We tried, but we couldn’t make it work.
This weekend we will be re-homing our male Guinea hen (rooster.) It’s that mechanical-alarm-like nonstop honk, literally having our neighbors up in arms, that is what’s at issue.
Not that I blame them. If you have listened to Guineas hens you know they have the sort of call that when heard makes you sit up, look around, and say “what the heck was that?” Not such a horrible thing to happen during the day but definitely not the best neighbor-bonding event to take place early (*early*) in the mornings on the weekends.
We’re starting to get those sideways “Oh. My. God. Will you shut those things up?” looks when they see us in the grocery store, or on the street, or in our backyard.
When we got our Guineas, we had hoped (prayed) they would be females. We picked the slightly less ugly ones thinking that nature would at least cut those girls a tiny break. And while we got one female, we also got a male. It’s that little guy, who’s the problem.
Each morning, he honks and honks (and honks), riling up the rest of our flock to squawk along with him. Until he entered our flock, I didn’t even know our other girls could call like that.
Apparently I have very fast learners.
I was hoping that the theoretical advantage of the Guineas eating our ticks would make the noise that everyone (and now me) talks about worth it.
But it’s not.
When I teach my chicken classes one of the things I stress is that a responsible backyard chicken owner should not have roosters in their flock if they have close neighbors. It’s time to practice what I preach.
I’ve found a lovely new home for our Guinea, where he can join an existing flock of other Guineas and will be able to eat ticks and honk his honk to his heart’s delight.
For now, I’ll be holding onto the female hoping that with the male gone, she might just settle down, but who knows, in a very short while, she may be going to live with her brother down on the farm.
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I write about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact me at Wendy@SimpleThrift.com
Also, join me on Facebook to find out more about the flock (children and chickens) and see some pretty funny chicken jokes, photos of tiny houses, and even a recipe or two.
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Lessons Learned from the Flock 
Sorry your Guinea boy didn’t work out Wendy. When people say they’re loud, they really mean it 🙂 I would have taken him from you too in a minute, but I’m a bit further away…I’ll be looking to find a few more to add to my remaining Guinea flock of 1 soon. Lucky for us, we’ve got the farm here and no one real close… no one even complains when our blue ticks howl!
Too bad you had to rehome your Guinea but I’m glad you got a good home for him. I did enjoy the story.
Here in Ellington CT, is where the Guineas now reside. We have 19 Guineas that we raise just to eat ticks and give us the pleasure of seeing them fly about, listen to their squabbles, and thoroughly enjoy their presence. It’s sad to hear that others don’t enjoy them as we do so that some cannot have them as pest eradicators. Such is life. I understand because we have a likewise neighbor that moved into our friendly neighborhood then decided they wanted to change things. The problem for ‘them’ was that we were ‘grandfathered in’ because we’ve lived here for so long.
I fail to understand why someone want’s to move to a friendly neighborhood than begins to be the problem. Maybe they get chased out of every neighborhood they’ve ever lived in. Such is life, so today. I met a very friendly person that lived miles away, and now we’re friends. every sad tale has a good ending! 🙂
Well just wait until Trump is our president. Life will be better than ever. We here in Ellington are very happy you support Donald. After the past 7 years of pure hell there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel