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GUINEA GUARDS!

Your first line of defense against unwanted predators.

I was skeptical at first. What can a bird possibly do against a predator like this...

We had a family of foxes move into our neighborhood. Mom, Dad and 3 kids. Mom and Dad went out hunting while kids stayed at home playing in the yard. We watched as they romped and played no more than 100 feet away , completely unintimidated by my 5 dogs and me. Mom, or Dad had already made one of my 6 hens their meal for the day and I was forced to pen up my sheep etc unless I could be there watching them. My first glimpse that the family had moved in was the sight of one of them right on the heels (do guineas have heels?) of one of my guineas. Guineas aren't supposed to be able to fly and mine have a hard time making it over a 4 foot fence occasionally. But this one not only made it over the 4 foot fence but continued on for about 150 yards to land on my front porch. I'm sure this may be a feat unequaled in the Guinea's Book of Worlds Records. Since that incident all birds guineas and otherwise have voluntarily stayed behind their fence boundary. The other morning at 6:30 AM I heard the guineas set off their alarm system so I looked out my bedroom window to see them lined up in a row staring down into my field. There was some very overgrown plantlife which  blocked my view of the field on that side. The guineas stayed right on that fenceline continuing their urgent alarm while the chickens were in a huddle behind them and the sheep and goats behind them. All were looking down the field. After a while I saw a fox come out from behind the weeds and leave the field, foiled by the really great security system I had installed last year when I purchased 10 guinea keets. I have only 4 left but these 4 must be the best survivors of the bunch. All I can say is I am not going to complain about the noise these birds make anymore.

I don't have much work for my dogs, but I do have one very important job that I can't do without their help. That is feeding the sheep. I have a young ram who is getting rather cantankerous and has butted me a couple times. The others aren't ornery, but they do tend to crowd me trying to get at the feed bucket. It used to be Seth was the best, but he's kinda lazy about it now.

He would rather do the job lying down. He lets the younger dogs do most of the work and steps in if he feels his expertise is necessary. I guess he is the foreman.

Then we have the trainee, Crue. He loves the work but lacks the experience of the older dogs. But he is catching on quickly. If I take him by himself, he will step up to the plate, but if the older dogs are there I notice he will stay behind as backup.

The dog that is surprising me is Meg. She lives up to her sex in attitude and has always kinda tolerated my presence but not really worked for me. A few weeks ago I was working with Crue on the meaning of lie down and STAY down when I tell you to. He was doing quite well until Meg decided she wanted to move the sheep toward me instead of holding them away like I needed till I opened the field gate. Well Crue says " Ok Meg, I'll follow your lead." and flanked around on her heels. So then I had the whole flock charging toward me and the open gate. Fortunately Seth had stayed in place and I only said his name and he sized up the situation and ran over to me and held the sheep off me and pushed them back to Crue and Meg. After that Meg would not listen to me at all and instead kept trying to run around to get to the sheep. I finally picked her up and threw her over the fence. Then I put her up for a few days while I let Seth and Crue do the work. Well it must have fixed something in her because she has never worked so good in her life as she has lately. I have a 2 mos old doeling that thinks she doesn't have to listen to the dogs even if she has two of them nipping at her to get out of the feed bin. Mostly they have started ignoring her because they can't get her to listen to them and being a baby they won't get rough with her. Meg will let her get away with this, but not the ram or the ewe with her lamb. They will both go at her but she will hold her ground till they concede the issue. She reads her stock very well and can size up the situation so everyone stays where they are supposed to be. I feel kinda bad she has finally come into her own and is doing such good work, as she will be 11 yrs old in August. I can only hope she is imparting some of her wisdom on Crue who definitely respects her.

This is Buni the doeling that gives Meg and Seth such a hard time. It doesn't bother Crue though as he has no use for goats and will only work the sheep.

Crue does do a very good job with  the sheep however.