Guineas are the best for eating bugs. They don’t stay in a pin they run kind of wild but they are cool. The make a lot of noise and will let you know if something different shows up. They are kinda like a tick eating guard dog!
We lost 6 of the 30 we ordered from Murray Mcmurray within the first two weeks. When I called to ask them what I might be doing wrong. They asked me several questions and concluded I was doing everything right, and then they credited my account for the lost guineas! I didn’t ask them to do that, and certainly didn’t expect it, but man, I was super impressed with their customer service! They’ve made a loyal customer for life out of me.
Mike you are doing a great job on your husband duties. I'm sure Lacey appreciates it and we ladies out here love you for it cause we love Lacey so much!
I'm retired and as much as I love watching your videos, this particular one was a fantastic way to start off a Monday morn. My tea in hand, the beautiful background music, serene settings, morn sun, Lacie going for a walk, communing with nature and animals. Absolutely beautiful ...
Hey Mike, you are a great husband and father! Your children are adorable. You and lacy are wonderful parents. I enjoy watching all of you working together. Live is full of love and happiness in our own back yard.
You can train them while they are young.. I free range them together with the chicks and they all grow together and they are all buddy.. at the end of the day.. they return home and during middday.. they come to the homebase.. make sure you have food at homebase so that they return home during mid day.. and whistle to teach them to return home.. good luck!!
Lacie , I loved being pregnant when i did not have morning sickness . You Are looking well , do you juice any fresh fruit and veges ? With my last pregnancy I lived on fresh juice , and everything went really well (I was 45 at the time ).Motherhood has been my greatest journey 💓🤰🐤🐥🦆🦢🌹 Mike , You are such a Good Man , a wonderful Father and Loving Husband , Your Family is Blessed 💯🦁 I hope the challenges with the guineas pays off , I know their eggs are delightful !
Just gonna tell ya. 1 you can’t re home them. 2 if they get loose good luck getting them back 3 probably better to start with a smaller flock because the bigger the flock the more they roam 4. Find your clutches of eggs in the spring and hatch them, because 1 they will again grow up with you and stick around and 2 they will hatch them but bless their heart they’ll get picked off. Couldn’t manage without my guard birds and you can go into my yard and not get a tick between the chickens and Guinea but go to the neighbors down the road and get covered. And yes I give mine wild game bird feed mixed with some scratch…. Little corn in the winter for heat
I loved having guineas here, they were the best watch dogs, if anyone stopped or walked down the road they would go crazy, to let us know something wasn't right outside.. We treated ours like chickens, kept them in there house for atleast a week or 2 and feed them inside their pen, gave treats inside their pen. We would usually feed them in the evening time, so they would get used to being fed at the same time . Like chickens they would seem to know when it was feeding time and know the cup with the food in it. So when you let them out for the first time and in the evening time comes around they will be looking to eat and be waiting, and be easier to put up esp if they get trained to feed and watered inside their pen. But after a few months it's a lot easier and they would adventure around the yard but would always come back home when it was feeding time..
@@MikeTheFitFarmer our turkeys do the same thing! Guineas will help kill snakes ( it's weird to watch them attack a snake) mice plus eat all those bugs, and another plus about guineas which you probably already know , but they don't scratch the ground like chickens do. But they love ticks,fleas etc.. But yes, guineas and our turkeys are great at letting us know when something is not right out in the yard or if someone pulls in the driveway or even walking down the road lol a few weeks ago we had these big trucks and several guys working on our electric pole and man those turkeys just kept gobbling and gobbling lol non stop until they left! Awhile back we had a male turkey in with our chickens and I heard him gobbling outside I ran outside to see what was going on and didn't see any chickens and I started freaking out, I only seen the turkey standing out in the middle of the field alone and he had his head titled and was looking up and I seen a chicken hawk, as soon as my girls heard me they all came running to me out from under a building a had a sigh of relief, but the turkey had alerted the chickens of the hawk. One night we heard the turkeys going crazy in there pen we ran out there and at first I didn't see anything and they still was gobbling, and I looked closer and there was a coon half dead in there pen.i don't know if the turkeys gained up on it but that coon was laying flat on it's stomach arms open like I give up lol he was turning it's head and hissing.. you will get to know there sounds like ya do with a new born baby
Start as babies. Keep them locked up 6 months. I have had mine in the yard near 6 years. I started with 50 and I have 10 left. Owls, hawks and raccoons love to take guineas. We have not seen ticks here for years. We used to have an over abundance of ticks in the 10s getting on us. It freaked me out, so I got guineas. Best thing I ever did to get rid of ticks. AND they eat the Japanese Beetle grubs from the ground.
I didn't know that about the Japanese beetle! Do they destroy gardens like chickens or are they safe to let roam in the garden eating those pesky things??
@@HumbleHillsHomestead They are not as destructive in the garden as chickens. But they can do damages to fruit. And they will jump up and break plants eating the bugs. I have my garden fenced off from them.
enjoyed the video about the guineas. they are an interesting breed. was great to see the children helping and especially Sara as she is very fast catching the fowls. have a great week. glad to see you all back.
