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rfawkes
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Raising Guineas
06/14/03 05:32 AM Attachment
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I just received my flock of guineas. They are so cute. I have never raised them before, and outside of keeping them warm fed and safe in the brooder, I don't know much about raising them. My goal is to let them free range to get some of the 5 gazillion ticks down here in Southern Illinois. If someone out there has some experience with them, please let me know.
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: rfawkes]
06/15/03 06:41 AM
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What would you like to know? 
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rfawkes
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How do you get them to come to roost in the guinea house rather than in the trees? If they don't I am afraid the predators will get them in pretty short order. We have lots of hawks, and racoons, and who knows what out there. Thank you for any help you can provide.
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: rfawkes]
06/15/03 04:08 PM
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I only owned a couple of guineas, and I never could get them to stay out of the trees. I figured if they would rather be up there, then they must feel safer, so I just let them stay up there. Now for the bad part. I guess they would still be up there but we had a bit of a confrontation one day the guineas and I. One of them jumped down on my head from said tree and acting reflexively, I snatched him up and wrung his neck. Then the other one came after me and he went pretty much the same way, and we had guinea and dumplings for supper that night. I haven't owned anymore since then, I can't say I have a 'bad taste for them in my mouth' because actually they tasted pretty good. Now before you go getting all mad at me, remember they started it. All I did was go out there to feed.
http://www.cjmouser.com
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RichZ
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Loc: Cambridge, New York in beautiful Washington County, next to Vermont
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...acting reflexively, I snatched him up and wrung his neck...
Wow, Cindi!!! Pretty tough relexes you've got there!!!  You must have had some kind of killer martial arts training!!! I hope your kids know enough never to sneak up on you, or you'll beat them to a pulp!!! 
Rich
"What a long strange trip it's been."
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Airedale
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Reged: 05/11/03
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: rfawkes]
06/16/03 03:27 PM
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They can be conditioned to come in at night but you need the right setup. Keep them penned up inside untill they are half growed and they will become familiar with their inside home. Before you let them out make an enclosure of chicken netting with a top so they can't fly out and have a door leading to it that you can open and close. You can open the door during the day and let them outside to get used to the outdoors, at night when they go back in close the door so no predators come in. After two or three weeks of this you should be able to take down the enclosure and let them free range, they should go back in at dusk and again close the door for the night. I at one time had a flock of close to seventy-five free ranging guineas and most roosted in trees, I lost almost the whole flock to a Great Horned Owl. Good luck. Al
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: RichZ]
06/16/03 04:47 PM
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That's the first and last time I ever did that with fowl. I do however have another story that I would have to tell you in private and knowing you the way I think I do, it would kill ya my kindhearted friend.
http://www.cjmouser.com
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: Airedale]
06/16/03 07:20 PM
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Airedale,
You are on" the money" they have to be conditioned,mine do pretty good going in the chicken house during the winter,but during milder weather they pretty much opt to roost in the trees.They are somewhat smarter than a chicken(that is not giving them much credit though).
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I never had a gunea attack me.........or land on me...had an old rooster frequently flog me when I was a child  .Dad was changing tires on the truck rims and had a tire pump at hand,and thumped the old rooster so bad he ran under the shed and died. 
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My FIL had a rooster once that took a dislike to one of the grandkids. The kid couldn't leave the house in any direction that the rooster didn't come after him.
One day FIL got enough of it and caught the rooster in mid-flog and wrung his neck first one way and then the other and then he repeated the process, and tossed the bird in a bush. The next morning the rooster was up and about like nothing ever happened, except for the fact that he spent all his time looking at his left foot. No more floggings, tho. A peacock, will kill you if they get a chance.
http://www.cjmouser.com
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Boondox
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: rfawkes]
06/17/03 06:07 AM
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Much noise. Massive poops. They roost where their poop can do the most damage, regardless of where you want them to roost. Did I mention the noise? Pete
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Boondox
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LOL! I had a big RIR rooster that used to chase joggers down my private road. Used to read in the local paper's police blotter about it. "A trespasser was attacked by a chicken on Luce Hill."
Finally lost that old rooster when he put himself between his flock and an attacking greyhound. The dog lost an eye and had several huge lacerations before he managed to kill the rooster. That was one very impressive bird!
Pete
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Bird
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In reply to:
A peacock, will kill you if they get a chance.
When we bought our place in the country, the neighbors behind us had several chickens, several guineas, one pea hen, and one peacock. Something (coyotes most likely) gradually, over a period of several months, killed all of them but the peacock. That peacock never bothered anyone except the guy who owned it. For reasons unknown, it would attack him frequently but never come near anyone else. Then one day he and I were going to bale hay. He got on his Farmall Super H, pulling the hay rake, and took off down their long driveway with the peacock chasing him, running alongside the right rear wheel of the tractor. I took off right behind him on the Oliver, pulling the baler. Of course, we had both tractors in high gear and weren't wasting any time, and I was laughing at the peacock trying to get to him on the tractor. Then suddenly the peacock stopped, let the hay rake pass, and cut across left right in front of me without looking back. There was a pretty good thump when he went under the left front wheel of the Oliver and that was the end of the peacock. 
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Hayseed
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Reged: 09/11/02
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Loc: Beach City, TX near Trinity Bay
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: Bird]
06/17/03 05:15 PM
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Which raises the question: Are peacocks good to eat? 
Chris
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Bird
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: Hayseed]
06/17/03 05:33 PM
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In reply to:
Are peacocks good to eat?
I have no idea, Chris. 
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Re: Raising Guineas
[re: Boondox]
06/17/03 09:06 PM
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I have a few game chickens running around the homestead (with an assortment of other breeds of chickens) but the old guineas are pretty aggresive at times,about 4 or 5 zeroed in on a game rooster and had him backing towards the wood pile,one guinea would try to peck the game rooster and he would flog and try to spur the guinea and another guinea would try to get him...the old rooster flogged and spurred his way backwards from the guineas,not really sure which one to fight(never turning his back on them once)finally he stood at the top of a log,not knowing what to make of the guineas.I guess he knew he was out numbered,you fight one you fight the whole family.
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