, and she
comes back with teeny ticks on her, although she's on Frontline Plus, they
still continue to be on her coat after every walk. It would be wonderful to
have the Guineas rid the place of those horrible pesky 'things'. I hate
them! They not only get on the dogs but also on my horse and of course on
us humans.
This will be my first experience with Guineas and I hope I'm not making a
big mistake with getting them. I met a man at Tractor Supply today who has
34 for them and he thinks they are the greatest watch dogs he's ever had,
and he wouldn't trade them for the world. Well! We'll see.
I may be begging someone to take them in a few months. You sure you may not
want a few more when I'm ready to 'call it quits'.....? Have a great
evening and Happy Easter.
Anne H. >>
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