Poultry Tales
Sometimes life gets strangely complicated and simplified at the same time.
We usually have various domesticated bird species running around the farm, including guinea fowl. We love our guinea fowl not just because they spend their days eating bugs, including ticks, flies and other noxious pests, but because they are funny creatures, with colorful bald heads, speckled feathers, long legs and oddly shaped bodies. We often view them as comic relief as they run around squawking and scurrying from here to there. In the summer, they like to hang out under the horses, snapping up bugs that the horses disturb as they graze. Guinea fowl are a very primitive bird; they really aren’t very intelligent, they act on instinct and are often considered difficult to raise; due to issues of flightiness and a lack of general “good sense.”
Our seven guineas run around, be stupid, make a lot of noise, eat a lot of bugs and discuss matters of great important, such as where to roost - endlessly with each other. I guess they be doing other things too, we just didn’t see it.
Then over a month ago, Jill walks by a tree that I had trimmed, and there in the sticks is a make shift nest with about ten guinea eggs (guineas are communal layers). Coming into the house, the next question is how to keep the eggs intact and the potentially sitting guinea(s) from being eaten by Mr. Red Fox.
By the time, we decided that we should collect the eggs to incubate, and that to replace the real eggs with china eggs to keep the guineas laying is a good idea, Mr. Oso had made other plans. He evidently also had seen Jill glance at the nest. While we were in the house discussing this issue, he took matters into his own mouth and had his lovely eggy dinner. Yum! Eggs! His favorite! Gulp! All gone! We came out to a guinea massacre. There were egg shells scattered everywhere but not a single whole egg left.
On to plan B. Jill then collects eggs as they are laid each afternoon. She replaces the real eggs with fake eggs (we only have six fake eggs, so they have to be rationed out). So, Oso now steals fake eggs when Jill isn’t paying attention and plays with them, until Jill takes the fake eggs away. She puts fake eggs back into the nest. Rinse and repeat. Are we having fun yet?
Oso gets told “no”!
Oso is a good one-year old (male) dog, but come late at night - it is too much temptation. Now he steals the fake eggs and buries them in the dead of night! So, add looking for mounds of dirt where Oso has buried fake eggs to the new chore list (OK- honestly, I gave up on the first round of Oso’s eggy dinner - this is all Jill’s work). Eventually, Jill gets about a dozen eggs, sets up the incubator in the guest bedroom and she gives up on finding any more of the real or fake eggs. The guineas change nesting locations. Proving that they are no so brainless after all. Just a little slow.
About mid-way through the incubation, Jill candles the eggs. Ten were probably never fertile but two are solid inside. Baby peeps!
On Thursday we became the proud parents of two very tiny guinea fowl. These chicks are very vocal (like their parents) and can already almost fly out of their box. Now, at 6:00 AM in the morning, the seven adult guineas come stand outside the guest bedroom and scream at the two baby guineas to come join them. Who both tweet back with a much louder voice than a two ounce bird should possibly be able to make! Unfortunately, guinea girls are terrible parents - so the reunion is going to have to wait a few months.
The guineas will be getting joined by 15 chicks by week’s end.
Fifteen Whiting True Blue baby chicks will arrive this week by postal mail. With luck, the guineas can be added to that batch of joy (pretty sure this brooder pen will also be set up in the guest bedroom). Finding these chicks was like finding hen’s teeth - here’s to blue eggs in our future!
The internet is a dangerous tool for researching poultry.
The velociraptors arrived a couple of weeks ago (umm… I mean emus). So, yes - baby emus are now also living in the guest bedroom (why not? What could possibly go wrong?).
In all her research, Jill found that there is a leucism mutation that produces a white Emu. Jill’s active imagination could envision both white emus and peacocks floating through our fruit tree orchard and (work-in-progress) horticultural gardens. After much internet sleuthing, she did manage to find one little white chick.
So, we are now also the proud parents of one female white and one male standard emu chick. The little female had been getting picked on, and at first we thought we were going to lose her, as her eyes were swollen shut. Emus are obsessed with unusual colors, and as her eyes are bright blue the other babies just had to peck at them. Once we (Jill) treated her eyes, taught her how to eat and drink, she seems to be 100% improved. Of note: The male guineas sit on the nest for sixty days until hatching and raise the babies solo until the hatchlings are six months old. Our friend Kelly likes to joke that I won’t be able to travel for the next six months, due to Emu daddy duties. The truth is that the Covid crisis is done and I am enjoying work on the farm again. I am in avoidance mode with my cell phone, social media and email. Bad me. But my fitness is climbing back up and I needed a break. Being caretaker to all these animals and plants brings me great joy. Creating this living integrated farm/garden/horticultural park - it is my work of creation. Hard work is a joy for me.
Back to the Emus. It turns out that (unlike Guinea fowl), Emus are smart, kinetic clowns. They loves shiny things -including nail polish on fingers and toes, gold jewelry and any sort of bright bangle. Our male has a single minded determination - whether to run, peck at shinny things or explore is the question at hand. He is a bird that is secure and confident. The little girl is shy. Almost the polar opposite in personality. Is this a gender difference or a personality difference?
Finally, we are on the hunt for a peahen. Our beautiful black-shouldered male is lonely! Right now, he is in our old coop but he wants to free range. We don’t want to let him out until he has a partner to hang with.
Guess who is on the Internet searching for?
I am sure a peahen will somehow turn up shortly. Things have a way of sorting themselves out around here.
Love this! Smiled the whole time reading. 😊
For a few minutes, I forgot about everything else going on in the world. Thank you 😊 very much. Enjoy your time, doing whatever. You deserve it! I think these are my favorite reads.... What a blessing you have become in my search for truth. Again, Thank You 🙏🏻