Raising Guinea Hens (Including the Great Guinea Surprise!)

We started keeping guinea hens about three years ago because we live in the woods, and I wanted something to eat the ticks. Guineas eat more ticks than any other bird, including chickens -- probably because they come from Africa, where there are tons of ticks. (We have a few friends from Africa who always threaten to cook and eat the guineas when they visit us!)

For the rest of this article, guinea hen pictures and video and more from Maria Rodale, go to www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com.

Related Links:
Recharging the Batteries in a Favorite Place - Maria's Farm Country Kitchen
A Guide to Raising Chickens In Your Small Yard - Rodale.com
Eggs On A Mission - Prevention

 

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Comments

[CynicalDog]

05:43 PM on 07/27/2010

Thank you for this great tip! We live in Las Vegas right now, but just bought a nice house on an acre in a small town nearby, and are looking forward to being (miniature­) hobby farmers. I was planning to try raising a three or four chickens, but it sounds like guinea hens might be an even better idea. Despite the fact the desert isn't supposed to be hospitable to fleas and ticks, we suddenly have a yardful of ticks this year (living in our decorative grasses, I assume), and I'm sure we'll end up transporti­ng some of them to our new house, too. If the guinea hens would enjoy the ticks then they're more than welcome to join our family. Any idea if they'll also eat other local unpleasant­ries like giant centipedes and fire ants?