guinea fowls

[Nienke]

Since the latest arrival flying in from space my zoo now consists of dogs, cats, chicken, 1 pig named Oink, and 1 duck named Lady-Duck (yup, I can be very original )
Here's Lady-Duck and I adore her to bits: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152615511776589&set=vb.531961588&type=2&theater
Not sure if this love is returned, but as long as the fish pond is filled with lots of snails and other goodies and she can keep on joining the fish during their meal times, she seems to enjoy staying.

Now, I'm looking into an extension of my zoo and well in the form of guinea fowls.
Does anyone know where to get guinea fowls in Chiang Mai?

[worgeordie]

Guinea fowl seem to be a very nervous bird,at least the ones i had

in the UK, bought them, took them home and let them loose in the

garden, within minutes they had all flown onto the roof of an adjacent

building,never to be seen again,don't think they would do well around

dogs.

regards worgeordie P.S. Geese might be better for you,they will boss the dogs around.

[Pond Life]

I like the idea of Geese to, where to buy the big buggers ?

[NancyL]

Someone dropped off a guinea hen at our small farm in Michigan once. People sometimes dropped off unwanted animals. (not really a good thing to do because of the dogs in the area). The guinea hen managed to stay out of the way of the dog and took up home in the vegetable and herb garden where she was a welcome addition, cleaning the plants of insects. Guinea fowl don't "scratch" like chickens do. However, the females have a very annoying cry that sounds like a loud, rusty hinge in need of oil. That may be why she got dropped off.

After about six weeks she disappeared as suddenly as she appeared. Don't know what happened, but the neighbor had mentioned he didn't like listening to her annoying cry.

I did a little research on guinea fowl. It seems they lay eggs just once a year, so people don't have them for egg production. Also, they like drier climates than Michigan's humid summers. I would think Chiang Mai's humidity might be a problem, too. It probably was a good thing our guinea hen disappeared because it was going to be a challenge to keep her thru the winter. Not a problem here, obviously. The weather we're having now is just like beautiful fall weather in Michigan.

Edited January 7, 2015 by NancyL

[Nienke]

Guinea fowl seem to be a very nervous bird,at least the ones i had

in the UK, bought them, took them home and let them loose in the

garden, within minutes they had all flown onto the roof of an adjacent

building,never to be seen again,don't think they would do well around

dogs.

regards worgeordie P.S. Geese might be better for you,they will boss the dogs around.

Maybe if I buy little ones and keep them confined till they are used to the barking? The chicken don't care. As long as I make sure the dogs can't get to them.

Will look in to keeping geese as well. Good guard birds. And may throw in the occasional stubborn dog ... or owner.

[junglechef]

Guess it depends on the dog, my dogs, which are just soi dogs I've collected from around, mingle with my ducks and chickens quite happily and don't see why they wouldn't with guinea fowl. And the dogs treat our goats as one of their own, maybe that's a good choice for the next member of your menagerie. We love our goats and they snuggle up to us like a loyal canine. On the subject of jittery fowl our old ducks were very nervous but now we have the kind in your video and they happily meander in and out of the pond and can most often be found under the lawn sprinkler. I'm thinking rabbits next, anybody know if they can roam freely or will they disappear? Martins (like mongoose) often eat our ducks and quail so I suppose they'd have to be caged at night.

[dogeatinghotchips]

If you get a few of them they will generally stick together, they like to roam around, sometimes quite far if possible. Once they are fully grown they can be quite good guard birds as the make a fair bit of noise, I've kept them before and our dogs never went near them.

There was always several at the teen Tok royal project on the way up to Mae Kampong which seemed to thrive well. The only place I've seen them for sale near Chiang Mai is at the Sanpatong Buffalo Market, only on a Saturday morning. Its on hwy 108 heading south through Sanpatong, once there go right through the market on the right hand side to the back where they sell the cows and buffalo, there is also an area selling birds, I've seen them for sale there alongside ducks and chickens. There will often be chicken sparing going on near there as they try before they buy.

[junglechef]

At my animal food store on the Mae Jo rd one can order all sorts of birds, I can chk next time I'm in if your interested

Edited January 7, 2015 by junglechef

[Nienke]

Thanks junglechef for the offer and others for your comments.

Unfortunately, the plans for another pet-species have to go back into the drawer for the time being.
The right time will come for the expansion of my mini-zoo, just not now.

[millwall_fan]

I saw live guinea fowl on sale at Hang Chat near Lampang (on the main highway from Chiang Mai a few Kms beyond the Elephant conservation' centre) on Thursday, along with other delights like (endangered) Barking Deer abortions.

[Phrafarang]

We did geese, never again, they were unbelievably noisy and one of them used to chase me up the path if l came in a little worse for wear in the early hours

[CMKiwi]

I believe geese also like to leave their mark everywhere (<deleted>). A bit like peacock.....great watchdogs but what a mess