Guinea Fowl Get A Nice Day
We were pleasantly surprised today when we saw that the sun was coming up – without the dense cloud cover that had been predicted. But we were not nearly as pleased as our flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl was!
Overnight something happened to the weather, and we went from a high chance of snow, heavy cloud cover, 6°F and stiff winds to a sunny day with light winds and a ‘balmy’ high temperature of 26°F. We were elated, and the Guinea fowl couldn’t wait to get out and play – except for one little thing.
The bright sunshine had our Guinea fowl excited to come outside of the coop and play in the coop yard, but they did not like the 8″ of snow in their coop yard. The wife and I grabbed shovels and a shop push broom and headed to the coop yard to do some cleanup of the fresh white stuff. Two hours of hard labor later, all of the Guinea fowl were outside playing.
We knew we’d made the right decision when we decided to get most of the snow out of the coop yard. We could tell because as we cleaned areas, the Guinea fowl immediately started leaving the coop and coming out into the sunshine. As the area cleared of snow grew, the Guinea fowl spread out more and more. They were also making those happy Guinea fowl sounds as they enjoyed the freedom, space and fresh air of the great outdoors. I think they were trying to say ‘thank you.’
A couple of hours after we’d cleaned the snow out of the coop yard, we saw that the Guinea fowl had scratched some areas to loosen dirt so they could dust bathe. The Guinea fowl all worked together to make these areas, and then actually seemed to wait in line for their turn to wallow, scratch and flutter dust all over themselves. It wasn’t really that dusty, but the Guinea fowl managed to make it all work out – and they most certainly were enjoying it. The dust bathing ritual is so very important to the Guinea fowl – it did our hearts good to see them enjoying their special bathing time.
Tomorrow is supposed to be another sunny, ‘warm’ day: 28°F. We’re already excited about letting the Guinea fowl out of the coop to play, and tomorrow, unlike today, we won’t be out there shoveling and sweeping for a couple of hours. So tomorrow, there will be happy Guinea fowl and happy Guinea fowl keepers around here!
A Guinea Fowl Winter Update
There is a photo at the end of this blog. The photo is not of our Guinea fowl, rather it is of our two dogs. The German Shepherd dog prefers to stay in the insulated dog house while it snows, during extremely cold weather, The female Akita, on the other hand, does not. The Akita is asleep in 2″ of fresh snow on TOP of the dog houses – while it is snowing. You can see that the snow is just starting to stick to her coat. By the time she moved, she had about 1″ of snow on her body.
Our flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl is refusing to come out of their coop during these bad weather times. The past few days we’ve had snow, blowing snow, hard snow, soft snow, winds up to 30 mph and only brief glimpses of sunshine. We have opened the small door to the coop for the Guinea fowl every morning, but then closed it shortly thereafter. None of the Guinea fowl want to come outside for more than just a peek – and then they go running back into the coop to protect themselves from the snow, frigid temperatures and bone-chilling winds.
When the Guinea fowl stay inside their coop this much, it means that we have to rake the coop more often. It also means that the Guinea fowl eat more food. We cannot go inside the coop and rake when all 30 of the pearl grey Guinea fowl are inside – it is just too crowded, and the Guinea fowl get upset and start flying around. We’re afraid they might injure themselves, so we skip it until we can coax them outside. Of course, since the Guinea fowl don’t want to leave the coop during the bad weather – which is why we need to clean the coop more often – we are sort of stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place.
We’re continuing to supplement the Guinea fowl’s regular diet with suet and the special winter treats described in an earlier post. They have really taken to the fat and protein-rich winter treats – and that makes us feel more secure about their ability to make it through the nastiest parts of the winter weather – which are just now beginning.
Guinea Fowl Winter Treat
There is a photo of the Guinea fowl winter treats at the bottom of this post.
We’ve been very impressed, and a little surprised, at how well our flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl have been coping with the extreme winter weather here. As I write this, it is -13°F outside and there is about 4″ of snow on the ground. The Guinea fowl refused to come out of their coop today. I don’t blame them – I know we didn’t want to go outside!
We feed our Guinea fowl a high protein diet during the winter, which is what everyone suggests. We have also incorporated a suet block into their diet. Today we went to a new level. My wife handmade some special winter treats for the Guinea fowl.
How we made the Guinea fowl winter treats: we took some leftover breadstuffs and spread peanut butter on the tops. The peanut butter, which is high in protein and fat, was about ¼” – ½” thick. We then dipped the peanut butter side of the bread into mixed seeds. Our Guinea fowl don’t like eating ‘large’ things, and so we used the mixed seeds to entice them to eat these rather large winter treats.
We placed the winter treats inside of the Guinea fowl coop. The Guinea fowl didn’t approach them at first, but soon after they could not resist the seeds (which included millet – their favorite). Within two hours of placing the winter treats inside the coop, the Guinea fowl had eaten every last scrap.
We’ve decided that we will prepare these Guinea fowl winter treats at least once per week, and perhaps even three times every two weeks, during the cold weather. We are coming into January, and the temperatures are going to get brutal outside. Perhaps all the extra protein and fat will help our Guinea fowl stay warmer and relieve some of the stress associated with being in the coop so much.
Our Guinea Fowl Get A Break
Our flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl got a bit of time outside of the coop in the coop yard. Three days ago, the weather eased up a bit. That is to say that it didn’t snow and the temperatures were not sub-zero – and most importantly, the sun was shining for a good part of the short days.
