Guinea Fowl Reunite With The Dogs
As I wrote yesterday, the worst of the winter weather is slowly subsiding, and so we are now letting our flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl out to free range once again. They spent four months confined to their coop and coop yard – and so they are all very happy for the freedom, and new foraging and flying opportunities.
It’s hard to decide who’s happiest about our Guinea fowl finally getting out to free range once again: the Guinea fowl, the dogs or ourselves. The Guinea fowl are happy for obvious reasons. We’re happy for several reasons, not the least of which is that when the birds free range, there is not so much pressure on their coop and coop yard environments. We’re also glad that we can slightly reduce the amount of feed and alfalfa we provide for the Guinea fowl when they can’t forage during free range time. Our dogs are happy because they are closely bonded to the Guinea fowl, and have clearly missed being with and guarding their winged charges.
Our two ranch dogs, Buddy – a 115# male German Shepherd dog, and Bella – a 95# female Akita spend a lot of their waking hours herding and watching over our flock of Guinea fowl – at least they did before we had to confine the birds to the coop area. After the birds were penned for the winter, the dogs played with them through the fencing, but over time that seemed not to satisfy the dogs’ desires to be with their buddies. This year, since letting the birds out to free range, the dogs have been spending a whole lot of time with the Guinea fowl – and the birds love it.
One of the cutest interactions we’ve seen between the Guinea fowl and the dogs occurred yesterday. Our two dog houses are immediately side by side. The eaves of the sloped roves touch, thus creating a ‘V’ that Bella very much enjoys lying down in. Bella, like most aggressive dogs, likes the high ground. Yesterday, one of the Guinea fowl decided to land where Bella likes to lay down and rest on top of the dog houses. Bella put her front paws up on the dog house and started to whine at the Guinea fowl. The Guinea fowl, in turn, started to get vocal back at Bella. The calls of the Guinea fowl made it clear that it was a male. The sounds escalated quickly until the Guinea fowl and Bella were exchanging exceptionally loud vocalizations. Frankly, the noise was quite noteworthy. As the two species continued their calling and barking, the entire flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl and Buddy, the German Shepherd dog, gathered around to watch – and listen. It was clear that Bella was playing with the Guinea fowl – what the Guinea fowl actually meant to do, I do not know. It was clear, however, that the Guinea fowl was having a good time and knew it was not threatened – despite the large, aggressive animal just inches in front of it.
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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