Just a quick post.
Had to go get chicken feed and hay and while I was at the feed store I ordered chicks. On order are 13 Americaunas, 6 assorted Bantams and 5 Guineas! Had no intention of ordering Guineas but all of a sudden Lynn's posts over at http://razzberrycorner.blogspot.com/ popped into my mind. She has had quite the little adventure with her Guineas, so figured why the heck not get some of my own.
I don't know much about Guineas other than they make great watch birds and they eat snakes. Heck, I didn't know squat about chickens until two years ago when I got my first, I suppose, flock of them. Figured I learned about chickens with the help of my sister and blog friends, I can learn about Guineas.
And since I already have donkeys guarding the pasture areas, having watch birds by the house would be a good idea. We'll see if it turns out to be a good idea or not.
The lady who took my order asked if I wanted to order any turkeys. Um, a big resounding negative on that one! I'll leave the turkeys to John at http://disasterfilm.blogspot.com/ and Joanna at http://boonedockswilcox.blogspot.com/.
I welcome any and all advice you would care to share about what you know about Guineas.
Oh, in case anyone was wondering how the homemade refried beans came out, I can describe them in one word..........bland! So, what I am going to do is look at the ingredients on a can of refried beans and go from there. Maybe the next batch will have some taste! lol
Until next time........................
Day to day goings on here at the farm. Everything from weather to horses and donkeys to chickens to cats and dogs and everything in between. Some blogs will be informative. While others will be I hope, just entertaining and keep you coming back. And of course there will be pictures.
Great that you ordered your birds! I would love some, but can't. I especially wanted some guineas, but as they run loose, I think they would be dog food to the neighbor's dogs, in not time flat. Post some pictures when you get your keets!
ReplyDeleteI always thought refried beans were pretty bland to start with. Did you use lard?
Did you season up your beans as if you were making a pot of beans - or - did you just add water? If the former - they shouldn't have been bland - other than maybe adding salt according to personal taste.
ReplyDeletePlease keep us posted about your guineas!!! I'm still debating for another season. Can't decide. LOL
I've also heard guineas are fantastic at gobbling up fleas, ticks and other insect pests. You just have to put up with a heckuva lot of noise.
ReplyDeleteI'd start adding salt and some queso blanco to those beans, see if it helps. And garlic, why not? :)
Hi there.
ReplyDeleteI got my first guineas this Spring. I would recommend raising them inside to start and handling them EVERYDAY. They are just not like chickens and are semi-wild but handling everyday helps. They eat turkey feed for the starter and grower phase and then can be switched to chicken feed. What you don't find information on is that Guineas sing (at least that is what I call it). They sing to me when I close them up at night and make happy noises while they eat. As for their loud sounds, I've decided sometimes their call is looking for me as when they hear me answer them, they go quiet.
Enjoy!
Lisa
I'd be so excited about the new chickens! Can't wait for this new adventure of yours Cindy. I know people around here have Guineas to keep the ground bug population under control....that's about all I know except they look a lot different from your regular ones. I'd never make a 'country boy' even though we live out here! lol
ReplyDeleteMaybe not enough salt in your beans?
FYI -- The Guinea fowl at the donkey rescue scared my German shepherd dog (Angel) so bad, she almost wet herself! Maybe they will work for coyotes too. I should write a cookbook on my hubby's cooking He makes the BEST food, including New Orleans style red beans. He even invented a vegetarian recipe for them. I never liked any kind of beans until he made them.--Inger
ReplyDeleteguineas are lovely
ReplyDeleteI have four
they watch the field, eat little and kill tons of pests...however they also can bully the hens so watch out for their bad temper!
noisy buggers too!
I'm looking forward to pictures of the new flock!
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so happy you are getting guineas! I started with 5 keets, only 2 survived that first batch. One was killed by a mama hen, Freckles, who HATED the guineas near her chicks. Another had an awful degenerative leg disorder which made her unable to stand and had to be put down. One disappreared one day and has never been seen again. And 2 remain. Guineas are flock birds and need a flock to keep themselves safe. 2 wasn't a flock.
ReplyDeleteSo then we got 8 more day-old keets. And they ALL survived and now live free. Guinea keets need to stay warmer than chicks, and need more protein. Keet or turkey food is good for them. We raised all keets side by side with chicks and chickens. As they grow up they will start to realize they are different than chickens and will crave freedom and will start flying.
All our guineas stay together always in a flock. If something in the yard changes, such as if I put out table scraps for the stray cat and he doesn't eat them, the guineas find the food on the back porch and look at it and make a racket telling me about. They don't eat it, they just scream about it. Once randy put a new window frame outside up against the coop. Guineas found it and told me about it. Because they are noisy like that, other animals seem to be afraid of them. Randy's seen a fox walk near them. Guineas, of course, are screaming, and the fox continues on his way. He doesn't want to be around that noise. Guineas are smart and go under bushes when hawks come to check them out.
I like the guinea noises. They sing when they are happy. They sing themselves to sleep, they sing when they eat, they sing when they lay. I love their "honk honk" excited noises. I always "honk honk" back at them. They always run to us when they see us, happy and excited to be around us. We given them treats of bread and cracked corn.
I love my guineas, can you tell?! I know you'll love yours just as much! Don't hesitate to ask any questions anytime!
~Lynn
Oh, yes, our male Guinea fought with the roosters when they all were getting their hormones in. They chased each other all over the chicken pen. The guineas, male or female, never bothered any chicken hens, though. If anything, continually crowded her adopted mama hen (Bella) when they became adult full-size guineas, and she ran from then, and they chased her trying to stay by her side. It was funny. Then they adopted a hen (Raspberry) as their surrogate mama and always surrounded her and wouldn't let her move. Raspberry had a sweeter personality than Bella, and looked just like Bella. Guineas are great fun - they will keep you (and us theu your blog!!!) entertained!
ReplyDeleteOnce you get those beans figured out, you'll have to share the recipe. I'm all about benefiting from other people's hard work and experiments! Good luck with the guineas. I've never had any.
ReplyDeleteMMM...refried beans ... really good.....
ReplyDeletemy soother post
Just learning how to use this clickable link...so click on the blue to link you back to my post and my comment at the bottom.
Cheers!
word of warning - if you ever get any turkey's you'll be hooked, they are very curious and comical.
ReplyDeleteWe really appreciate our guinea's. Read this site, it's helpful for first-timers.
http://www.guineafowl.com/fritsfarm/guineas/