Looking for a new pet that will keep your yard free of ticks, fleas, and mosquitos while also laying eggs for you?
A guinea fowl might be the perfect pet for you.
According to a 2009 research, opossums may be our best defense against Lyme disease since they consume over 5500 ticks every week.
Since then, news has spread that many popular backyard birds, including chickens, ducks, turkeys, and maybe none more so than guinea fowl, are also outstanding tick hunters.
These birds have not been extensively examined for their tick-control abilities in the same way as rodents have, but they are informally known as “tick-eating machines” or “tick vacuums.”
A modest flock of guinea hens may eliminate 4000-5000 ticks every day, according to farmers.
“We purchased five of them for tick control since my 82-year-old father claimed it would work,” Robin Bucking of Waynesville, North Carolina, told Mother Earth News.
“We stopped seeing ticks after six weeks.” The fleas were gone in a year, and our three cats never needed flea treatment.”
Susan Jarrett of Dover, Arkansas, told the magazine that after rearing a small flock of newborn guineas for a year or two, her 25-acre tick-infested field was tick-free.
Linda Stevens of Marshall, North Carolina, claims that her guineas, chickens, and turkeys totally removed ticks from her 10 acres, which “used to infest every plant and blade of grass.”
“The guineas were well-behaved, but the hens destroyed all my flower beds, making gardening difficult.”
“The primary advantage of the guinea hens will be the elimination of ticks and other insects surrounding our land,” explains Jan of A Farm Girl’s Finds.
“Chickens also consume insects, but guinea pigs are reported to be persistent in their quest of ticks.”
Guinea fowl are excellent at repelling mosquitos and flies, and have even been known to eat snakes!
Their eggs are reported to be equally good and healthy as chicken eggs, but smaller and more difficult to obtain due to their free-range, wilder character.
Their flesh, which is considered to be darker and more nutritious than chicken, is also becoming a sought-after gourmet specialty.
You said guinea pigs.