Guinea Hens For Ticks?

   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #1  

Scozz

Silver Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2004
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240
Location
Orange County, NY
Tractor
Kama 454 w/Kokyer 195 loader
My land (and yard) are heavy with ticks. Not a day goes by that we don't pull at least a few off our dogs. I've been reading how effective Guineas are in eliminating the tick population and am getting ready to purchase a few (6-8).
Figured I'd shout out to see if anyone has any first had info and words of wisdom before I dive in. Thanks ..Scozz
 
   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #2  
I'm not sure about ticks, but they also serve as awsome alarms. They will perch high in the trees around your house at night, and they will let you know if ANYTHING comes close. In this regard, they are better than a dog. There were quite a few on the farm I grew up on.
 
   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #3  
I worked with a fellow a few years ago that swore by them. Said he had half dozen or more dogs that stayed covered with ticks. Somebody gave him some Guinea hens and his tick problem disappeared. He did have problems keeping them around his place until the hens started laying eggs.
 
   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #4  
Yes they will work for what you're asking for. I had 2 of them here and to be honest they were to good as a watch dog. During the day they never would stop yelling. I had just 2, "I" would never want 8.

Some things about them. If you pen them up for 45 days or so, they will NEVER leave your (their) home, that is if they are young. If you get older ones they could leave and go back to where they came from, so it would be best to luck up adults for 90 days or more. I have heard story's of adult Guineas traveling 100+ mile to get back to the yard they came from. If you are lucky they will roost in a tree, if you are not lucky they will roost above your bedroom window, point is they will roost where they want and you just can't stop them from being in that spot. When they sleep, they are "no" good as a watch dog. You can walk right up to them pick them up and bounce them in your hand and they will not move/wake up, why that is I have no clue, just hope they roost high because a bad animal will get them at night. When you pen them up, but the pen where you would like them to be the most, because they will stay in that area and start to slowly open up their living area little by little once you let them out of the pen. I am sure there is more to tell you, but right now that is the most I can think of. Oh my Guineas are no longer here. What happen do you ask? We gave them to a friend 15 miles away. He penned them up for a week, lol they were back here on their own around 24hrs after he let them out. So he took them back and penned them up for 45 days, they haven't been back and just last week they are alive and well driving him crazy with their noise.
 
   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #5  
Chickens will also do a good job eating up the bugs.
 
   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #7  
Some other angles: Clear out low brush and tree branches under 10'. That makes a huge difference. Frontline works well on dogs.

From your opening I thought you meant that you had a BAD tick problem. Our kids would get between 200-500 of them each going out for about an hour. We cleaned the place up and now we have no problem at all (which means usually less than 3...)
 
   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #8  
What kinds of ticks do you guys have experience with? Here in southern Indiana there seems to be 3 different kinds.

I don't know if these are the correct names, but this is what I have known them to be...

Big brown ones we call wood ticks or dog ticks.

Small black ones are deer ticks.

Then there's the tiny ones (visible only if you look really hard or have a load of them) we call turkey ticks. They seem to burrow in and disappear. They itch like the devil and hang around for a couple weeks. These may be chiggers, but people I've asked about this swear that chiggers are a different beast. I've never heard anyone talk about turkey ticks outside of this region. In fact, I don't think I've seen any in my area of northern Dubois County. They are very prevalent in Perry County (right on the ohio river) and in some parts of northern KY I've been in.

Anyone know anything about turkey ticks? Do they really exist or are they chiggers? Will guineas or chickens eat them?
 
   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #9  
Dooleysm,

The big ticks are usually brown or dog ticks. One has a white star/dot on it was well.

The smaller ticks are the "seed" ticks. I think they are a younger generation of the bigger ticks.

It sounds like your turkey ticks are red bugs or chiggers. Can't imagine why they would be called turkey ticks. Chiggers don't burrow into the skin according to websites I have read but your body reacts to their bite and it just feels like they are still biting you alive.

In my part of NC chiggers come out in maybe June certainly by July and for the most part are gone by August/September. They are in the spider family. They will hang in a nest that just hatched from eggs waiting for you to walk by and then they get ya. I hav seem hundreds of them starting from a dime sized spot on my leg.

Spraying Permithren(sp) on your clothes helps to keep them and ticks off.

I'm slowly pushing the undergrowth away from the house to keep the ticks and chiggers, I call them tiggers for short, /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif away from us. The dog still brings them into the house. A big one bit my heal this weekend that itches like heck whenever I walk. I found a small seedling tick on as well. I think they hitched a ride with the dog and jumped off in the house. The dog is on Frontline but if the ticks jump off before they bite the drug does not do much good....

This time of the year we are all on tick spotting duty....

/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Two of my neighbors bought 30 or 60 Guineas a few years ago. They did not keep them in at night and after a couple of years, the foxes, coyotes, owls, and hawks had killed them all. The danged birds sure are noisy. I have thought of getting chickens but then I would have to shoot the foxes that live in near our house. I saw one of the foxes running down the driveway with a chicken a couple weeks back. Someone to our south has chickens. And they are missing at least two of them and at least two eggs..... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Later,
Dan
 
   / Guinea Hens For Ticks? #10  
Had an associate at work who "tried" the hen method. Several hundred dollars to build a proper coup and conditioned them to stay around the house. That was the fun part. Then he learned how noisy they are. Every morning on and around the house, no more sleeping in late. When ever they cooked, the hens sat outside the kitchen vent for the good smells, and made constant noise. Several flew off, after being frightened by thunderstorms and other loud noises, several more became dinner for fox and coyote and the neighbor's cat, and his dog eventually finished off the last one or two. All that and they never made it to the next summer as adults, and never ate one tick.

He did it on advice of someone he knew and raved about the tick control, but it seemed to be a lot more trouble and effort. Maybe if everything goes well it is a good idea, but you couldn't prove it by him.

paul
 
 
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