Guineas on the Porch

Guineas on the porch. Why are there guineas on my porch. Where there are guineas needless to say there will be poop.  They are strange little birds.

 

This flock was hatched out this past spring in our incubator. They haven't gotten their red cheek flaps nor their cone head.  Very noisy birds.  Why do we have them?  Slugs and bugs.  Guineas are avid bug eaters. In summer the pasture will have thousands of grasshoppers.  These little voracious eaters will walk the yard and pastures in side by side formation eating every bug in sight.  They will loudly announce when you have a visitor.  Actually, they will deafen you when you have a visitor. 

Our guineas were raised in the same brooder as our chicks.  The were moved into a pen with the pullets and now roost every night in the coop. Dark comes to us around 4:30pm.  We leave a light on in the coop during the day.  As dusk deepens all the birds gravitate to the light in the coop.  We go in and feed every evening and close the coop and all its inhabitants up safely.  We have noticed that the older guinea flock and the young guineas are starting to patrol together more often. We have one lone smaller guinea who seems to think that it is a chicken and stays with the young hens all day.  It may have been a later hatch and is younger than the other birds. It even comes up to me like the young hens wanting an occasional pat. Not guinea like behavior at all.

I have watched the guineas as a group chase a fox up the farm road while making the loudest chatter you can imagine. The fox looked appropriately frightened.

I enjoy these birds immensely.  They are entertaining to watch. If we could only train them to stay in our yard.  They are roamers. They will debug the neighbors yard across the street, the cemetery across the street and of course they will also debug the side of the road.  Can you see where I'm going here? Occasionally we will hear a honk or two as the birds leisurely walk across the road.  I am very thankful for those who stop.  Once in a while someone will hit a bird or two.  Another reason we put up the board fence with wire.  Attempting to keep guineas home can be a challenge. Oh, they always come back home but they love to roam.  If you are thinking of getting guineas I can give a few words of advice.  Be aware that you will loose a few. It is sad and breaks my heart.  They are not bird that can be locked in.  They are independent. So that is one of the reasons I have guineas on my porch. Because they can.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm

 

Incubator Surprise

About two weeks ago this incubator arrived.  It is the GQF 1502 complete with thermostat, humidity and egg turning capability.  The funny thing is, I didn't order it. SURPRISE!

 The incubator accompanied this crate of egg trays. SURPRISE!

Evidently Ted and my Mom had a phone conversation.  When those two get together on the phone there is no telling what will happen next.  Mom now has internet and has discovered shopping online.  Years ago she had an incubator and hatched off chickens and guineas.  She loves hearing the guineas while we are on the phone.  I was so excited to get everything set up in the craft room.  Perfect temperature and humidity was reached in about 12 hrs.  Now we needed eggs.

We noticed that the guineas had stopped laying eggs in the hen house.  They are able to fly and free range all over our farm.  Well, to be honest, the neighbors farm, down the road, in the woods, in the road.  Truthfully, guineas are not the brightest of the fowl world.  We have lost a few to cars.  Once in a while we will hear beeps and have to go call the birds out of the road.  So if you see a guinea in the road, please don't assume that they will fly away. Nope, they will try to stare you down.  Hence, guinea loss.

Ted found this nest in the hayfield.  There were 32 eggs being set on by 3 guineas. 

These guineas were very angry that we were robbing their nest.  They aren't aggressive birds but very vocal. It broke my heart to take the eggs away.  If we didn't then Emma and Lucy would find the nest and have a feast.  Yes, they are egg lovers.

All set up and ready to go into the incubator.

Okay little keets. Do your thing.

Temp 100deg, humidity 55%, turning on.

Now we wait and watch up to 28 days.  We don't know how long the guineas had been setting on the nest so we aren't sure of a hatch date.  The excitement builds. 

Thanks Mom!

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm

Guinea Egg Update

Ted was in the upper pasture and noticed guineas acting strange.  "I'm not doing anything.  Who me?"

He found another 40 guinea eggs.

Now we have a whopping 72 eggs in our new incubator.

And some very, very angry and yelling guineas on our farm.

Help, I think there is a plot underfoot to take us out.

Inside and Outside

Finally, we have snow. After all, it's Maine. I know the snowmobilers (is that a word) are happy. The trails are smooth and in use. We have trails on our farm. Animal trails. Outside the sheep and Fuzzy the llama are completely content to remain outside in falling snow.
Our hens prefer to remain inside. "Nope Stella, I'm not going out till spring".
Inside the guineas are everywhere. On their roost....

singing in the doorway.....