Hey Mike. You don’t know me from Adam, but I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy watching y’all on TH-cam. I have only been watching for a short time, but I have learned a lot from y’all. I pray that God continues to bless your sweet family!!
After several tries we did a lot of research and moved the guineas from the brooder to a guinea tractor. About 3 or 4 weeks later we started removing just one or two and let them roam, they would not venture far from their flock still in the guinea tractor. After a week let out another. They continued to stay by the tractor until the last one was out which took quite a while and even though they do roam they always come home to the same tree to roost every night. My neighbors all want some now but say theirs leave and never come, which happened the first 2 times we tried to get guineas, but these are now wandering around the yard with our ducks, geese, guineas everyday for past 2 years now. I love them
I kept mine penned up for 3 months. Then when I released them I did have to herd them back home a few times because they would get confused...was lucky to have good neighbors who would call me and let me know they had wonder off. They are loud but very entertaining and great natural insecticide...enjoy
Thanks Mike for the gift for Lacey . I know that she loves her birds . Maybe the guineas will clam down soon . Lacey enjoy your guineas .I am glad your pregnancy is going well and you look great .👍
Glad you got some survivers in the Guinea hen wars. They really do have to have the gamebird feed. it is higher protien and has more of the vitamins they need as they grow. Guinea hens are carnivores, they will eat any bug they can catch, they would prefer if they could talk to have a bug only diet. So feeding anything other than gamebird feed does lead to problems. Also they need to be brooded separatly! For alot longer! Leave them penned for at least four months. The goslings and chicks eat completly differnt food. Goslings are grazers, like cows. They only really want grass. Chicks are all round omnivores and will eat almost anything, so their diet is again different. Now you are not done with them dying for any reason under the sun. They are very hardy as adults but poults get into more trouble than a person could imagine for longer than other birds. Once they grow up and know where they live they will stay. It is much easier raising guineas if you let a chicken mom or a guinea mom do it, but even for a guinea mom there is a two year learning curve. I will pray for your sucess in this.
A hint I use for moving heavy things (I'm 145 lbs) is to lift it onto one corner then rotate it to a new position closer to where you want it. Then set it down and lift to another corner and rotate it to another position. It's like walking with your own legs. You don't have to lift the whole weight, probably only half and can be walked into almost anywhere you want including up/down steps.
Thanks for another great video. I look forward to Sunday evenings so that I can see you guys. We need more videos.....please! You all have truly become like family. Lacey please be careful with those cuts and scratches. Be Safe and Be Blessed. I Love You All 💙
No thank you... our neighbor had guineas that roamed.. I am sure they are a benefit for bugs, etc.. but that noise they make made me want to catch them and put them in our neighbors bedroom. Haha
Great bug eaters. Ilive in South Africa and here they are wild and all over. My one friend has them roost in a big tree by her kitchen at night. Doug and Stacey's GUineas free range on their farm, you should ask their advice
Mike I saw you struggling with your hand truck .I am 68 years old and had the same problem with mine .I redid mine by installing a set of front wheels and tires from an old riding lawnmower . IT makes it easier carry loads across the ground ,and is easier to balance . I can lift the back end of a Cub Cadet LT10 50 60 inch cut riding mower and pull it across the yard fairly easy . Reach out to virginiaswampdog and I will send you a picture of what I did , if I can . My wife and I enjoy your channel .
Nice guinea graduation day Dicksons! I like the variety you got. My favorite is the Royal Purple but those are hard to find so my next favorite is the Lavender with the polka dotted feathers. I like guineas too. I got roosters and my guineas left. Darn! I free range all my poultry together. I have laying chickens, roosters, and 4 Khaki Campbell ducks with 4 guineas and they stayed about 2 months and then they left. The guineas where raised together with the ducks and roosters. I already had the flock of laying chickens. Once everyone was pretty mature I let them out of the stall in the barn to get with the laying chickens I already had. I want to try guineas again but maybe I'll have to have a big flock of them and perhaps their own coop where they don't have to share with the laying hens? We have a good sized barn and places for them to roost way up high where they like to but they still decided to leave. I miss them. I fed them the same as the chickens but I also gave them meal worms. Good luck with your flock of guineas Lacie. They are very nice to have and we had a lot less ticks when we had them for about 10 years. They are great alert birds for the other poultry. It was nice to hear them again. I love their little whistles to each other.
