Guineas-potato bugs, cats, etc????

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Hi everyone! I'm very new at most of this, so I hope I don't ask a lot of silly questions. Well, here goes... We live on about 5 acres with woods bordering us, and have a large garden, in NE Wisconsin. We are planning to raise egg & meat chickens and hopefully Guineas, soon. I know Guineas are great for bugs, but how great? Would they take care of a small potato plot? (75-100 plants) How many would I want to have for garden and tick control? Does anyone know if they eat the fake orangish "ladybugs" that are almost akin to a pestilence around here? And would they be worth the racket? I've never actually heard them, and we have 4 little napping boys. How far from the house should the coop be so as not to disturb us too much at night? Is that even possible?

Okay, another couple silly questions: Do cats bother chickens? We have two outdoor cats and I wondered if they would be trouble.

Could we use an old playpen to keep new chicks in? Could they be kept in the basement or garage with a warmer?

Sorry so many questions. Thank you for your patience with me!

-- Tina Durie (jtdurie@frontiernet.net), April 16, 2001

Answers

Hi Tina: We have our guineas out with chickens, ducks and geese and don't have a lot of problems with insects but it is hard to tell which is responsible or if it is the combination of the birds. They can be loud but usually only if something is disturbing them. If our guineas are screaming we go investigate. As far as your coop. Your birds shouldn't make much noise at all at night so put it where you find it convienent but still feel it is safe from preadators.

Cats will bother young birds. Our cats don't even blink at the adults but we go by this rule. Wait until the young birds is the size of a cat before allowing them to range.

Your playpen would work for your chickens but it might be just as easy to purchase a couple of plastic storage containers - they clean up easier. Your basement or garage will be just fine as long as they are secure and draft free. Chicks/guineas need to be kept at 95 degrees for the first week and then drop about 5 degrees/week after that.

-- Trisha-MN (tank@linkup.net), April 16, 2001.


First of all, there are no silly/stupid questions ~ how else would folks learn!!

I have chooks and guineas. Altho guineas are pushed as being good at getting ticks, my chooks will eat anything that crawls in front of them. My guineas/chooks free range during the day. I've trained both the guineas and chooks to return to their covered pens to roost ~ on their own ~ at dusk. Too many night time predators here. My guineas scream from sunup to sundown. They are only quiet when it's pitch dark. A large guinea breeder said that if you're living less than a mile from the guineas, it's too close! -LOL- Soooo, I hope you don't have close neighbors. I don't plan to increase the guinea flock; those that are here will live out their normal lives. I have increased the chooks, tho. The roosters don't bother me with their around the clock crowing.

Everyone I know with guineas has their gardens fenced and covered. They're no different than the chooks. They scratch, take dust baths, and eat. Some say their guineas weren't so bad on the garden once the plants get large enough. I don't have a garden, so no problem there. I believe that when they say that guineas are good for the garden, they're referring to FLOWER gardens. Don't know anyone who could back that up, tho.

Cats/dogs and poultry depends on the critters. Some cats/dogs are no problem, others will....well, you know.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), April 17, 2001.


Thanks for the info, guys! Okay, so what is a Chook? Are they similar to Guineas in food & shelter requirements? And they make less noise? And do you think they will eat those stinky fake ladybugs?

-- Tina Durie (jtdurie@frontiernet.net), April 17, 2001.

I have had guineas for about 7 years and I would hate to be without them. They are great for bug control and I think they do less damage in the garden and flower beds than my chickens. They are also great entertainment. They are quiet at night, usually. They are great "watch dogs". Actually, I wouldn't trade them for anything. If you have any amount of land, they will wander about so you won't be bothered much by the noise. As for the number required for bug control, that's hard to say. I have about 20 and I still have some bugs in my garden, but I'm not bothered by grasshoppers like most of my neighbors are. Sometimes you have to try to herd them in the direction you want them to work, that can be amusing in itself. Any way, give them a try, if you can't stand the noise you can always eat them, they taste delicious. Marlene

-- Marlene (mleiby@caprock-spur.com), April 17, 2001.

Not only am I new at guineas, but this is my first contribution to a question! We just got 3 guineas a couple of weeks ago, otherwise known as Larry, Mo and Curly. They are very quiet at night and go back to the barn after dark. So, if you have a garden to you pen it up or do you pen the guineas up? They are delightful at this point! During the day they only squawk if there is a reason, such as a car coming down the drive or they get separated from each other. Chickens were a disaster in the garden. A great idea that has worked to keep our chickens in their yard has been a picket fence!!They can't get a grip on the pickets to fly over. Ours is 4 foot high, looks great and best of all keeps the little critters in their yard and out of the garden!

-- Marie Fila (Mamafila@aol.com), April 18, 2001.


'Chooks' is an Australian term for chickens.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), April 18, 2001.

I also have four napping boys that play in the yard and a house surrounded by cedars. Ticks are really bad here. We used to find 10 a day per child during some seasons. I got chickens and let them forage and we hardly ever find any anymore. The chickens also eat the garden pests, squash bugs and hoppers in particular. The problem is that they do taste all the tomatoes and other fruit in the garden. I,m going to see if I can try the picket fence idea. Good Luck.

-- T.Crockett (pbandjallen@jcn.net), April 23, 2001.

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