Will Guinea fowl bother my dogs?

[MyNYfarm]

I have a mixed flock of chickens, various breeds, and turkeys. They were raised around my 3 big dogs and neither bother one another. The intermingle in the same fenced in yard in any way. I want to add some guinea fowl to help reduce the bug population and to alert. My dogs are house dogs and only go out when I do, so there is nothing protecting the chickens from aerial predators when they are in. My fence eliminates 99.9% of potential ground predators, but there are still overhead birds of prey. My concern is that I've read how aggressive guinea fowl protect the flock and I don't want them chasing or attacking my dogs. If they are raised with my dogs from the time of hatching will they get along and not view them as predators or will they attack the dogs regardless ? Thank you

 

[nuthatched]

Frankly, guinea are not going to do anything more than the birds you already have. But if you insist in getting some, if it's raised around the dogs, they shouldn't bother them.

 

[Zenmonkey]

Guineas have the reputation for eating ticks. Perhaps it isn't deserved, but I'm not letting that conspiracy theory die! Guinea power to the max!

I have a hard time keeping my dog from chasing the guineas. He really, really wants to be a good puppy, but it's really, really fun to watch them run and fly. He's somewhere been 50 and 60 pounds.

I think the direction of the chase depends a bit on the size of the dog. Most guineas are more or less the same size, with the Jumbos only a couple pounds more.

But as @nuthatched mentions, if they're raised together, or even reasonably well introduced IMO, they should get along well enough. I generally don't let Louie free with free ranging guineas. He's *usually* good about it. But I can see the temptation is there, and occasionally he caves.

 

[Zenmonkey]

You on the other hand? You might be risking your life. Guineas love humans.

 

[R2elk]

I have a mixed flock of chickens, various breeds, and turkeys. They were raised around my 3 big dogs and neither bother one another. The intermingle in the same fenced in yard in any way. I want to add some guinea fowl to help reduce the bug population and to alert. My dogs are house dogs and only go out when I do, so there is nothing protecting the chickens from aerial predators when they are in. My fence eliminates 99.9% of potential ground predators, but there are still overhead birds of prey. My concern is that I've read how aggressive guinea fowl protect the flock and I don't want them chasing or attacking my dogs. If they are raised with my dogs from the time of hatching will they get along and not view them as predators or will they attack the dogs regardless ? Thank you

Guineas are a flock bird and do best in large groups. They also do best when brooded and housed separately from other poultry. I do not recommend having fewer than 10 guineas for them to have proper flock dynamics.

They have entirely different instincts from any other poultry and can cause extreme stress to other poultry.

Many of the bragged about benefits of guineas do not happen unless they are a flock.

Adding a couple of guineas to your flock of chickens and turkeys will not likely accomplish the benefits you seek and may end up causing your flock stress.

Dogs love to chase and kill guineas especially once they get a taste of them.

Guinea fowl will not protect your flock.

 

[Zenmonkey]

I think of the guineas as more of an alarm than a protector. What good the alarm does depend a lot on whose listening and what sort of response is mounted.

 

[R2elk]

I think of the guineas as more of an alarm than a protector. What good the alarm does depend a lot on who is listening and what sort of response is mounted.

The trouble with their alarms is whether it is for something real or something imagined.

They definitely aren't protectors as they are very susceptible to predators themselves.

 

[Zenmonkey]

I've got about 30 of them out there. If they light up and the peafowl and the roosters and the dog don't, it's a false alarm. That doesn't happen more than every couple of minutes though.

 

[R2elk]

With that many you should have good flock dynamics.

 

[Zenmonkey]

Yeah, you're right. You can tell they're happier and behave different. Last season at one point I was down to about 11 birds, and they're quite different been 11 and 28, which is what I count out there now.