Guinea Fowl: The Natural Insect Exterminators

Natural Insect Control With Guinea Fowl

Guinea fowl are wild, ground dwelling birds originally from Africa. There are Crested Guinea Fowl, Vulturine Guinea Fowl and Helmeted Guinea Fowl. Helmeted Guinea Fowl will be the focus of this article, and will hence be referred to simply as Guinea fowl.

Guinea fowl adults weigh around 3 pounds or so and can be as long as 27". Though Guinea fowl originated in a dry, hot climate, they have been domesticated and can now be found throughout the world, including in some extremely cold climates. It is almost impossible to tell male and female adult Guinea fowl apart by their appearance. Sex of a Guinea fowl is most easily determined by listening to their calls, which are different for males and females. Over the years, breeders have managed to create many beautiful colors of Guinea fowl from the original pearl grey Guinea fowl stock.

Guinea fowl, like the North American wild turkey, spend the vast majority of their waking lives on the ground. They are only capable of short, powerful bursts of flight, but they can glide for great distances once airborne. The Guinea fowl diet consists of grains, seeds, grasses, leaves and insects – lots and lots of insects. Guinea fowl females will lay eggs, about 1 egg every other day, even without a male Guinea fowl being present. For Guinea fowl eggs to hatch, they must have been fertilized by a male. Guinea fowl will only lay eggs during the warmer months of the year. Guinea fowl eggs are slightly smaller than chicken eggs, and are delicious.

Guinea fowl have been enjoying a rapid growth in popularity over the past few years. This popularity is because of two traits of Guinea fowl: they make good watch animals and they eliminate the insects in their foraging areas. Guinea fowl are good watch animals because they will make a loud series of calls whenever anything new enters their area. These calls are audible for quite some distance. The insect eliminating prowess of the Guinea fowl is unmatched.