Guinea hens are bald, wattled and graceless. They resemble feathered footballs. Worse, they are surly, loud and unmusical, often at 3 in the morning. But they are voracious gobblers of bugs and are especially fond of the tiny deer ticks that carry the spirochetes of Lyme disease. Which is why model Christie Brinkley, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's swimsuit sweetie some years ago, learned to love them. She has installed a flock on her estate in East Hampton, N.Y., and hands out chicks (called keets) to her neighbors.
Before she got the hens, Brinkley had taken to wearing high fishing boots when she walked...