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permaculture - Re: Food and shelter for guinea fowl

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  • From: Mikal Jakubal <mjakubal@asis.com>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Cc: Jan Penklis <justgardening@optusnet.com.au>
  • Subject: Re: Food and shelter for guinea fowl
  • Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 19:33:52 -0800


Hi Jan,
I've got four guineas that are in a big cage right now because I'm often
away and the property is not yet fenced. If left unsupervised, they will
wander out onto the road and into traffic. I think a fence will curtail
their wandering enough that I'll be able to let them back out when it gets
built. They seem to like cracked grains, but prefer fresh grass. So if
yours are penned, consider giving them fresh greens often.

Scott's remarks pretty much cover Guinea basics, but there is one little
management trick you may want to try. It works on all fowl, but is
especially useful when you have to go fetch your wandering guineas from the
neighbor's place down the road. Bell-train them. Select a bell or a whistle
sound and ring it or whistle it every time you feed them. Works best if you
start when they're chicks, but even adult birds can learn to come to the
bell. Be extremely consistent. For adult birds, it sometimes helps to let
them get a little hungry each day for a couple weeks so that "bell=food"
really sinks in. My guineas come to both a bell and a whistle sound I can
make. When I want them in, I just call them, whistle and run and usually
they come flying or running after me right into the pen. I haven't found an
animal this doesn't work with. My kitty has her own bell.

Mikal




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