My favorite farming family I love 💕💕💕 this farming family, God Almighty bless you, your beloved children and all the fowl, animals on your Farm 🏠. Thanks for gifting your pregnant Wife , you are a good, hardworking, humorous husband for sure 👍💕💕
You both have such a lovely relationship. A life of true wealth, is a life lived with closeness to family. ( Also I'd say props! I don't know if I could manage all you both manage in a day.. oof I'd get tired after an hour. )
I love Guineas, Most of the time. They like to roost in the trees and they are great watchdogs and raise such a ruckus when something comes on the property that isn't supposed to be there. I have one that is 10 years old it is a rooster and he lives with my chickens. For a time he taught my chickens how to get out but the coyotes were coming in during the day and getting the chickens. He hasn't convinced the newer chickens to go out with him but he still roams around and STILL isn't cuddly, in fact he thinks that I am evil incarnate. He screams at me and makes his guinea sound anytime I am out there to feed or water or anything. I have always kept mine up for 30 to 45 days to let them learn where home is. One thing to watch for next spring is they will lay LARGE clutches of eggs in the high grass and then abandon the nest. But have no fear you will find them when you mow usually when they are very old and stinky.... Good luck and God bless
I keep mine in an outside dog cage about 10 by 10. I have about 50 and my husband said we have to many. I only give them feed when time to go in at night. They will go in the cage for their protection because of fox, Coyotes, Owls or other critters wanting to kill them. Plus I have a pig electric fence around the cage because I had a fox stir them up and caused them to knock to door open but after putting fence up a fox got tangled in one because there is 2 put as a double fence. Now nothing bothers them unless one does not go in pen and me not catch it
I've built two unplanned chicken coops this year... Turns out that a growing flock needs more Roosting spaces... And we got a visit from a skunk that frightened them on their lower perches. They chose the railings on the loading ramp extension from the deck I built as their new preferred location. The top of the railing is about 5 and a half feet off the ground. The ramp deck is about two feet off the ground, si their jump up us doable and acceptable to them. I am building a new coop around their new preferred perches, and egg laying boxes under the decking. At least I know where they are.
I love you guys seeing you so happy each other’s doing you daily chores . What a fantastic couple you are very supportive to each other’s. God bless you family and that cute baby is on mommy’s tummy. I love you 😘 family.
My friend has guineas and they roost in the trees but will stray away an NOT come back! So he put two of them in with the chickens an then the rest started roosting in the trees close by the pen. And.. the layed eggs all in the lawn.. He gave them away. He said they were too much problems..
I bought full grown Guinea’s from a flea market and put them in the chicken coop. 16 chickens , 2 roosters, , 2 turkeys, 2 Guinea’s (1male,1female) all in the chicken coop yard together. They all went out in the yard outside of the coop area together in the morning and all went back in to roost together in the evening, every day. Never had a problem with them running off. A farm can also be a type of permaculture gardening. Donkeys protect the property along with your dog, the Guinea’s and turkey’s alert to predators and the Guinea’s even kill some predators. Cats also help with predators and the dog looks after the cat. Etc, etc. you have to foster a relationship and boundaries with each animal so they understand the order of things. It’s work, but this can be done, and when done right, it’s really beautiful.
We got guineas this year. Six weeks in the brooder, 2 weeks in the coop, let them out and we’ve not seen them after that week. Haha! We do hear them sometimes on the property and the tick population has severely decreased. Next year, I’ll keep them in a coop with a fence for a couple months. 😂
Guineas are fun. I had a blue and white pinstriped dress that I liked to wear out in the yard cause all the boy guineas would chase me around crowing and acting crazy haha. They thought I was the biggest most beautiful African guinea they ever saw haha 😆 good times but for real yea they will all leave and or die quickly in my experience.
Renee, You are so funny! I know of a lot of families that had guineas (?) and lost many of them. Stacy at Off Grid with Doug and Stacy knows how to train them. They have videos of Stacy training them. Maybe Lacy can call Stacy as they are good friends!
They stay if you start them as babies. I have had the same guineas here for near 6 years. I had 50 and am down to 10 now. I lost more from heat this summer than anything so far. Plus they are old now. But the owls and raccoons love them also. I have lost many from those animals in the trees.
💚 Wow, those Guineas are a little Cray Cray 🖍🖍. How many did ypu end up with-12? I have seen them on homesteads cruising around quite calmly...hopefully they'll get there! When are you due, Lacy? You're glowing quite beautifully! 💚
We had a bunch of guineas pop up one day they weren't ours but they stayed for about 3 months and moved on everyone I know who's gotten guineas say within 2 to 3 weeks they just leave I guess they think the grass is greener and someone else's backyard. I do wish you the very best luck with yours
Our neighbors on an adjoining farm had about a dozen guineas. Late one evening I found all of them in the top of one of our largest apple trees! They wouldn’t come down and my dad told me to leave them be for the night. I had to go to school early the next morning and they were gone when I got home. My mother said they came out of the tree on their own and she thought they flew back home. Now that it has been about sixty years ago, I can’t remember if we ever really knew if they got home or not. My dad said they were their own boss!
Do not know a thing about them but they are cute little birds. Seen a whole lot of them on a country road I use to take every day, always like a school of fish all running together and going across the road to the woods. See them on the way to work and sometimes going back in the afternoon. I never knew what they were until this video.
