anyone have guinea hens? | Animals | Forums

With the mild winter we had, the tick problem around us in central NJ is really bad this spring and forecasted to get worse as the summer approaches.

Im considering adding some guinea fowl to our flock of meat birds, laying hens and ducks.  Hopefully they'll feast on the ticks, japanese beetles and everything else we get around here.

We only have 2 acres, but I'd let them free range and scour the property for anything they find interesting.  I know that they are pretty independent and a lot of people say that they prefer to roost in trees, but Ive read they can be trained to a coop at night with enough encouragement. 

Im just looking to see if anyone has some first-hand experience with them.  Some concerns are how noisy they are and how far they might range.

I could keep them in the electro-net with the rest of the birds, but that kind of defeats the purpose of letting them go find ticks and other insects all over the property.