COUNCIL has been negligent in informing residents that it is illegal to keep guinea fowl unless living on a block of 4000 square metres or larger, says a resident.
She said she was distressed to find that she would have to get rid of her pets.
The resident, who did not want her name used, said she held Redland City Council responsible for the situation, saying it was negligent in not properly communicating the rules on keeping guineas and some other prohibited species.
"My husband bought them for me after the death of our dog in an attempt to alleviate my grief," she said.
"We checked on council's website and nowhere could we find any mention of them being prohibited.
"To this day, they are not mentioned in councils poultry and bird page."
She said she was reported to council after she let her guinea fowl nest in gum trees because at such a height they were safe from foxes.
It was only then that she found that guinea fowl were prohibited on blocks of fewer than 4000 square metres.
She said she understood that the birds must go but neighbours and children at a nearby day care centre also were disappointed.
It meant the loss of the birds as natural pest controllers, as an early warning system for intruders and as a snake deterrent.
A council spokesperson said the prohibition on guinea fowl was outlined on the council's website at //bit.ly/344IXCt (subordinate local law 2: page 8 section 4).
The local law said that roosters, ostrich, emu, peacock, peahen, guinea fowl or similar birds were prohibited on smaller blocks.
The spokesperson did not respond to the resident's main issue - that of the difficulty in trying to find information on guinea fowl on council's website or that the species are not mentioned on council's easily found page titled "keeping poultry in the Redlands".
The resident said Cr Paul Golle had done a good job looking into the situation and a fox issue at her property was dealt with this week.
"Animal management staff were also helpful, supportive and understanding," she said.
She said the issue was with council bureaucracy for not being clear and the initial failure to respond.