Hey Mike and lacie, we've watched all your videos. We enjoy them tremendously. We've learned from you in your gardens and thank you so much. I'm here because we have knowledge on birds and want to give you a tip after watching this video and it concerns your guinea babies. We know that when we introduce new birds of any kind ,when they are first out of the brooder into their new home they need to see their surroundings so that they may recognize their hone, if they decide to fly the first time they are out they know where home is. We've learned this over 35 years raising lots of varieties but most importantly the ones that can fly away. We've had a hundred percent rate of success with adding fly pens for them to first go into and see their surroundings before allowing them out side free to fly . We've done this with many birds our pigeons especially but also any of our birds were could lose to fight. And this may be more than you need but them knowing the landscape and any markers that they will see and know are part of their homes. I hope this helps you and just allowing them to see where they live before they are able to fly away allows them to know where they want to return to. 👩🌾
@@MikeTheFitFarmer you guys are wonderful, we enjoy you so very much and was first time to comment and my husband really wanted me to make certain you knew to let them become familiar with their home before they were free to fly and he asked me several times to comment for him 😂 Can't wait to watch and grow along with you and yours!
Brother - check out Harbor Freight. They have a yellow colored dolly that has a longer extension base for lifting purposes plus you can replace the inflatable tires with solid rubber tires to eliminate tire failure in the future
I learned when catching Muscovys to take to market, always wear long sleeves and gloves. The first one got me so bad I had blood running down my arm from a 4 inch gash, and several other minor scratches. Gloves and long sleeves prevented any further injuries. And Comfrey Salve healed them! Live and learn!
I enjoy your videos very much! I have found apple cider vinegar in the water helps greatly with pasty butt. Since shipping causes a lot of stress for the chicks, I try to make sure they all have some vinegar water from the get go.
1 Tablespoon unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the mother with each gallon of water try it for pasty butt. It helps you may wish to make your own too easy to make. on youtube university look it up.
Great job Mike on getting Lacey what she has been wanting, happy wife happy life they say lol. Your kids are growing up so big, the family is growing. Any plans for a bigger house now that the little one is on the way?
I too was give 6 and kept them in only a few days and then never saw them again😄. I’m 68 and my husband still likes my hair long also. I too homeschooled my kids and they are all successful in their fields. May have already told you that about them. You guys are great enjoy watching your videos
When I was a child my Aunt had guinea chicks,as we called them. They used the chase us children all over the yard to pick us. We were scared of them! That was 70 years ago! God bless you all.🙏🏾
When you start letting them out only let a couple out. When they come back give them some cracked corn (maybe condition them by shaking the grain in a bucket). You might want to start giving them their feed early evening. Also, guineas can't see in the dark.
they're beautiful birds, though difficult to raise 'cause they claw & fight you & hurt you, not warm and cuddly. and you lost a lot, which is unfortunate. i read online: "Guinea fowl care means they may require occasional handling. These birds hate being handled, but if you must, do it when they're in a confined space - like their pen. Get them quickly and hold them securely by the body. Don't grab their legs. To keep them from flying away, clip their wings."
I love Guineas! I don’t know if you know this but, Guineas can’t be held by their legs like chickens. Their legs will tear. Also, to get them to imprint on a new area, you have to lock them in the new area for 6 weeks, or they will leave to find their home. Good luck and have fun with them ❤
Guineas are the best for eating bugs. They don’t stay in a pin they run kind of wild but they are cool. The make a lot of noise and will let you know if something different shows up. They are kinda like a tick eating guard dog!
And they sing like aliens. I had guineas, still love them. Lacy, you are glowing !
More like an alarm system than a guard dog
@@THEE.apples that is true
We lost 6 of the 30 we ordered from Murray Mcmurray within the first two weeks. When I called to ask them what I might be doing wrong. They asked me several questions and concluded I was doing everything right, and then they credited my account for the lost guineas! I didn’t ask them to do that, and certainly didn’t expect it, but man, I was super impressed with their customer service! They’ve made a loyal customer for life out of me.
Your a good husband and father Mike! Looking forward to the new little human. 🙂 Your other kiddo's are growing up so nice.
Mike you are doing a great job on your husband duties. I'm sure Lacey appreciates it and we ladies out here love you for it cause we love Lacey so much!
I'm retired and as much as I love watching your videos, this particular one was a fantastic way to start off a Monday morn. My tea in hand, the beautiful background music, serene settings, morn sun, Lacie going for a walk, communing with nature and animals. Absolutely beautiful ...
Thanks, Jane. Happy Monday!
Hey Mike, you are a great husband and father! Your children are adorable. You and lacy are wonderful parents. I enjoy watching all of you working together. Live is full of love and happiness in our own back yard.
Your kids are amazing and such hard workers. Thank you for sharing.
You can train them while they are young.. I free range them together with the chicks and they all grow together and they are all buddy.. at the end of the day.. they return home and during middday.. they come to the homebase.. make sure you have food at homebase so that they return home during mid day.. and whistle to teach them to return home.. good luck!!
Thanks!
Lacie , I loved being pregnant when i did not have morning sickness .
You Are looking well , do you juice any fresh fruit and veges ?
With my last pregnancy I lived on fresh juice , and everything went really well (I was 45 at the time ).Motherhood has been my greatest journey 💓🤰🐤🐥🦆🦢🌹
Mike , You are such a Good Man , a wonderful Father and Loving Husband ,
Your Family is Blessed 💯🦁
I hope the challenges with the guineas pays off , I know their eggs are delightful !
