Guinea Fowl

After having a few run ins with snakes here the last few months, we have been looking for ways to try and "encourage" them to not hang around here. I was wanting to get some guinea fowl here last year, and have been looking at them intermittently since early last year. Apparently they were very popular among the early pioneers as they are fairly self sufficient as far as foraging for food, and like to free range and their eggs are apparently delicious. They help keep insects and ticks under control, and sound an alarm when there is something around that is out of the normal. They are also known to circle around snakes and make a racket and their noise and carry on can drive the snakes away. They have been known to kill small snakes, and the people I picked up the baby guinea fowl from, said that theirs killed a brown snake about a metre long at the front of their property only a couple of weeks ago. While I am not wanting them to be wrangling with snakes, I would be very happy if they can help keep the snakes away from the house and chook areas. So, I picked up 6 little keets (Baby guinea fowl) yesterday, and have set them up in a brooder cage until they are big enough to go into the chicken tractor, and then I will move them to the chook pen when they are big enough. Guinea fowl are known to wander and try to find "home" if they are not kept in their roosting area for a long enough period of time, I have read that keeping them locked up  in their roosting area for 6 weeks will keep them coming home to roost each night, and considering their roosting area as their home. I hope so anyway, and we will hopefully be able to breed more to take up to the property with us, as we will definitely need more than 6 on the big property. They are also great at keeping bugs out of the vegie garden, as they are known to not scratch up your seedlings and vegies, they are just interested in the bugs on the leaves, and will just pick those off (hopefully). So, the little babies seem quite happy at the moment, and they are so funny at following each other around, where one goes, they all quickly follow....very entertaining..I have purchased 3 of the lavender, which are the normal grey ones, and 3 pearl pied, which are the browner ones pictured with the white chests.