Guinea Fowls

[richard peters]

Does enyone know if ex South African "Guinea Fowls" are available in Thailand; - (either as birds, chicks or fertile eggs). We kept them on our family farm in Australia and they are more easy to raise, as they do not need to be penned up, roost up in low trees at night (where they become very noisy sentries against intruders). Better body weight for their size, lay plenty of small hard shelled eggs and are better 'survivors.' Known as the "gardener's friend", they eat garden bugs, ticks, weeds and their seeds, etc. We live near Phitsanulok where my wife has built a big chicken house in her garden, but in Australia we let them roam free in a field next to our house; - they also can be penned up and prevented from flying over the fence if necessay....

[KhunBENQ]

Quite likely they are available.

Search the net for ไก่ต๊อก as they are called in Thai.

You will find a lot of references and videos obviously filmed in Thailand, like this:

Looks like they are on offer here, for prices from 90 to 400 Baht depending on age (350 Baht for 4 month old).

An offer placed in June 2014:

http://market.taradkaset.com/5136/%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%81%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%8A%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81.html

[Farma]

The wifes nephew has a few of them along with other assorted birds like peacocks etc. I think he keeps them more as a novelty than anything else.

His house is on the edge of a village and the local dogs don't appear to be a threat to them. Maybe due to his rottweiler and Alsatian dogs keeping strays away.

They roam wild during the day and return to a roost overnight which he closes and locks.

I've been told he buys from a market near Ubon.

[Crossy]

Yup, as above, local name "gai tok".

We have seven, not seen a centipede or millipede since we got them

We also have ducks, geese and chickens of assorted sizes, everyone seems to get along. The guineas have decided to roost on the power lines rather than in the house I built for them.

Together they make an excellent intruder alarm (and a less excellent alarm clock).