So, I have had Lyme disease 3 times in the past 10 years, and right now have a new tick bite that is looking pretty suspicious (spreading rash). I am SO fed up with the ticks! I garden in a small town in Central New Jersey - definitely tick country. My entire 1/2 acre garden is fenced in with deer fencing, but of course I know that ticks are carried by mice, birds, etc even if the deer can't get in. My garden is essentially ornamental - I grow flowering trees and shrubs, all kinds of perennial and annual flowers, and hundreds of roses. I had this crazy (?) thought - would it be reasonable, in a garden like mine, with neighbors, etc., to introduce guinea fowl for tick control? (In the past, we've had neighbors who kept chickens, though not lately). I understand they really demolish ticks (and mosquitoes!) so it sounds like they might be really useful, and I have read they don't tear up plants. But would this be reasonable? Can you keep guineas almost as pets? Because, I am really not a farmer-type person, I'm actually kind of a softie, so if you have slaughter them eventually, I just don't think I could do that (please understand, I mean this as no criticism of those who live more of a farming life, its just not me personally). Or any other suggestions for natural tick control? I hate having to spray myself with insecticides, and actually worry that health-wise that might be even worse than the risk of Lyme and other tick-born diseases. But as I watch my rash get bigger and sorer, I'm starting to feel a little desperate to do something to stop getting Lyme disease! Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!