Just gonna tell ya. 1 you can’t re home them. 2 if they get loose good luck getting them back 3 probably better to start with a smaller flock because the bigger the flock the more they roam 4. Find your clutches of eggs in the spring and hatch them, because 1 they will again grow up with you and stick around and 2 they will hatch them but bless their heart they’ll get picked off. Couldn’t manage without my guard birds and you can go into my yard and not get a tick between the chickens and Guinea but go to the neighbors down the road and get covered. And yes I give mine wild game bird feed mixed with some scratch…. Little corn in the winter for heat
please be careful Lacey you dont want a infection from a bird scratches hugssss hope all is good with the family
Yes Mike she is beautiful, she also has that expecting Mama Glow.
I loved having guineas here, they were the best watch dogs, if anyone stopped or walked down the road they would go crazy, to let us know something wasn't right outside.. We treated ours like chickens, kept them in there house for atleast a week or 2 and feed them inside their pen, gave treats inside their pen. We would usually feed them in the evening time, so they would get used to being fed at the same time . Like chickens they would seem to know when it was feeding time and know the cup with the food in it. So when you let them out for the first time and in the evening time comes around they will be looking to eat and be waiting, and be easier to put up esp if they get trained to feed and watered inside their pen. But after a few months it's a lot easier and they would adventure around the yard but would always come back home when it was feeding time..
I love the idea of a built in security system...
@@MikeTheFitFarmer our turkeys do the same thing! Guineas will help kill snakes ( it's weird to watch them attack a snake) mice plus eat all those bugs, and another plus about guineas which you probably already know , but they don't scratch the ground like chickens do. But they love ticks,fleas etc..
But yes, guineas and our turkeys are great at letting us know when something is not right out in the yard or if someone pulls in the driveway or even walking down the road lol a few weeks ago we had these big trucks and several guys working on our electric pole and man those turkeys just kept gobbling and gobbling lol non stop until they left! Awhile back we had a male turkey in with our chickens and I heard him gobbling outside I ran outside to see what was going on and didn't see any chickens and I started freaking out, I only seen the turkey standing out in the middle of the field alone and he had his head titled and was looking up and I seen a chicken hawk, as soon as my girls heard me they all came running to me out from under a building a had a sigh of relief, but the turkey had alerted the chickens of the hawk. One night we heard the turkeys going crazy in there pen we ran out there and at first I didn't see anything and they still was gobbling, and I looked closer and there was a coon half dead in there pen.i don't know if the turkeys gained up on it but that coon was laying flat on it's stomach arms open like I give up lol he was turning it's head and hissing.. you will get to know there sounds like ya do with a new born baby
You have a bird sanctuary there so many birds, love it👍
Start as babies.
Keep them locked up 6 months.
I have had mine in the yard near 6 years.
I started with 50 and I have 10 left.
Owls, hawks and raccoons love to take guineas.
We have not seen ticks here for years.
We used to have an over abundance of ticks in the 10s getting on us. It freaked me out, so I got guineas.
Best thing I ever did to get rid of ticks. AND they eat the Japanese Beetle grubs from the ground.
I didn't know that about the Japanese beetle! Do they destroy gardens like chickens or are they safe to let roam in the garden eating those pesky things??
@@HumbleHillsHomestead They are not as destructive in the garden as chickens. But they can do damages to fruit. And they will jump up and break plants eating the bugs. I have my garden fenced off from them.
Together hope in your yard is what you want
They are both so blessed and they are receiving the fullness of the Lord
Amen!!
Mike the family is so BLESSED people can't take it 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
enjoyed the video about the guineas. they are an interesting breed. was great to see the children helping and especially Sara as she is very fast catching the fowls. have a great week. glad to see you all back.
Hey Mike. You don’t know me from Adam, but I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy watching y’all on TH-cam. I have only been watching for a short time, but I have learned a lot from y’all. I pray that God continues to bless your sweet family!!
Thanks, Rodney, appreciate your comment.
He strong. Love your channel.
After several tries we did a lot of research and moved the guineas from the brooder to a guinea tractor. About 3 or 4 weeks later we started removing just one or two and let them roam, they would not venture far from their flock still in the guinea tractor. After a week let out another. They continued to stay by the tractor until the last one was out which took quite a while and even though they do roam they always come home to the same tree to roost every night. My neighbors all want some now but say theirs leave and never come, which happened the first 2 times we tried to get guineas, but these are now wandering around the yard with our ducks, geese, guineas everyday for past 2 years now. I love them
I kept mine penned up for 3 months. Then when I released them I did have to herd them back home a few times because they would get confused...was lucky to have good neighbors who would call me and let me know they had wonder off. They are loud but very entertaining and great natural insecticide...enjoy
Thanks Mike for the gift for Lacey . I know that she loves her birds . Maybe the guineas will clam down soon . Lacey enjoy your guineas .I am glad your pregnancy is going well and you look great .👍
Glad you got some survivers in the Guinea hen wars. They really do have to have the gamebird feed. it is higher protien and has more of the vitamins they need as they grow. Guinea hens are carnivores, they will eat any bug they can catch, they would prefer if they could talk to have a bug only diet. So feeding anything other than gamebird feed does lead to problems. Also they need to be brooded separatly! For alot longer! Leave them penned for at least four months. The goslings and chicks eat completly differnt food. Goslings are grazers, like cows. They only really want grass. Chicks are all round omnivores and will eat almost anything, so their diet is again different. Now you are not done with them dying for any reason under the sun. They are very hardy as adults but poults get into more trouble than a person could imagine for longer than other birds. Once they grow up and know where they live they will stay. It is much easier raising guineas if you let a chicken mom or a guinea mom do it, but even for a guinea mom there is a two year learning curve. I will pray for your sucess in this.
