Hog - Page 5

TitanLou · 09-19-2007, 08:03 PM

We had them on the farm as a kid. We never ate one either. They never strayed very far, and yes they are very good watch chickens. You may not want to eat them just get them to let you know when the pigs are coming close.

**gadget74** · 09-19-2007, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TitanLou

We had them on the farm as a kid. We never ate one either. They never strayed very far, and yes they are very good watch chickens. You may not want to eat them just get them to let you know when the pigs are coming close.

They eat all the bugs too.

**gadget74** · 09-19-2007, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helomech

I guess I am going to have to go and buy one to see what they taste like. Do they roam far if left loose, or do they stay in one area?

I don't think many people eat them. I really don't know what they are good for except bug control!

**gadget74** · 09-19-2007, 08:09 PM

These very noisy birds look like a bunch of AWOL army helmets as they run across the yard. They are said to be good for controlling the Lyme Disease-bearing deer tick. I don't know any research on this, but lots of folk believe it and I sure hope it's true. They certainly range well and eat lots of small things. In fact, if you keep bees, you don't really want to keep guineas. They'll stand by the hive and snap up the bees as they come out. I haven't yellow jacket nests out in the field since I've had these birds.

(For more info on guineas and Lyme disease see: Duffy, David Cameron, R. Downer, and C. Brinkley, 1992. The effectiveness of Helmeted Guineafowl in the control of the deer tick, the vector of Lyme Disease, The Wilson Bulletin, 164(2): 342-345.)

Guineas often lay their eggs out in the fields and hatch their young by themselves. If you do find the eggs and wish to incubate them, the time period is 26 to 28 days and you treat them like chicken eggs. Young guineas are called "keets." Being native to dry areas of Africa, they are very susceptible to dampness during their first two weeks, and can die from following the mother through dewy grass. After two weeks of age, they are probably the hardiest of all domestic land fowl.

Sexing guineas is not easy to do by looking at the birds, although in older adults the helmet and wattles of the males are usually larger. The easiest way to sex them is by voice. Both males and females make a single syllable, machine-gunlike alarm call, but only the females have a two syllable call. It sounds like they're saying "buck-wheat."

When you get new guineas, don't let them out right away or they may well disappear down the street. The best way to acclimate them is to pen them where they can see the area where they'll be living. After they've been penned a week or two, let one out. Guineas hate to be alone, so that one won't go far, but it will learn its way around your place. After a few days, let another out to run with it. If they stay around it's usually safe to let the rest out soon thereafter. I use this same method with Peafowl, letting a new hen out before the male as the hens are more social.

Do not confine male guineas with chickens if there are roosters in the same flock. If the birds have free range during the day it's OK to keep them in the same coop at night, and even for a while if they're confined because of a blizzard or something, but the male guineas will run the roosters ragged and keep them from food and water. I lost my first 2 favorite roosters this way until I learned what was going on. Female guineas do not cause the same problems.

**Arachnid** · 09-19-2007, 08:11 PM

The wild-guinea fowl of West Africa is regarded as the original of the domestic stock. There are two common varieties, the Pearl and the White. Variations in the color do occasionally appear, and sometimes guineas are found which are plainly the cross-bred offspring of the Pearl and White varieties; however, these two varieties, as a rule, breed very true to color, type and size. The birds rarely weigh over 3 1/2 lbs., although appearing larger than this alive. The bones are quite small, and the carcass produces a relatively large amount of meat. There is good demand for Guinea fowls in the large markets, and because of their wild game flavor the birds are served extensively in the larger hotels and higher priced restaurants. The eggs are small, of dark color and fine flavor, and are apt to be laid in secluded places in the grass and weeds. The ****s are pugnacious, but Guineas are often kept with other poultry on the farm, as they segregate from chickens when on the range and cause no particular trouble to the other fowls. They are usually looked upon as a protection from hawks and a night guard against thieves, as they set up their peculiar screaming when disturbed. No strange person or noise seems to escape their notice.
The chicks are small, as would be expected from the rather small eggs. They are susceptible to the dangers of dampness. The hens begin to lay in April or May, but do not become broody early in the season. They are indifferent mother, and for early hatching chickens should be used. They lay from three to five dozen eggs. They seldom lay in the chickens nests in the hen house. Hunting the Guinea hens' nests is usually a pastime, or chore for farm boys and girls.

It is not easy to distinguish the sex of Guineas. The male has slightly larger head appendages. The female seldom screeches like the male. One student of their language has stated that the "patrack, buckwheat or too quick is uttered by the female only." The male selects his mate and they remain steadfast companions. The chicks when hatched are very active, with bright eyes, and like the pheasant there is an indescribable timidity about them.

**gadget74** · 09-19-2007, 08:14 PM

Perhaps guineas were too widely valued as insect-eaters to be killed and eaten themselves, or perhaps the nineteenth century farmer was too sensitive to deprive guineas of their mates, but a market for table guineas never developed. In 1850 this could be attributed to poor timing, since they were being sold during the gap between the last game birds and the first spring chickens, rather than "in late autumn and winter when they are younger" and are "more delicious and tender," "very choice and game-like." Perhaps they never caught on because of their small size (about three and a half pounds, sold intact except for the breast feathers, which were removed). By the end of the 19th century, "A few attempts have been made to breed them in considerable numbers, the most successful of which were in Ohio, where a guinea broiler farm of modest pretensions has been conducted for several years." Resourceful people seem to have made attempts to make use of the guinea by crossing guinea ****s with chicken hens. The "progeny in all such cases . . . [were] very wild and perfectly sterile. The Guinea **** also has been known to cross with small turkey hens occasionally. None of these results are of any practical interest" (Wright).

Should the reader conclude that if the guinea can't be conveniently domesticated, then let it become a game bird, like the pheasant or grouse, think again. It seems, according to Lewis Wright, that the bossy guinea kicks all the other game birds out of the covert, then refuses to fly (although it can do so very well), merely "running before the dogs . . . and . . . affording no sport." Despite its seeming disadvantages, most of the poultry writers maintained hope for the future of the guinea. Although F. H. Valentine does not use the term "niche market," he appears to have something like that in mind: "In reality as a side line in combination with crops to which they do little damage, and where a market for them exists or can be developed, guineas should prove a valuable feature. The bird is fine eating. It is in great demand in city hotels and clubs . . . The meat is dark and the birds are often served as game; prices, therefore, are high as a rule." McGrew adds, "if proper attention were given to the mating of guinea-fowls to improve their size and laying qualities, they could be developed into a most profitable kind of poultry." As it has taken over one hundred years for the guinea to be sufficiently accepted to be admitted to the Standard, it may take another century before it is raised and marketed in the manner of chickens and turkeys.

**gadget74** · 09-19-2007, 08:15 PM

You think that's enough info on the subject?

LMAO!!!

**Arachnid** · 09-19-2007, 08:19 PM

Hey, I thought this was an educational thread

**gadget74** · 09-19-2007, 08:26 PM

It was until you showed up!

helomech · 09-19-2007, 08:42 PM

So basically they just make alot of noise if something disturbs them. I have 2 anatolian shepherds about to be 3, and 3 pomeranians. Not much moves in my yard without me knowing about it.

DRTYAZN · 09-19-2007, 11:25 PM

I recall something about a hog...or was this thread about a bird from Africa... either way, I enjoy wild boar / hog hunting... and do it specifically for the physical and tactical workout along with the game meat.