Re: OWLS ... are NOT a real threat to well sheltered high roosting guineas

[K M Edgar]

Tony,

Yeah; owls can be a terrible nuisance to small prey like ducklings on
the ground or nest to a pond. It is a terrible thing to lose so many.
I feel for you. AND; of course...your owl killing situation does not
correlate well to the threat of an owl toward guinea fowl roosting
high up in a well sheltered building. They are a clear problem to
small prey on the ground at night...but then guineas are not on the
ground at night.

My big gripe about the guinea / owl threat was the intentional deceit
or lack of documentation in presenting arguments by those involved;
BarbaraNH, David Flint, CarlNC...even LarryTX (to me personally).
None of them presented anything more than opinion when all was said
and done. I've not gotten to the truth of it....but it was one or the
other in every case or just...an empty "it wouldn't be safe bacause I
think so" arguement.. The forum in question Board members ought to
want the truth to be shared..not false notions. There are too many
guinea fowl novitiates involved who read and believe. I am sooooooooo
against locking up guinea fowl. They've been wild and for the most
part (not domesticated) for millions of years. Even what we have are
only half domesticated....just a bit more domesticated than the Golden
Pheasants.

Kelly

--
a Message from "Guinea Fowl Assn of America" your personal guinea friends group

[moxeeguy]

It is disappointing to read of all the owl attributed or alleged
guinea losses. An df course those who make these spurrious statements
are beginners who repeat falsehoods they've heard. It goes round and
round. Too few people think back to Africa where the the majority of
educated people understand that Helmeted Guinea Fowl has been roosting
in trees successfully for millions of years. The only ones who don't
are the "creationists" who think the planet is 6000 yrs old....and
that's a hole nuther topic.

Facts.....trees provide LESS protection to guinea fowl from ground &
flying predators than a well sheltered high roost. A 16ft tall by
8ft square shed with a full roof and 3.75 clad walls that cannot be
climbed by ground predators....there's not a proverbial "snowballs
chance in hell" that a roosting guinea would be at risk while roosting
inside provided the lowest roost is 10ft off the ground. A space for 1
omitted panel of 4X8ft plywood along the bottom would be the 24/7 wide
open door area. Heat in the winter is not an issue till guineas are
as far north as Canada. Here we've had -20f degree mornings for a few
days about 5 winters ago...guineas had no trouble with temperatures.
I'd recommend insulating the walls and roof with polystyrene and
having an interior clad wall system. Places south of Washington,
Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, IL, IN, OH, PA...just don't need
insulated coops.