Thanks Susan!
My best friend has always had guineas...they were good about hatching and raising babies. Good "alarm systems" :)
Awe, what a good husband!!
Salah is amazing in all she does. The boys are growing and becoming little men, so helpful.
Good to see your beautiful, jolly wife going for a Good Walk and fresh air away for her time alone , so beautiful 🥰 👍💕💕💕
Kudos to Mike for listening to Lacy! I just love how you all work together.😀
A hint I use for moving heavy things (I'm 145 lbs) is to lift it onto one corner then rotate it to a new position closer to where you want it. Then set it down and lift to another corner and rotate it to another position. It's like walking with your own legs. You don't have to lift the whole weight, probably only half and can be walked into almost anywhere you want including up/down steps.
Thanks for another great video. I look forward to Sunday evenings so that I can see you guys. We need more videos.....please!
You all have truly become like family. Lacey please be careful with those cuts and scratches. Be Safe and Be Blessed. I Love You All 💙
I always make sure I wash them out good and put my salve on them. They have all healed up nicely. ~ Lacie
Hello awesome family‼️
Yes, I've seen most homesteaders/ fowl pro's only use Gamebird feed.
I love watching how you care for your animals.
Keep doing what you guys do. It blesses me to my core. 🥰
No thank you... our neighbor had guineas that roamed.. I am sure they are a benefit for bugs, etc.. but that noise they make made me want to catch them and put them in our neighbors bedroom. Haha
Wow! Real love in this family.hard working too.i love you all
Great bug eaters. Ilive in South Africa and here they are wild and all over. My one friend has them roost in a big tree by her kitchen at night. Doug and Stacey's GUineas free range on their farm, you should ask their advice
Mike I saw you struggling with your hand truck .I am 68 years old and had the same problem with mine .I redid mine by installing a set of front wheels and tires from an old riding lawnmower . IT makes it easier carry loads across the ground ,and is easier to balance . I can lift the back end of a Cub Cadet LT10 50 60 inch cut riding mower and pull it across the yard fairly easy . Reach out to virginiaswampdog and I will send you a picture of what I did , if I can . My wife and I enjoy your channel .
Nice guinea graduation day Dicksons! I like the variety you got. My favorite is the Royal Purple but those are hard to find so my next favorite is the Lavender with the polka dotted feathers. I like guineas too. I got roosters and my guineas left. Darn! I free range all my poultry together. I have laying chickens, roosters, and 4 Khaki Campbell ducks with 4 guineas and they stayed about 2 months and then they left. The guineas where raised together with the ducks and roosters. I already had the flock of laying chickens. Once everyone was pretty mature I let them out of the stall in the barn to get with the laying chickens I already had. I want to try guineas again but maybe I'll have to have a big flock of them and perhaps their own coop where they don't have to share with the laying hens? We have a good sized barn and places for them to roost way up high where they like to but they still decided to leave. I miss them. I fed them the same as the chickens but I also gave them meal worms. Good luck with your flock of guineas Lacie. They are very nice to have and we had a lot less ticks when we had them for about 10 years. They are great alert birds for the other poultry. It was nice to hear them again. I love their little whistles to each other.
Hi.... Mike Dickson and Lacie, thank you for showing your video homestead 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 👕🐔🐓🐣🐥🐕🐐🐝🌱🌺🌹🌻🌼🌸🌷🏡🎥👍👍👍
My favorite farming family I love 💕💕💕 this farming family, God Almighty bless you, your beloved children and all the fowl, animals on your Farm 🏠. Thanks for gifting your pregnant Wife , you are a good, hardworking, humorous husband for sure 👍💕💕
Thank you so much; appreciate it.
Lacey you look so beautiful in pregnancy
You both have such a lovely relationship. A life of true wealth, is a life lived with closeness to family. ( Also I'd say props! I don't know if I could manage all you both manage in a day.. oof I'd get tired after an hour. )
Thank you!
Hello Family, either way there pretty.
Mom is sure showing. Hope you all have a great Holliday.
Very nice gift to Lacie. The Guineas are so pretty, but not cuddly, for sure. Thanks for sharing. 🌻💖🌻
You two are great together
Thanks Joy, we agree!
