"Guinea hens are known to have a voracious appetite for ticks, so some folks in
tick infested areas buy them for that purpose.

Susan"

AND


"Go 5 mile out of town and you see more and more guinea fowl which on a
restricted diet can reduce tick populations by about 80%"

Hi Folks -
Yes. Get some guineas! Both these quotes are true I'd say - as we've had between 6 - 24 guineas almost
constantly running loose (they over winter and roost in a good sized chicken house) for over two dozen years
here on my Ozark beef farm and believe me the ticks have been NOTICEABLY reduced in number!
This is apparently how it works - 1/ guinea walks by the tick on the leaf - the tick jumps onto the
guinea - 2/ guinea preens itself regularly - finds tick - 3/ eats tick. Aslo fattened ticks collecting where
animals often sleep are a thick juicy snack for a guinea - also of cardinals I might add.
So - over a period of years this repetitive guinea process severely eats into the tick population (unless
God forgid - rabbits are ever allowed free birthing rights in rampant blackberry patches by certain overly
sensitive types who love 'cute' more than good sense.) Now lo and behold - we are seldom adversely affected
by excessive ticks anywhere near our house - although one or two will appear occasionally no matter what it
seems. Guineas are however often noisy - and sometimes here they can get shot dead if they overly indulge in
any monotony of racket - causing the evolution of quieter and quieter farm guneas - one would hope. G
Actually when they 'pair off' (married???) they can become quite settled and peaceful - making a pleasant
kind of gentle peeping sound as they walk by ever scanning the grass for bugs.
We like the natural 'pearl' kind - like you see on Natiuonal Geographic shows about Africa - I wouldn't
want a weird purple or mauve or white one on the place - (unless G they were also quieter).
- Wes/MO