Is it just me, or are Guinea Fowl low in intelligence?
Yesterday, I had one fly up onto the top of the chicken house, then onto the tower structure my husband built. It's pretty high. It sat there for a good part of the day. It then flew from there to the top of the hydro pole we had put up this summer. Were it sat until just before dark. From there it flew some where high up into the 100 year old spruce trees, and there it still sits. I can't see it in the tree right now, but I can hear it. It will not come down. I think because of the snow. Even with shoveling, and a dry porch area on the front of the chicken house, it will not leave it's high perches. My husband is of the opinion that we should just be done with it and shoot it and eat it. But these came from eggs I got from Jean, and I would hate to eat them. They are special too me. It will not be knocked or enticed down.
Last year I had one do pretty much the same thing. Throwing snowballs to scare it didn't work. Shoveling didn't work. Spreading seeds and getting other chickens and stuff didn't work. It sat up in a tree for 3 days with me trying to convince it to come down. Finally, I managed to hit it with a snow ball, and it fell out of the tree and I grabbed it. I think the only reason it fell is because it was weak from lack of food and being so wet.
During the summer, they get stuck all the time in a corner in between two pens. They will run back and forth along the fence all day. If they would only go another 3 feet further down the fence, they would come to the end and be free. But no, they can't figure that out, and instead run desperately calling back and forth, back and forth.
Yet despite there stupidity, I like them. They are so nice having running around the yard when there's no snow. They are very intreresting to watch. I love seeing them go with their babies. They do make quite a bit of noise if hawks or bears come. One think I noticed this summer, when a hawk killed and was eating one of my chickens, the guineas were squawking and running up to the hawk. Like right up to it, then running in circles around it.
Today, I am going to clip the rest of their wings, so they don't all end up in this silly girls situation.
Guinea on a pole.
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Is this not a sad looking sight?
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Yesterday, I had one fly up onto the top of the chicken house, then onto the tower structure my husband built. It's pretty high. It sat there for a good part of the day. It then flew from there to the top of the hydro pole we had put up this summer. Were it sat until just before dark. From there it flew some where high up into the 100 year old spruce trees, and there it still sits. I can't see it in the tree right now, but I can hear it. It will not come down. I think because of the snow. Even with shoveling, and a dry porch area on the front of the chicken house, it will not leave it's high perches. My husband is of the opinion that we should just be done with it and shoot it and eat it. But these came from eggs I got from Jean, and I would hate to eat them. They are special too me. It will not be knocked or enticed down.
Last year I had one do pretty much the same thing. Throwing snowballs to scare it didn't work. Shoveling didn't work. Spreading seeds and getting other chickens and stuff didn't work. It sat up in a tree for 3 days with me trying to convince it to come down. Finally, I managed to hit it with a snow ball, and it fell out of the tree and I grabbed it. I think the only reason it fell is because it was weak from lack of food and being so wet.
During the summer, they get stuck all the time in a corner in between two pens. They will run back and forth along the fence all day. If they would only go another 3 feet further down the fence, they would come to the end and be free. But no, they can't figure that out, and instead run desperately calling back and forth, back and forth.
Yet despite there stupidity, I like them. They are so nice having running around the yard when there's no snow. They are very intreresting to watch. I love seeing them go with their babies. They do make quite a bit of noise if hawks or bears come. One think I noticed this summer, when a hawk killed and was eating one of my chickens, the guineas were squawking and running up to the hawk. Like right up to it, then running in circles around it.
Today, I am going to clip the rest of their wings, so they don't all end up in this silly girls situation.
Guinea on a pole.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Is this not a sad looking sight?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
