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I’m pretty sure I have what qualifies as a full barnyard now. Donkeys, sheep, chickens, goats, duck (just one for now, sigh!), dogs, cats, and a milk cow. Where is my barn????
Oh, well, no matter. The barn is just a detail.
It shall appear in due time…. I keep telling myself. Build the barnyard and the barn will come! Right?
52 brought me a surprise. (And it wasn’t even my birthday anymore!) He set a box down in my lap, as I sat in my rocking chair on the porch in the evening dusk, and he said, “Be careful with that.”
I looked on the side of the box. It said Tire Inflator. I might need a tire inflator. I have a back tire that keeps going low. I wondered if it was a glass tire inflator if I had to be careful with it.
Gingerly, I opened the box to peek inside. And nearly dropped it when I saw four striped humpbacks. TOADS! HE BROUGHT ME TOADS!
I closed the box back up quick before they could jump out and slobber warts all over me. Or something. I’m scared of toads. For no good reason. (I don’t even think that’s true about the warts. Is it? Wait, the internet will tell us! Click here if you need to know.)
Anyway. 52 assured me that he had not, indeed, given me toads. So I cautiously opened the box again to take a better, longer look. CHICKENS!
52: “Not chickens.”
DUCKS!!!!!!!!!
52: “Not ducks.”
GEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
52: “Not geese.”
Not toads. Not chickens. Not ducks. Not geese.
Then I was out of guesses so I made him tell me.
I have guineas!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!
I’ve got them set up temporarily in a box. I’ll move them to the brooder soon so they’ll have more room.
JUST PLEASE, PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, TELL ME I DON’T HAVE TO MILK THEM.
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…. but they will contend with your roosters as biggest noise makers when they get older.
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The web says they eat ticks and so reduce Lyme disease. Who knew.
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52 is a real treasure.
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http://www.ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com
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Over two years ago we bought our land and built our home.We had ticks everywhere. I mean door frames window screens and in our hair.UGH! Bad…I wanted to move. Well after doing some research we bought guineas. 25!! After a few months they went outside. Well to make a long story short. We have had three for two years and rarely do we see ticks. My chickens and guineas are doing a fine job..They can be loud but so worth it..Love my crazy looking guineas!! Fine job once again 52!! What a keeper!!
Granny Trace
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Oh and just a hint I would not let that man get away from you. You might want to think about Marrying him or something like that. My oh my I am in love and never met the man. lol.
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As another poster commented, they are not the brightest crayons in the box. My dad saw one almost drown itself in the rain once.
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I like them because they eat ticks and they don’t tear up my garden and flower beds!
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Are you going to name all the guineas too?! How do you keep all the names straight! I can’t wait to hear all the stories you’ll discover from the guineas. I read a hilarious story recently about guineas and can’t find it now! If I come across it again, I’ll send it to you.
Can’t wait ’til 52 figures out how to get you a barn!
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Maybe I should check into getting some guineas if they eat ticks. I’m just saying, if I’m terrified of toads, I would be close to calling 911 if I had a tick attached to me – only after I recovered from fainting! I am such a wimp! **sheepish grin**
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They kill centipedes, snakes and scorpions!
Hey, peacocks. You don’t have peacocks!
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I am not sure they are doing much to the ticks around here, but they are very good alarms. One thing unique about them is that they are better in searching the sky for predators than other critters are. The females are the ones who will make the two syllable “buckwheat” sound. Females can also call the single syllable male call. They will lay eggs but will not be very organized about it. Same with having babies of their own — they are very haphazard and terrible mothers. But, they sure are fun to watch.
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My mother was also terrified of frogs and toads. We never knew why. I used to torment her, when I was a child. Our family would all be piling out of the car, after a trip to McDonald’s or some such place, and as Mom was about to step out onto the driveway, I would say, “Mom”, watch out! There’s a toad!” She’d get SO mad at me. She knew there was no toad but just the possibility made it impossible for her to get out of the car.
I was a terrible child…
(I can’t believe you mistook Guinee’s for toads!)
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Thanks!!!!
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~Jenny~
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I would love to have just a few, maybe 4, for and fly control. Muskovies are good for this too, or so I have read. I have a friend who wants to give me some muskovies.
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That 52 is a keeper, methinks.
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They roosted in our trees and hollered all day. The patio had poo all over it as they looked at their reflection in the sliding glass doors.
Gad, my dad was fit to be tied.
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Is it cowardly of me to want to do the “magic truck” thing if I get a farm? Except maybe for chickens done Herrick Kimball’s “Whiz-bang” way. I don’t think I want to tackle anything bigger than a chicken myself though.
And if you don’t raise pigs this year, what are you going to do for bacon and lard? Once you get used to your own, wouldn’t be hard to do without?
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Wait that doesn’t sound right…..
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I have read that they do fly (I think that you can get their flight feathers clipped?) and they will roost in trees. They don’t make good mothers and will have nests in the woods wherever if they are loose. You would be lucky to find the nests unless you step on them. The eggs are small and you can eat them if you wish, but I would rather hatch them!
I plan on keeping some in a chicken tractor when I get them as the dog loves to chase birds. She chased our wild turkeys away. Didn’t hurt them at all, but we still would have loved to have them closer than around the neighbor’s bush. Anyway, when I keep some locked up in the tractor, I can move it around and they can still have their tick candy to eat. I HATE ticks. I may try to see if the dog will accept them and after an introduction and after they have been here awhile, will try to let some out, but not all! I want to keep some going…
Also, I have read that they LOVE to admire themselves in mirrors, and if you keep mirrors in their coop, they will often lay behind them. You can then take their eggs and put them under a broody hen to hatch some more, unless you have an incubator. I have a book called, “Guinea Fowl.” It is written by Van Hoesen-Stomberg, and published by Stromberg Publishing Company. It says that it covers every feature of Mating, hatching, rearing, feeding, housing, marketing, cooking and serving guinea.
My grandpa used to have some. He built them a little log hut. He said that they were warm even with temps down to -40*. They were noisy, and announced all intruders and visitors, but foxes eventually got them.
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They are very loud, but so worth it with their tick control and hilarious antics. Good luck with them!
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Mary
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