Got ticks? One Sask. woman says try guinea fowl

Dolores Richardson’s yard is now pretty much tick-free thanks to her guinea fowl

Emily Rae Pasiuk · CBC News · Posted: May 25, 2020 6:58 AM CST | Last Updated: May 25, 2020

This story originally published on May 25, 2020.

Years ago, Dolores Richardson’s yard was overrun with ticks. 

“I couldn’t go out to the garden, I couldn’t walk to the barn, I couldn’t do any of the flowerbed stuff without getting wood ticks. They were crazy in our yard,” she said. 

She needed a solution. She heard that guinea fowl were a good for controlling wood ticks and decided to give them a try and the rest is history. She and her husband have been raising them ever since. 

Now, she says she can go anywhere in her yard without fear of wood ticks. 

Guineas originate in Africa, but Richardson said they are hardy to the Saskatchewan cold. When the babies come though, she said they are very susceptible to hypothermia. 

A day in the life of a guinea

“They get up really early,” Richardson said.

And believe it or not, she said they are excellent watch dogs. 

“If one of them sees a fox or a coyote or a strange dog, they make a real loud warning sign,” she said. They can fly high up into the trees and monitor things from there. 

She says they’ll start foraging early and go to bed around dusk. They will roam all day and come back every night. 

Richardson now also raises guineas for others. 

“I had fifty babies that I had raised last summer and they went like hotcakes this spring,” she said. 

If you’re looking to get into the guinea business, Richardson suggests buying them in the fall so you can establish a home base with them before summer comes around.