jacks'thunder
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For Sure!!! LOL!!!
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Bess Kelly
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Guineas -- I've heard the do not like snow! Me neither
They eat all kinds of bugs.....and worms from your garden plants. While they do scratch, it's not like a chicken, far less. They can eat at the garden fruit but, normally not much as they are far more interested in the bugs/worms. Many say they never have squash bugs with them around. Grasshoppers, ticks, fruit tree worms, etc. and they chase flies! Reportedly they will attack snakes and eat those they successfully hit on -- group effort? -- as well as small rodents. Well, they do tend to stay in a group, even moving through a pasture area. Great "watchdogs" who alert to unusual thinigs (often unwanted alerts but --) be it a person, animal, etc. They are reported to be very good at alerting to overhead threats, so often keep chickens safer from hawks, etc.
That said, they are far more independent and less desiring of human contact than chickens. They can be trained to return to a coop at night but, also like to roost in trees. They do lay eggs, tasty ones, but do not use nest boxes like chickens. The prefer a "hidden" area. Easter egg hunt each day. Can be controlled by penning until later in day, making hidden areas outside of regular nesting for them, etc.
Won't replace my cats but, a nice addition to the hens AND boy did I have grasshoppers this year!! One of my barn cats is a devout climber, so she has convinced the barn swallows that they can't nest in the equipment shed as she patrols the rafters -- therefore their nests! -- I have to control that before next spring........hmmmm.........mosquitos, ya know?
They eat all kinds of bugs.....and worms from your garden plants. While they do scratch, it's not like a chicken, far less. They can eat at the garden fruit but, normally not much as they are far more interested in the bugs/worms. Many say they never have squash bugs with them around. Grasshoppers, ticks, fruit tree worms, etc. and they chase flies! Reportedly they will attack snakes and eat those they successfully hit on -- group effort? -- as well as small rodents. Well, they do tend to stay in a group, even moving through a pasture area. Great "watchdogs" who alert to unusual thinigs (often unwanted alerts but --) be it a person, animal, etc. They are reported to be very good at alerting to overhead threats, so often keep chickens safer from hawks, etc.
That said, they are far more independent and less desiring of human contact than chickens. They can be trained to return to a coop at night but, also like to roost in trees. They do lay eggs, tasty ones, but do not use nest boxes like chickens. The prefer a "hidden" area. Easter egg hunt each day. Can be controlled by penning until later in day, making hidden areas outside of regular nesting for them, etc.
Won't replace my cats but, a nice addition to the hens AND boy did I have grasshoppers this year!! One of my barn cats is a devout climber, so she has convinced the barn swallows that they can't nest in the equipment shed as she patrols the rafters -- therefore their nests! -- I have to control that before next spring........hmmmm.........mosquitos, ya know?
Reignmaker Miniatures
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Wow, they sound like an interesting bird. I have swallows in my sheds too but the cat can't get to them until after the new hay crop is off and by then the young have fledged and gone. Mosquitos ... yes I DO know
we have loads of the little blighters early in the year. So I encourage the swallows and the little brown bats that eat swarms of them. We still have to darn many to make life comfortable for a month or so in the spring/early summer. If guineas don't like snow they wouldn't like it much here. Sometimes we jokingly say we have 9 months of winter and 3 months of poor sledding. Its not quite that bad but our winters are long.
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