I fell in love with guinea fowl 2 years ago and have had my ups and downs with them and wanted to let you know how its been, keeping them in the rural environment and keeping them safe. Like so many people, I first heard how good they were at eating ticks. They eat bugs and weed seeds with great gusto. They are also great guard birds, sounding a loud alarm when different vehicles or people come to the house. That same alarm will sound when a hawk flies overhead or a strange animal is present.

My current home menagerie includes 1 yellow Labrador named Duke, 6 outside guinea hens, 1 inside baby guinea hen, 3 Rhode Island Red hens and 1 large rooster named Roy. Duke the lab came to us 2 years ago followed by our first 11 guineas (October 2008). That first set of guineas was reduced to 1 sole female by fall of the next year. All manner of animals and raptors like to eat them; possums, raccoons, foxes, hawks/owls and the occasional dog(s) left to run free. They are very instinctive birds, never ones to be tamed, they are afraid and confused by virtually everything. A fence can cause hours of consternation, the fact that they can fly over it is lost on them. Not the smartest of birds but very endearing. With only 1 left to fend for herself, it was quite a winter last year, the year of "Snowmageddon".

Days would go by without the guinea leaving her tree. Nothing to eat or drink, I was shocked that it survived such periods of dehydration and starvation. As I understood it, this single smart and or lucky survivor could help train young ones in the ways of survival, it was important that she live long enough for us to get some young ones to follow in her footsteps. In summer I bought 6 little keets (baby guineas) and 1 escaped immediately because the pen wire was too large. They were only 1 month old and far smaller than the original 11.

Imprinting them for your home is the first thing that has to be done. Without that they will attempt to go back where they came from. They are kept in a pen for 30 to 60 days and then released. The beauty of the second release was that we had our older female to keep them home and lead the way. Our first 11 wandered far and wide. I honestly think it was because their pen was closed in on one side and they did not know where their boundaries were on that side of the property. That always seemed to be the way they would travel the furthest, even ending up on the next farm. I was herding them back home late one evening through dense brush and lost them suddenly when it came time to roost. Up they went with no chance of coaxing them down and back home until morning.

We have been successful with this second group so far. They pair up and mate for life and it's currently unclear who is with whom, but then it's winter. Our older female made nests all summer and we had to search and retrieve her eggs as they were not fertilized. As ground nester's, they will sit on 20+ eggs for 29 days, which is the most dangerous period of all given how defenseless they are on the ground. In October she built a nest in one of my raised garden beds, in a particularly good place and I let her keep some of her eggs and she seemed to sit on them with more than the usual self discipline. On November 17th, 1 lone chick hatched. A small little fuzz ball of gray at a time of year that was already very cold. My husband and I teamed up to retrieve the baby and put it under a heat lamp inside. We were attacked and screeched at, it was a sad thing we had to do. The little one is fine and will spend the winter in my office, which is kind of crazy. By spring it will be a full fledged adult and will be put outside to imprint on the yard and to meet its kin, if they survive.

If you have never seen a guinea fowl, they are not the most beautiful of birds but seem to consider themselves thus. A mirror will keep them occupied for hours. In fact it's said that you can get them to go anywhere you want with a mirror. They will also admire themselves in reflections of your car. When I wash my black truck, I have to constantly shoo them away as they are eying themselves in the glossy sides. Their habit of prancing is most comical. The under-feathers move like full petticoats, swishing back and forth. Their eye-sight is incredible, they can see a hawk when it's barely a speck in the sky. A particular sound will be made warning others of impending (hawk) danger. At least one is always looking skyward.

Duke our yellow lab is particularly fond of them and he will chase them and they will chase or follow him. He alerts us when they sound their alarm, which often gets us on our feet and out the door to see what's going on. The guineas hang out at the front door as they are, once again, admiring themselves in the reflection of the glass. There are no ticks any where around the house, nor grasshoppers or Japanese beetles. I had hoped they would eat the vile stink bugs, but not so. Dang!