tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post3426442581874948460..comments2024-03-28T00:20:01.688-05:00Comments on Little Blog In The Big Woods: The Guinea Saga; part 2Greenpahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17224906349154302210noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-83278451493316003292008-08-12T16:12:00.000-05:002008-08-12T16:12:00.000-05:00You had me hooked on Part 1, watching for Part 2, ...You had me hooked on Part 1, watching for Part 2, now anxious for Part 3. What's the rest of the story?WILDBLUESbysushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05721938956504857045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-23539747851070836242008-08-11T09:01:00.000-05:002008-08-11T09:01:00.000-05:00I'm so glad your lost guinea came back. Thanks fo...I'm so glad your lost guinea came back. Thanks for the info about the vinegar. Although, I hope to never have to use it, lol! I just let my guineas out recently and they have hung around, even followed me around. It's kinda cute!Nancy M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00890420576437109817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-83478110357343659482008-08-09T21:00:00.001-05:002008-08-09T21:00:00.001-05:00When my dog was skunked I used Baking Soda, Peroxi...When my dog was skunked I used Baking Soda, Peroxide and soap, worked like a charm and her fur was soft as a babies bum!katykanukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09955276872183724295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-47109811450630861442008-08-08T10:30:00.000-05:002008-08-08T10:30:00.000-05:00Great story, guineas are quite an experience, and ...Great story, guineas are quite an experience, and yes, they are very different from chickens. We got a dozen guinea keets a few years ago and although they never took to the hen house, they stayed on the property nesting in the trees all winter long. They are incredibly self-sufficient and tough as anything. In the spring, the trouble began. The females (seven of them) all went out to nest in the long grass around the property and as soon as they had laid their 20-25 eggs they started sitting. We never found the nesting hens or the nests until we noticed piles of feathers near abandoned nests. They are pretty predator proof up in the trees, but when they are nesting, they are "sitting ducks". Maybe you having a dog around would help in this area, as long as he does not get a taste for eggs. <BR/> I have also read that once the keets hatch out, the mothers tend to lead them through the dewey morning grass which gets them all wet and cold and tends to kill them. We had been advised to find and move the birds to a safe location as soon as they started to brood, but we never found any of the nests until it was too late.<BR/>P.S. the remaining male guineas stuck around for another year, but they had decided at that point that we were the intruders, and every time we went outside, they were there, screeching at us as we were gardening, or relaxing in the sun, until we trapped them by climbing up their tree at night and grabbing their legs. They now live at a neighbour's farm where they have more room and other guineas as company.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-77010694673472718322008-08-08T09:38:00.000-05:002008-08-08T09:38:00.000-05:00Great story and what a lovely ending. Bruce is a ...Great story and what a lovely ending. Bruce is a hero!<BR/>A lot of other lessons to learn, too. Including a reminder that focusing on price isn't the least expensive way to go. Quality and doing things right the first time is something our society has to relearn.EJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10547029683066393031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-85864636798706852242008-08-08T09:36:00.000-05:002008-08-08T09:36:00.000-05:00I'm just a yard nerd with bird feeders, compost an...I'm just a yard nerd with bird feeders, compost and flowers (ummm and mice, rats, hedgehogs, bats and squirrels) but I love an exciting story PLUS video! Go Bruce! Great Blog!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-57520691130573158542008-08-08T09:31:00.000-05:002008-08-08T09:31:00.000-05:00I've enjoy the saga of your Gunineas!I've enjoy the saga of your Gunineas!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15334812243182354729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-32545403112898824242008-08-08T09:06:00.000-05:002008-08-08T09:06:00.000-05:00Well, we've got all the predators you listed excep...Well, we've got all the predators you listed except the great-horned owls, and only one kind of skunk, plus the bears in the woods, and we've done fine with chickens and turkeys - largely because of the dogs. The coyotes den across the road and we used to see scat on the ground all the time, but the farmcollies (American Working Farmcollies) take right good care of them and run them off. Rufus, our larger male has de-cooned our immediate area - when he was smaller (he's crazy huge), he actually chased one of the raccoons up a tree - and I don't mean the raccoon went up the tree (or rather it did) - Rufus went up after it and killed it. The only bad thing is that whenever we have city guests come, you can be sure that'll be the day that the dogs bring home a half eaten possum or something and leave it in the middle of the walkway. So the conversation always goes..."umm....do you know there's a.." <BR/><BR/>The dogs aren't perfect - we've had to give up on the ducks because they can't help hearing the siren call of the creek and getting eaten by various things, but they will even chase off the eagles, and herd the poultry out of range. A good roo helps a lot too with this - our two usually spot the hawks and eagles before even the dogs.<BR/><BR/>I'm watching this guinea thing with fascination, wondering whether it would be a plus or minus for us to have more self-sufficient birds than chickens - on the one hand, they feed themselves more and can avoid ground predators - on the other, the dogs can't really work them to protect them. So I'm very interested in your experiences.<BR/><BR/>I will note that I don't think the tomato juice has anything at all to do with green or homesteading - I learned that one in a mill city in Massachusetts as a kid - we had skunks aplenty there too, and my Dad had heard it when he was a kid. I don't think it is any more or less than a folk remedy that doesn't work well - but folks live everywhere.<BR/><BR/>Sharonjewishfarmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17547121621115074866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-58143711791748224632008-08-07T23:17:00.000-05:002008-08-07T23:17:00.000-05:00Hi,Just wanted to give you the benefit of my exper...Hi,<BR/><BR/>Just wanted to give you the benefit of my experience. We live in Southeastern VA. Some woods but our land is mostly a chopped up farm. Predator pressure waxes and wanes. We started out with 16 guineas (10 grey and 6 white). 10 up and left one day, I don't know why. Of the remaining six, two are left:one white one grey. We've actually done better with the chickens, who now sleep behind an electric wire.<BR/><BR/>I love the guineas. They are dumber than dirt but charming in their own way. However, they have not really thrived. I still plan to get a few more but I will try to train these to go into a secure space at night. The last two now sleep on the roof of our 1 1/2 story house; I kid you not. They can fly up to the bottom of the roof and then walk up the 12/12 pitch roof to the peak. They make me think of house gods. It wasn't until they got down to 2 in number that they chose such a high spot and they have never roosted in trees despite the fact that we have several to choose from.Sashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18198201024489772356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703718837080088488.post-83164302161555046412008-08-07T20:40:00.000-05:002008-08-07T20:40:00.000-05:00Oh, a happy little tale. I love those wacky birds....Oh, a happy little tale. I love those wacky birds. But I think you need a cover over at least part of the pen so that they can stay dry if they want to and get out of the summer sun.<BR/>Our pens here are shaded.<BR/>Also, with any type of pen in a high predator area like yours, you have to bury the cage wire at least 6 to 12 inches under the earth. Seriously. Or make a complete box and set it down in a hole and backfill the bottom.<BR/>We have a lot of the white guineas here {mostly females} and tons of red tail hawks and mongeese, but the guineas, even the white ones, survive quite well.<BR/>They run around in the fields all day and I know that the hawks can see every damn thing in this valley<BR/>and the mongeese are not shy either. But they would rather not mess with the guineas. I don't know why. Maybe the noise.<BR/>Guineas are admirable creatures.<BR/>They grow on you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com