Guinea Fowl May Get To Free Range
I have not yet told our flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl, but if the weather forecast for the week pans out the way the forecasters are predicting, then it’s just possible our Guinea fowl may get to leave their coop and coop yard for a day of free ranging this week.
We have not allowed our Guinea fowl to leave their coop and coop yard area since the snow started piling up on the ground – about 3 months ago. As I stated in an earlier post, this is because we’ve heard too many horror stories about how Guinea fowl will become ‘anxious’ about the snow on the ground and roost in trees. Apparently, once in the trees, these anxiety-laden Guinea fowl will refuse to come down – sometimes for several days at a time. We have Great horned owls around here, and they’d make quick work of any Guinea fowl that spent the night in a tree – especially out from under the protection of our two dogs.
The weather this week is supposed to have more sunshine and temperatures way up in the 30°F range – even as high as 39°F one day. This new, warmer weather trend actually started yesterday, which began the lengthy, muddy process of melting the snow. Today is Tuesday, and we figure the vast majority of the snow will be off the ground by Friday. If that turns out to be the case, we’ve decided that we will allow the Guinea fowl to free range on Saturday.
All of our Guinea fowl have acclimated quite well during the seemingly endless chain of sub-zero weather days. Our Guinea fowl will now play outside in their coop yard even when the temperatures are near the 0°F mark. So we’re sure the cold won’t be a problem for them – especially since they will be getting the extra body heating activities of extended flying and longer running areas.
I know that if the Guinea fowl knew they might get to free range in a few days they’d be genuinely excited. The truth is, we’re both excited by the prospect as well. It’s been difficult watching the birds deal with the long term confinement necessitated by the combination of our harsh winter weather and hungry predators.
Hopefully, if the Guinea fowl do get to come out and free range, we’ll be able to get some good Guinea fowl photographs, and perhaps even get a new mid-season video done for YouTube. If you haven’t watched any of our Guinea fowl videos, tune into Guinea Fowl TV at http://www.youtube.com/user/GuineaFowlTV.
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