RE: [AlpacaTalk] Speaking of bugs

 

I absolutely HATE ticks. I haven't found any this year and we found
ONE last year. My secret, you ask? GUINEA FOWL!

The announcement through the media that this year was going to be a
tick infested has served as marketing and advertising for our farm.

We not only breed and sell alpacas, but we also dabble in poultry
sales ........chickens, farm fresh eggs, turkeys, and Guineas. The guineas
have been the most sought after and no doubt, they are voracious bug eaters.
Be it insect or arachnid, if it crawls, flies or slithers, they are on it!
They must have excellent vision, because I've seen them cross the barnyard
to snatch up a yummy morsel that I certainly didn't see!

Those of you who are able, you may want to invest in a few guineas.
But keep in mind, these birds can be noisy and they are adventurers. I
recommend raising keets (baby guineas) with chicks to learn to come in to
roost at night. Birds that roost in trees can be picked off by owls and
other night predators, so they are safer if cooped up at night.

Laura
PS.......We have sold well over 100 guineas since last summer. We eggs in
the incubator and day old keets on their way from a hatchery.

Laura Roberts
R Half Pint Farm
Spotsylvania, VA


-----Original Message-----
From: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Bluebird Hills Farm
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2012 4:54 PM
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlpacaTalk] Speaking of bugs

Just a heads up to everyone in the eastern US (and perhaps further west)
All of this warm weather has brought the tick popluations our much earlier,
and they really never went dormant this winter. The ticks appear to be
smaller this year than usual, but they are still dog ticks.

Picked our first mated pair off one of our dogs about three weeks ago. If
you find one of those fat grey females, there is a much smaller male right
beside her 99% of the time.
Picked my first one off me last week, and the dogs have them daily as we go
on daily walks in our woods gathering a new crop.

Alpacas will get ticks as well, and in rare cases will have a disorder
called tick paralysis, so be aware and add this to your list of suspicions
should you have an alpaca with neurologic symptoms.

UGH,
Laurel
The Shouvlins
Bluebird Hills Farm
3617 Derr Road
Springfield, Ohio 45503
937-206-3936
www.bluebirdhills.com
bluebirdhills@voyager.net

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