Before we let the Guinea fowl out of the coop we allowed the two large dogs into the coop yard. The dogs ran around sniffing everything that they are not usually allowed near. We do not allow the dogs into the Guinea fowl coop yard, customarily. Anyway, the reason we turned the dogs into the coop yard was so that they would trample down some of the existing snow. This is a task they are well suited for – and were glad to [unknowingly] do for us.
After our dogs spent about 10 minutes running around trampling snow in the Guinea fowl coop yard, we put them out and allowed the Guinea fowl to come out and play. It was about 9 AM when we let them out, and the sun was shining full on at that particular time. The Guinea fowl raced out of the coop and into the yard.
Once the Guinea fowl hit their coop yard they realized there was a lot of snow and immediately started to seek refuge on the roosts of their jungle gym. We had taken a stick and swiped the snow off the tops of the jungle gym roosts, so they were pretty much cleared.
The Guinea fowl didn’t stay roosted for very long. We had put some fresh alfalfa cuttings on the ground, and they really wanted to eat them. After the Guinea fowl sat on the roosts preening for a few minutes, they came down and started eating the alfalfa, which led to them exploring the snowier parts of the coop yard.
Amazingly, the Guinea fowl trampled down the snow in quite a large area of their coop yard on the first day. On the second day, they had completed eliminated all of the snow on the ground inside the coop yard – and they were running, jumping and doing short flight sessions. I don’t blame them, they have been cooped up quite a bit this winter, and the exercise is a good thing for them. It was clear that the Guinea fowl were very much enjoying their time outside in the open space of their coop yard.
Today the weather is again changing for the worse. The temperatures are dropping and snow is forecast through the remainder of the week. At least the Guinea fowl had a couple of days of outside play before this next winter blast once again makes their confinement necessary.
Guinea Fowl Making Do In Snow
NOTE: the Guinea fowl photos are at the end of this post. Hover over any photo for a brief description.
Our daytime temperatures here have risen slightly since that last arctic blast came through. Today it was a balmy 16°F, and we only had the slightest dusting of early morning snow. Considering the 2″ of snow we had yesterday, when the high temperature was a bone chilling -2°F, today was a beautiful day!
This morning we opened the door to our Guinea fowl’s coop – I should say we opened their door, it’s much smaller than the one we use. Anyway, now that I’m done with my feeble attempt at humor, we opened the Guinea fowl’s door and allowed them to decide whether or not to venture outside. Since we really do want them to get out as much as possible, we sweetened the deal for those Guinea fowl daring enough to brave the cold and snow – we put out a handful of 3rd cutting alfalfa and some stale bread, two of their favorites!
We were surprised, and very happy, to see all 30 of our flock of pearl grey Guinea fowl come outside for a bit. They never all came out at the same time, but as best as we could tell, all of them did get out and get some fresh air and exercise.
We encourage the Guinea fowl to get out of the coop for several reasons, not the least of which is to minimize the amount of waste they deposit in their coop. By the way, our Guinea fowl coop is actually a converted, pull-behind camper. If you’d like to see the story of how we made our coop, see it all here: http://www.mymilescity.com/guinea/camper-coop.html.
By 2PM today the shadows were long and the wind had picked up, and the Guinea fowl had quit coming outside – so we closed their door for the rest of the day and night.
As you can see in the photos, the Guinea fowl cleared areas for eating their alfalfa – and for dust bathing. We watched the Guinea fowl dust bathing again today – something we got to see a few days ago when they were outside during a break in the worst of the weather. In the summer, when the Guinea fowl dust bathe, there is a cloud of dust – but in winter, it’s more like chunks of frozen dirt mixed with ice and snow. Still, the Guinea fowl seem to enjoy the ritual, so we’re glad for them.
Our Dogs Miss The Guinea Fowl
To quote the popular holiday song ‘the weather outside is frightful.’ But the past couple of days have been decent, all things considered. To celebrate the very cold but sunny days, we let the Guinea fowl out into their coop yard – and they have relished it. Tomorrow the temperatures drop back to subzero and it will snow for at least two days. The Guinea fowl will again be confined inside their coop.
The last couple of days our Guinea fowl have been playing outside in the coop yard, despite the snow on the ground and the temperatures: 10° – 20°F with wind chills touching zero and slightly below. I’ll try to put two photos of the Guinea fowl in the snow at the end of this post.
In one of the photos, the Guinea fowl are actually ‘dust’ bathing – well, sort of, anyway. They scratched the snow away until they got to some frozen dirt and then they did their dust bathing ritual. If you look closely at the photo, you can see a few large chunks of frozen dirt and ice in the air.
While our Guinea fowl have been outside playing in the coop yard, we’ve noticed that the dogs not only spend a lot of time hanging around the coop yard, they are also intent on playing/interacting with their charges: the flock of 30 pearl grey Guinea fowl. It’s been a hoot to watch as the dogs charge the fence and then stop, leap and turn in playful gestures. It’s as if the dogs are trying to get the Guinea fowl to come out of the coop yard and play with them. The dogs also yip and do light barks at the Guinea fowl, again attempting to get attention and interaction.
The Guinea fowl, as surprising as it was to me, respond to the presence of the dogs. The Guinea fowl will walk to the fence near the dogs and make calls, run up and down the fence line and do their ‘skipping.’ The dogs seem to know that the Guinea fowl are attempting to play with them, and they respond in kind as best they can.
I would have never thought that the bond between the dogs and the Guinea fowl was so strong, but it just goes to show that one learns something new everyday. Things between Bella and the Guinea fowl have really changed since the first days when the Guinea fowl arrived, and she wanted to do nothing but attack and kill them. Of our two dogs, Bella is now the most playful and protective of the Guinea fowl.
