The ticks are terrible on our place
The most popular homestead answer to this is the one the research does not support — and the boring answer is the one that actually keeps you from getting sick.
What actually works
Treat boots, socks and trousers (not skin). It lasts several washes and it is far and away the most effective personal measure. Do a tick check every evening regardless — **prompt removal is what prevents transmission**.
Ticks live in leaf litter and tall grass at the woodland edge. A mown three-foot border of wood chips between lawn and woods measurably cuts the ticks that reach your yard.
Permethrin-treated cotton that mice take for nesting, treating the tick's main host. Evidence is mixed and they need placing properly and repeating; worth trying, not a cure.
Three North American studies looked. Guineas do eat **adult** ticks and can reduce them — but both studies that checked **nymphs found no reduction**, and the birds themselves **host nymphs**, which may increase ticks overall. Nymphs are the ones small enough to bite you unnoticed. Penn State Extension's conclusion is that they are not effective tick control. Keep guineas because you like guineas.
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