Got Guineas?

   No, not a guinea pig, but a guinea hen. I woke up this morning to our annoying bunch of them screaming and cackeling away. We started out with about twenty, now I'd say we have almost fifty. The main reason we have them mostly is because they eat ticks and other grubs. Other reasons people keep them is for their meat, eggs, as watchdogs, and simply for yard decoration. (They come in a variety of colors.)
    Here are some Guinea Hen Facts:

• The most common color of guinea hens are Pearl Gray (shown above) and Lavender
• Guineas originated from Africa and Madagascar, where they are still hunted as wild game today
• Baby guineas are called keets
• You can tell which guineas are males and which ones are females by the sound they make. Males simply make one annoying, continous noise like "CHIT CHIT CHIT CHIT" while females make a noise that sounds like "Buck Wheat, Buck Wheat"
• Guineas are expensive, costing anywhere from $3-$6 for keets and $10-$30 for adult hens/cocks each
• The main reason Guineas are kept is because of the fact that they eat bothersome ticks. Lots of them.

     Now, go do some more reasearch on them. They are really quite interesting. Then, maybe go get some. =D
     Last night I went to 4H. I got my premium money, (not much) and listened to our long meeting agenda. I was nominated for the offices of Vice President and Secretary. Not that I really wanted to so much. But I usually get nominated but not voted through anyway so that's okay. We'll see what happens.
  Mattie Richardson