Un-domesticating The Guinea
A more humane and satisfying procedure for un-domesticating a guinea.
by VICTOR A. CROLEY
RELATED CONTENT
When Grandma's chickens patrolled the farmyard they were
usually accompanied by one or more guineas that acted as
sentries and look-outs.
"Guineas warn when hawks are
about," explained Grandma. "And a screaming guinea will
frighten off almost any hawk or fox that tries to steal a
chicken"
She might have added that a clutch of guineas, all
screaming at once, would frighten off most two-legged
trespassers also . . . for the raucous screeching of these
otherwise modest and shy-appearing birds easily equals that
of the Beatles in their prime.
The guinea is a native of
Africa and several species are found in the west coast
country of Guinea from which they get their name.
In their
native habitat these game birds are highly prized by
hunters since a mature guinea will average three pounds in
weight and provides excellent eating. Guineas are sometimes
used to stock shooting preserves in England and it can be
little more than an oversight that similar efforts have not
been made in this country.
A great deal of patience as well
as large sums of money have been spent in attempts to
introduce exotic and oriental pheasants into the U.S. While
these efforts have met sensational success in the plains
areas of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, they
have failed dismally in establishing the game birds in the
brushy, second-growth woodlands that cover millions of
acres in the Ozarks, Appalachians, and elsewhere. These
sections where pheasants have failed to survive would seem
to be ideally suited for the large-scale introduction of
guineas. In fact, it is in this area and around a few of
the larger cities that most of today's guineas are now
found . . . either as a few birds on the small family farms
or in larger numbers raised for a specialty market.
Guineas
have been domesticated for many centuries, and were raised
as table birds by the ancient Greeks and Romans. They were
brought to this country by the early colonists but wild
turkeys, pigeons and other game birds were so plentiful
that guineas were kept largely as a curiosity and for for
their watch-dog value. They could not compete with chickens
in egg production or as a convenience food, however, for
guineas demand a measure of independence and refuse to
accept the poultry yard confinement of chickens. They
prefer to roam over a large territory, rustle their food
from lodge grain, weed seeds, grasshoppers and other insect
and shun the barnyard and chicken-run.
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