by WillyPete » 18 Mar 2011 15:18
Have you ever considered animals that can alert you to potential troubles?
I'm sure most folks think of dogs right off but I'm thinking of another animal that can be both an alarm and a food source without consuming the animal itself.
A home near where I live has several guinea hens roaming around their property. Guinea hens and peacocks have both been used as alarm "sirens" in both middle eastern countries and far eastern countries. My main memory was a movie, I think the title was "Midnight Express" about a college student who was caught smuggling marijuana or heroin at a Turkish airport. He was taken to a prison that had human guards but, it also had guinea fowl as the main escape deterrent. If anyone were to be outside of the buildings anywhere on the property after their curfew, the guinea fowl would start screaming loudly and the guards on post would turn to that direction to see what was upsetting the birds. If they saw a person and identified that they were a prisoner, the prisoner was shot right aff with no chance of a reprieve. Serious deterrent there. These birds are territorial so they would be attentive to their area and, they can likely learn who belongs to them so that they wouldn't alarm on them. At least I think this can happen.
I also remember reading various articles about prisoners during the Vietnam War, those prisoner camps also used guinea fowl as alarms.
Anyway, guinea hens also will produce eggs. Eggs, that if left unfertilized, can be eaten just like any other egg. I've nto seen one up close lately so I can't say how many would be needed to make a decent sized omelet.
If a peacock is around, the eggs would get fertilized more likely than not but that can be useful to increase the size of the flock. They will usually find their own food which can be supplemented with other items, possibly the same items a regular chicken could eat.
So, guinea fowl, food and alarm, good working combination I'd say.
Have you ever considered animals that can alert you to potential troubles?
I'm sure most folks think of dogs right off but I'm thinking of another animal that can be both an alarm and a food source without consuming the animal itself.
A home near where I live has several guinea hens roaming around their property. Guinea hens and peacocks have both been used as alarm "sirens" in both middle eastern countries and far eastern countries. My main memory was a movie, I think the title was "Midnight Express" about a college student who was caught smuggling marijuana or heroin at a Turkish airport. He was taken to a prison that had human guards but, it also had guinea fowl as the main escape deterrent. If anyone were to be outside of the buildings anywhere on the property after their curfew, the guinea fowl would start screaming loudly and the guards on post would turn to that direction to see what was upsetting the birds. If they saw a person and identified that they were a prisoner, the prisoner was shot right aff with no chance of a reprieve. Serious deterrent there. These birds are territorial so they would be attentive to their area and, they can likely learn who belongs to them so that they wouldn't alarm on them. At least I think this can happen.
I also remember reading various articles about prisoners during the Vietnam War, those prisoner camps also used guinea fowl as alarms.
Anyway, guinea hens also will produce eggs. Eggs, that if left unfertilized, can be eaten just like any other egg. I've nto seen one up close lately so I can't say how many would be needed to make a decent sized omelet.
If a peacock is around, the eggs would get fertilized more likely than not but that can be useful to increase the size of the flock. They will usually find their own food which can be supplemented with other items, possibly the same items a regular chicken could eat.
So, guinea fowl, food and alarm, good working combination I'd say.