On Patrol, with an apprentice

The Guinea Fowl are worth their weight in gold. Three years we had to pay a contractor to spray the grasshoppers 3 times over the summer as they were eating our 3500 newly planted trees. The hoppers were in plague proportions, the ground rippled like a magic carpet when you walked. We only had the 10 acres with the trees sprayed, but the effects were noticeable (in hindsight) on the birds – or lack of them. The spraying obviously killed a whole range of insects and our property went off the list for the birds. We got our first 20 guinea fowl in January 2010, and for three years they have systematically patrolled the southside of the property eating all the grasshoppers over summer. We only have 6 of the original birds left, but the new ones will be ready to go out next month.

Grasshoppers

Guinea Fowl