I love Guineas, Most of the time. They like to roost in the trees and they are great watchdogs and raise such a ruckus when something comes on the property that isn't supposed to be there. I have one that is 10 years old it is a rooster and he lives with my chickens. For a time he taught my chickens how to get out but the coyotes were coming in during the day and getting the chickens. He hasn't convinced the newer chickens to go out with him but he still roams around and STILL isn't cuddly, in fact he thinks that I am evil incarnate. He screams at me and makes his guinea sound anytime I am out there to feed or water or anything. I have always kept mine up for 30 to 45 days to let them learn where home is. One thing to watch for next spring is they will lay LARGE clutches of eggs in the high grass and then abandon the nest. But have no fear you will find them when you mow usually when they are very old and stinky.... Good luck and God bless
Lacey looking so radiant!
I keep mine in an outside dog cage about 10 by 10. I have about 50 and my husband said we have to many. I only give them feed when time to go in at night. They will go in the cage for their protection because of fox, Coyotes, Owls or other critters wanting to kill them. Plus I have a pig electric fence around the cage because I had a fox stir them up and caused them to knock to door open but after putting fence up a fox got tangled in one because there is 2 put as a double fence. Now nothing bothers them unless one does not go in pen and me not catch it
I've built two unplanned chicken coops this year... Turns out that a growing flock needs more Roosting spaces... And we got a visit from a skunk that frightened them on their lower perches. They chose the railings on the loading ramp extension from the deck I built as their new preferred location. The top of the railing is about 5 and a half feet off the ground. The ramp deck is about two feet off the ground, si their jump up us doable and acceptable to them. I am building a new coop around their new preferred perches, and egg laying boxes under the decking. At least I know where they are.
MINE LIKE THE TOP OF A 6 FOOT FENCE
I love you guys seeing you so happy each other’s doing you daily chores . What a fantastic couple you are very supportive to each other’s. God bless you family and that cute baby is on mommy’s tummy. I love you 😘 family.
Thank you, Queila!
I hope you know how rich you truly are bro.
It is one way to get rid of bugs that's for sure
My friend has guineas and they roost in the trees but will stray away an NOT come back!
So he put two of them in with the chickens an then the rest started roosting in the trees close by the pen.
And.. the layed eggs all in the lawn..
He gave them away. He said they were too much problems..
I bought full grown Guinea’s from a flea market and put them in the chicken coop. 16 chickens , 2 roosters, , 2 turkeys, 2 Guinea’s (1male,1female) all in the chicken coop yard together. They all went out in the yard outside of the coop area together in the morning and all went back in to roost together in the evening, every day. Never had a problem with them running off. A farm can also be a type of permaculture gardening. Donkeys protect the property along with your dog, the Guinea’s and turkey’s alert to predators and the Guinea’s even kill some predators. Cats also help with predators and the dog looks after the cat. Etc, etc. you have to foster a relationship and boundaries with each animal so they understand the order of things. It’s work, but this can be done, and when done right, it’s really beautiful.
Happy wife.....happy life!
We got guineas this year. Six weeks in the brooder, 2 weeks in the coop, let them out and we’ve not seen them after that week. Haha! We do hear them sometimes on the property and the tick population has severely decreased. Next year, I’ll keep them in a coop with a fence for a couple months. 😂
Goodness gracious, y'all are just too cute!
I just LOVE you guys and your beautiful family.
Guineas are fun. I had a blue and white pinstriped dress that I liked to wear out in the yard cause all the boy guineas would chase me around crowing and acting crazy haha. They thought I was the biggest most beautiful African guinea they ever saw haha 😆 good times but for real yea they will all leave and or die quickly in my experience.
Renee, You are so funny! I know of a lot of families that had guineas (?) and lost many of them. Stacy at Off Grid with Doug and Stacy knows how to train them. They have videos of Stacy training them. Maybe Lacy can call Stacy as they are good friends!
They stay if you start them as babies. I have had the same guineas here for near 6 years. I had 50 and am down to 10 now. I lost more from heat this summer than anything so far. Plus they are old now. But the owls and raccoons love them also. I have lost many from those animals in the trees.
💚 Wow, those Guineas are a little Cray Cray 🖍🖍. How many did ypu end up with-12? I have seen them on homesteads cruising around quite calmly...hopefully they'll get there! When are you due, Lacy? You're glowing quite beautifully! 💚
I have never raised guineas, but my wife is Italian and I have found that food matters.
Great video guys
God Bless you and the family and your pregnancy 🙏🏻 ❤️ love the Fit Farmer
Cool! Great hubby. Blessings, julie
We had a bunch of guineas pop up one day they weren't ours but they stayed for about 3 months and moved on everyone I know who's gotten guineas say within 2 to 3 weeks they just leave I guess they think the grass is greener and someone else's backyard. I do wish you the very best luck with yours
Mike, just quietly, I am totally with you on the long hair down thing. 😉😀
Stay blessed! 🙏🏼
Our neighbors on an adjoining farm had about a dozen guineas. Late one evening I found all of them in the top of one of our largest apple trees! They wouldn’t come down and my dad told me to leave them be for the night. I had to go to school early the next morning and they were gone when I got home. My mother said they came out of the tree on their own and she thought they flew back home. Now that it has been about sixty years ago, I can’t remember if we ever really knew if they got home or not. My dad said they were their own boss!
