Gardening with Guineas: A Step-By-Step Guide to Raising Guinea Fowl on a Small Scale

by Jeannette S. Ferguson, Ellen R. Patton (Editor)

Gardening with Guineas is a delightful and informative guide to raising guinea fowl. It covers the life of a guinea from egg throughout adult, including incubation, feeding, housing, training and common problems. In Gardening with Guineas you will learn: Reasons for raising guinea fowl, what you need to know before you buy, working with newborns and young keets, handling typical problems, and much, much more. This book is easy to follow and will surely benefit anyone who desires to raise guinea fowl.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Animals, How To

131 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 1999

Reviews

[Courtney Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short yet very informative guide about the care and raising of guinea fowl. I will be a first time owner of guinea fowl soon and wanted to learn as much as I could about these silly and noisy tick eaters. This book was recommended by someone on a local hobby farm group page and I purchased the paperback copy on Amazon.
The author explained the care of guineas: incubation, hatching and brooders, the type of shelter they require, feeding and diagnosing of illnesses and companion animals that do well alongside guineas and much more. There were photos included as well that were useful in this guide.
I now feel comfortable and confident that I have all the information and knowledge necessary to take good care of guinea fowl.

[Stephen Kilbøurn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This gives a nice overview of experiences for one person that has been raising guinea fowl. However, it was disappointingly unhelpful on the gardening aspect. I had the general idea of what it takes to raise any, but I picked up this book hoping for insights on the practical aspects around my garden. It basically gave a short statement at one point said they are great for gardens because they eat bugs and don't scratch baby plants. It also said to never let them try eating pumpkin or tomatoes because they will love them. No practical guidance for how to keep flying birds out of a tomato or pumpkin patch, though. I would have expected at least a section of one chapter to talk about gardens considering the title of the book

[Kinni · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains more anecdotes than info. The information given is really redundant if you've read books on keeping any other kind of fowl. In fact, you may find a chicken or general poultry book more useful. It also glosses over some guinea behaviours which many find to be deal-breakers. The phrase "GUINEAS RULE" is inserted anywhere the author wants to avoid discussion of these behaviours. Such deal-breakers include, but are not limited to: beating up your chickens; free ranging your porch, your deck, your roof; never shutting up; remaining completely wild despite following the authors suggestions for guinea taming. That being said, I love my guineas and will be hatching more.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This great little book is easy to read and offers a good range of information. There were a few editing mishaps, and I could of done without the reprinting of the FAQ from her website.

I had put a hold on this book at my library after seeing the title on the web. I expected a coffee table type book: hardback and full color photos. That is not what was waiting for me when I got the notice that it was ready for pick up.

I recommend it for anyone thinking about getting guineas. (They are the funniest birds! Love them lots.)

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It all sounded great on paper. Then I got the guineas. The first batch were eaten (by a fox? racoon?). The second batch survived to adulthood.

That is when we found out that they are loud. REALLY loud. They are just plain mean. They killed some of my chickens, ate my veggies instead of the bugs, and even tried to attack us. I finally let them loose overnight, and I haven't seen (or heard) them since. Good riddance.

Maybe it would work somewhere else, but not in Colorado.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This comprehensive look at raising guineafowl is an invaluable addition to the information about these intresting birds. An excdellent addition to my library.

[Cws]

J635Fer

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guineas are fun!

[Callista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, detailed information