One of the benefits of having Guinea Fowl is that they are expert exterminators and spend all day walking around the farm with a surprising dedication to finding insects to eat. With a keen eye they specifically seek out ticks, spiders and any unsuspecting insect that happens to be within their reach.
Adult males are called Cocks while adult females are called Hens and baby Guinea Fowl are called Keets. They are also great alarm systems if any predator comes nearby which is like having a team of security guards walking around on duty 24/7. They like to walk around in coordinated groups that are so tight-knit they sometimes move in such unison, you’d think they had rehearsed the move. Very skittish at the slightest threat, they fly over fences and boundaries often seeking the highest place to perch before considering their next move.
To say that they are loud and funny looking is no exaggeration and at first they may not seem like the best bird to have around the farm. Roosting in the trees above the chicken house at night, they like to have a birds eye view (no pun intended) of what is going on and their repetitive screeching sound was at first somewhat invasive but soon became a welcome sound on the farm.
While some people may look at the sightly weird bald head and try to imagine what the appeal may be. Even their beautiful dotty feathers arranged like neat trench coats seems to be overlooked as they roam about refusing captivity.
One of the reasons we keep Guinea Fowl here is as one of our primary methods for keeping pests out of the gardens. As an alternative versatile barnyard animal, the guinea fowl is a great alternative indeed.
When we first brought them home we had eight of them. Three cocks and five hens and soon learned that although the hens did seek out places to lay their eggs, they often did it so secretively that we could never find them. Three of the hens did lay eggs so well and sat on them just long enough to be gobbled up by foxes. We suspect that two of the cocks (probably guarding the females) also came to the same fate. So we now have just three guinea fowls left, one cock and two hens.