Animals
At that time it seemed he was only able to get himself tangled in the netting that we keep across the top of the pen. After freeing him, I didn't think too much more about it.
- Guineas On The Fence
Is your world a little quiet?Do you long for a little excitement?Consider adding a few guineas to your world! This is a quiet as they get... I swear, guineas talk all the time.If only I understand their little bird-brained language.This noise is nothing,...
- Boarding School
Remember that early morning in May that I took a trip to the Post Office to pick up my 30 baby guineas?Well, those guineas are adolescents now.And are now attending Boarding School. (Here is Gus, Headmaster of the BeeHaven Birdbrain Academy.) Yes, that's...
- Bird Tales
If you follow my blog, you will know that Hubbs believes in the trainability of birds. I might add to that "in spite of the untrainable guineas, he still believes!" Last summer we started with 30 guinea keats.We had three old guineas in addition to the...
- Guinea Update
This past summer's guinea keats are all now full grown and spending their days doing that guinea "thing".At this point, I can honestly say that their "training" has paid off. For the past week, now, they have routinely returned to their house to roost...
- And Then There Were Five
It seems that so much of our life on the farm revolves around our feathered friends...and trying to keep them alive. This week I noticed that our guinea troup is dwindling. We now have only five of our lovely, tick-eating "farm alarms" remaining. This...
Animals
Tales From the Dark Side
This post is rated: PG (poor guineas)....(some violence is implied)
Sadly, today's tale is not as light hearted as usual. We have had a few days of trying times. It's bad enough that Thursday and Friday morning's snow turned into rain that has continued non-stop for the past 3 days. But, also, during that time we lost several of our young guinea fowl. I had noticed lately that the old guineas were spending most of their day hanging out by the new guineas' house and yard. Then, on Thursday morning there seemed to be some aggression towards the new guineas. One of the older guineas was perched on top of the enclosed yard and trying his darnedest to get inside.
At that time it seemed he was only able to get himself tangled in the netting that we keep across the top of the pen. After freeing him, I didn't think too much more about it.Later that night, when Hubbs went out to close everyone in for the night, he found the guineas terribly excited, flapping and flying all around their enclosure....causing quite a ruckus. He witnessed one of the older guineas escaping thru the roof of the pen followed by several of the younger ones. The rest were quite upset. A quick count revealed that 8 were missing. He returned home quite saddened.
The next morning, I was happy to find 4 of the missing guineas trying to get back into their pen. With a bit of herding, Becky and I were able to reclaim these 4 birds....the other four were never seen again.
After the guineas were back in their pen and fed and watered, I headed to the chickens.....only to find that one of my layers had been pulled head first thru the fence and was de-capitated. What a horrible sight. Well, I removed what was left of the carcass (before her cannibalistic sisters had their way with her...yes that is one of the traits of chickens that I detest).
Not the best morning......but the saying always applies...."Tomorrow will be better." Geez, I hope so!
Post Script: Hubbs and I have decided that perhaps a weasel was in part responsible for the melee in the guinea pen (not to mention the older guinea's presence).....and also for the chicken tragedy. We have started to lock the chickens up tight at night....not just their yard, as we had always done in the past.....but their henhouses are now secured at sundown.
Out-smarting nature.....a constant challenge on the farm.
Post Script: Tomorrow the Littles start swimming lessons, as the front pasture will soon be under water if this rain does not soon stop.
- Guineas On The Fence
Is your world a little quiet?Do you long for a little excitement?Consider adding a few guineas to your world! This is a quiet as they get... I swear, guineas talk all the time.If only I understand their little bird-brained language.This noise is nothing,...
- Boarding School
Remember that early morning in May that I took a trip to the Post Office to pick up my 30 baby guineas?Well, those guineas are adolescents now.And are now attending Boarding School. (Here is Gus, Headmaster of the BeeHaven Birdbrain Academy.) Yes, that's...
- Bird Tales
If you follow my blog, you will know that Hubbs believes in the trainability of birds. I might add to that "in spite of the untrainable guineas, he still believes!" Last summer we started with 30 guinea keats.We had three old guineas in addition to the...
- Guinea Update
This past summer's guinea keats are all now full grown and spending their days doing that guinea "thing".At this point, I can honestly say that their "training" has paid off. For the past week, now, they have routinely returned to their house to roost...
- And Then There Were Five
It seems that so much of our life on the farm revolves around our feathered friends...and trying to keep them alive. This week I noticed that our guinea troup is dwindling. We now have only five of our lovely, tick-eating "farm alarms" remaining. This...