Question
I have 3 male guinea fowls, their breed is lavender and they have their wings clipped to prevent them from flying off.
I noticed recently that they cry in the afternoon and sometimes very early in the morning. Every time, I usually go outside to check what the problem might be but I usually find nothing. I just see the three of them somewhere crying.
After doing some research I found Keeping guinea fowl (pdf) and under the reasons to keep a guinea fowl the book said,
Farm yard ‘watch dog’ : Guinea fowl will sound an alarm whenever anything unusual occurs on the farm. Some find this noise a nuisance, but for others the guinea is an effective tool for protecting the farm livestock
The book said they sound an alarm whenever anything unusual occurs but when my guinea fowls cry I don't find anything unusual when I check them.
Can anyone with experience in rearing guinea fowls explain why they cry for no reason and probably give a method to control their crying because I find it very disturbing.
Answer
The first thing I can think of is that it's another animal startling them. If it's a wild like a fox, raccoon, or possum, or even just a stray cat, it could disappear as it hears you coming to check on the guinea fowl.
The other possibility that you might have to judge, is your other pets are causing it. Whether it's your dog trying to play and it stops as you come out, or maybe they are fighting with your chickens some food they found.
The best solution I can think of to find out what's really causing this, since it's ending before you can see it in person, is to set up a camera of some sort. If there's a certain time you think it normally happens, set up a camera to record for at least a half-hour before. Otherwise I think it's just a matter of putting a camera up whenever you can, or hiding out of sight and watching them yourself.
Answered By - Spidercat