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Letter Re: Guinea Fowl for Bug Control in Your Garden
After reading yet another article about how guineas do no harm in the garden,
I thought it was time to toss in my thoughts on the matter.
First, guineas do not do nearly the damage a flock of chickens will do. However...
When mine were free to roam the garden, they dug their dust pits right at the
base of plants because the soil under plants is cooler from both shade and
watering. Be prepared to sacrifice plants to exposed roots.
They walked up and down the rows of strawberries and pecked at all the green
strawberries, which then just lay on the dirt because they didn't taste good
and were too small to ripen.They also did this with all the pinto bean pods
long before the beans ever matured. And they found each tomato as it began
to turn red and from the side that was red, pecked out the entire inside so
I was left with what looked like a hanging green ice cream scoop. They did
this as high as they could reach. They pecked at squash and melons and when
they
pecked deep enough, either they liked it and ate it, or ants found the wound
and made short work of the whole thing.
They pecked every red raspberry they could reach and apparently didn't care
for them. This didn't stop them from still pecking off every berry they could
reach and just leaving them on the ground. Every day.
I no longer have grape hyacinth all over my yard, because the guineas graze
them off like little lawn mowers. I think they can see very tiny things, because
I rarely get chigger bites and only get ticks from the cats when they've been
in the tall grass.
Guinea hens will not sit on any eggs they might lay if they are penned up.
You have to put the eggs under a good mother hen, best being a game hen. Guineas
hide their nests and if you don't find them, you will probably lose the nest
and the hen, as they will not leave the nest when threatened. They will be
lost to skunks, raccoons, possums and dogs. Armadillos will also take the
eggs, but I don't think they harm the hen.
Guineas usually make turkey appear intelligent by comparison, but they can
be smart in some ways. I have seen them send a youngster to go get a lost keet
peeping in the tall grass, and lead it back to the flock. I have only one left
now (he is called "Little Schumer"), and he talks to me. He hangs
with the chickens now that he's alone, and doesn't wander so far, but he gets
really
naughty
about
going
into
the
henhouse
at night. His last remaining brother got killed by an owl and I hope to keep
this little "tame" one
around a long time.
I put thick, slippery plastic sheets about 30" high around the
three trees the birds chose to roost in. These won't stop owls, but since being
installed
they have prevented any more losses to opossums and raccoons.
Here's a helpful hint. Use the poultry to help, not ruin a garden. Stagger
plant potatoes in a three foot wide row, barely below the surface of spaded
soil. Cover generously with straw, and then roll out a length of 2" x
4" welded wire fencing, four feet high, flat on top of the whole bed.
This prevents the chickens from digging it up, the straw means you don't need
to hill the potatoes, and the chickens and guineas will eat all the potato
bugs and not touch the plants because they are poisonous.
I hope this is of help to anyone who plans to get guinea fowl. - Carol in Arkansas