Do not know a thing about them but they are cute little birds. Seen a whole lot of them on a country road I use to take every day, always like a school of fish all running together and going across the road to the woods. See them on the way to work and sometimes going back in the afternoon. I never knew what they were until this video.
Great video guys 🥰🥰🥰
Hey Mike and lacie, we've watched all your videos. We enjoy them tremendously. We've learned from you in your gardens and thank you so much. I'm here because we have knowledge on birds and want to give you a tip after watching this video and it concerns your guinea babies. We know that when we introduce new birds of any kind ,when they are first out of the brooder into their new home they need to see their surroundings so that they may recognize their hone, if they decide to fly the first time they are out they know where home is. We've learned this over 35 years raising lots of varieties but most importantly the ones that can fly away. We've had a hundred percent rate of success with adding fly pens for them to first go into and see their surroundings before allowing them out side free to fly . We've done this with many birds our pigeons especially but also any of our birds were could lose to fight. And this may be more than you need but them knowing the landscape and any markers that they will see and know are part of their homes. I hope this helps you and just allowing them to see where they live before they are able to fly away allows them to know where they want to return to. 👩🌾
We are going to let them out of that space but they are there for now until we can figure a couple things out.
@@MikeTheFitFarmer you guys are wonderful, we enjoy you so very much and was first time to comment and my husband really wanted me to make certain you knew to let them become familiar with their home before they were free to fly and he asked me several times to comment for him 😂 Can't wait to watch and grow along with you and yours!
Brother - check out Harbor Freight. They have a yellow colored dolly that has a longer extension base for lifting purposes plus you can replace the inflatable tires with solid rubber tires to eliminate tire failure in the future
I learned when catching Muscovys to take to market, always wear long sleeves and gloves. The first one got me so bad I had blood running down my arm from a 4 inch gash, and several other minor scratches. Gloves and long sleeves prevented any further injuries. And Comfrey Salve healed them! Live and learn!
Awe!!! You two are adorable ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
they are good guard dogs... the ones our neighbors had kept the ticks ate up in our yard
I enjoy your videos very much! I have found apple cider vinegar in the water helps greatly with pasty butt. Since shipping causes a lot of stress for the chicks, I try to make sure they all have some vinegar water from the get go.
So happy for ya'll.
They’re beautiful 😃!
1 Tablespoon unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the mother with each gallon of water try it for pasty butt. It helps you may wish to make your own too easy to make. on youtube university look it up.
I did that too.
Such a great husband and family he is so sweet to his wifey ❤love this family and their journey with homestead life
Great job Mike on getting Lacey what she has been wanting, happy wife happy life they say lol. Your kids are growing up so big, the family is growing. Any plans for a bigger house now that the little one is on the way?
You'll just have to watch and find out lol
@@MikeTheFitFarmer oh I plan on continuing to watch no doubt about that enjoy your channel west to much to stop watching
Awesome job God Bless you and your family
I too was give 6 and kept them in only a few days and then never saw them again😄. I’m 68 and my husband still likes my hair long also. I too homeschooled my kids and they are all successful in their fields. May have already told you that about them. You guys are great enjoy watching your videos
Thanks, Nancy!
I know this is off topic...but your daughter is drop-dead-gorgeous! She's pretty handy grabbing those quail, too.
When I was a child my Aunt had guinea chicks,as we called them. They used the chase us children all over the yard to pick us. We were scared of them! That was 70 years ago! God bless you all.🙏🏾
The cows Lacey fed on her walk were much more cuddly. I see cows in the future!
When you start letting them out only let a couple out. When they come back give them some cracked corn (maybe condition them by shaking the grain in a bucket). You might want to start giving them their feed early evening. Also, guineas can't see in the dark.
I have those pallet boxes I move them with my mower I hook a rope on one corner and drag it they are heavy.
they're beautiful birds, though difficult to raise 'cause they claw & fight you & hurt you, not warm and cuddly. and you lost a lot, which is unfortunate.
i read online: "Guinea fowl care means they may require occasional handling. These birds hate being handled, but if you must, do it when they're in a confined space - like their pen. Get them quickly and hold them securely by the body. Don't grab their legs. To keep them from flying away, clip their wings."
My dother hade a rabbit she was much like does birdies, i have some scars but we loved her personality 💖💖💖💖
I raised quail and fed them game bird feed. I didn’t have any trouble with pastey butt. I only raised two small groups though.
I had to look Guineas to see why we should raise them. After we move to Kentucky or Tennessee in a couple months we will add some guineas for sure!
I LOVE that catalog
I love Guineas! I don’t know if you know this but, Guineas can’t be held by their legs like chickens. Their legs will tear. Also, to get them to imprint on a new area, you have to lock them in the new area for 6 weeks, or they will leave to find their home. Good luck and have fun with them ❤
Mine were friendly, too. I like the tiny hearts on their feathers. 🤍
The moonshiners used Guinea hens to eat the fallen grain and at night warn them when revenuers were coming . Built in alarm
I love you guys wonderful family and congratulations on the new baby 👶 God bless 🙌
Thank you!