Contemplation? What is on this girls mind? Anything? Sometimes I wonder if they think.

Our remaining rooster keeps close to his girls. Samson died this past fall leaving all his hens to this unnamed roo.

Some hens will even pose for a closeup.

They enjoy snacks in the afternoon. Peeled over ripe bananas, tops from strawberries and stems from last night's asparagus.

Oh, I've been spotted by the sheep. Here they come being led out by Truffles.

Looking for treats. We've moved the hay feeder back temporarily into the shed through the snow storm.

Our new sheep have settled into farm life. Cierra has such beautiful eyes.
Emily is right at home.

They fit in nicely with the flock.

Oh, Echo has been under the hay evidently. Doesn't he know that hay isn't good for his fleece?

What a bunch of moochers? Nope, just attention seekers. We love them and they love us. Especially when we come with a new bale of hay. We know our place here on the farm.

No one in out on the playground today.

Here come the goats. Shirley and Curly first. They remind me so much of the sheep. They don't mind the snow at all. The other goats?

Here they come.

Snow goats. They love me.

So much for that adoration I felt. Isabella says, "no treats? We're out of here."

Back inside, warm and toasty.

Are you sure there are no treats?

Even the pups like to be outside in the snow.

Emma has a difficult time focusing....

too much energy.

Oops...getting something under here, be right back.

I know I left it here before it snowed.

Hmmm....

Just a little animal winter update. Not a whole lot going on. Quiet, we love quiet. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.

Kelly

Moving Around on the Farm

It won't be long till snow covers the ground and limits the animals travel about the farm. It has been getting cooler over the last week. We have made some animal moves. The guineas went in with the hens to make room for the turkeys in the barn. It took a couple of days but the guineas finally made it outside. They were very excited about taking their first dust bath. They made it out ok, but had to have a little help getting back in at night.

The hens took it all in stride.

The goats took time out of their busy schedule to check out what was going on.

We cleaned the shavings and put up new green mesh between the turkeys and the hens. They can see each other but share completely different sections. So far no eggs. When do turkeys lay?

We opened their door and.......

out came a pug. No, Ivy was just there helping out. She thinks all of the animals are her babies. She never chases anything. She checks them all out to make sure they are okay. She still can't understand why we won't let her into the pasture to see the sheep. We truly don't know what Fuzzy the llama would do.

We finally know what our rooster Hawk is. He was a freebie with our last order of Cornish Rock X from Murray Mc Murray Hatchery. He is a Silver Laced Wyandott. At first we actually thought he was a she and named her Ladyhawk. Then Ladyhawk began to get friendly with the other hens and crow. Now, this is Hawk. Lord of the chicken yard. He has dethroned Samson our Partridge Plymouth Rock rooster.

We have had to work the last 2 nights so we have accomplished nothing besides milking and feeding animals. There is that sleep factor that gets in the way. We will have 6 nights off and plan to finish up alot of the last chores on our to do list. The weather is cooler, winter is near and time seems to slow a bit. Work on pastures and fences will halt till spring arrives. We will pay more attention to things like weather reports. Occasionally we get a weather report that will make us laugh out loud. Tell me where but Maine will you get the following from your local weatherman: "Well, it has been warmer than it's been". I love Maine. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.

Kelly

Guinea's New Digs

Happy 09/09/09. I don't know why I find that a cool thing but I do. That out of the way, it seems like I have been away from blogland for ages. We are on our second vacation. I know that sounds strange but in nursing it is very difficult to get 2 weeks together. It has to do with seniority, school vacation days, etc.... I like it either way. We have been so busy working on the farm. The only trips we take are to Home Depot, Walmart and Tractor Supply. We have gone into high gear getting ready for winter. With the cooler days there is a constant reminder of winter soon to come. The guineas are growing and we have only lost one. That was when they first arrived. Maybe we are getting the hang of this. I certainly hope so. The guineas have outgrown their brooder. They still have room to roam but no flying space. They can't develop their wings in the brooder.

We have the room that the white Cornish X roosters were in before they went to the freezer. It will make a great guinea home until they are big enough to move in with the hens in the regular coop. At that time we will bring in the 2 hen and 1 tom turkeys from their summer home outside and they will have this new space separate from the chickens. The other turkeys will go into the freezer. (I am having sad thoughts about that. I have fallen in love with the turkeys. At least we get to keep 3.) After several comments on the blog from the wise ones, and reading more info we think we have made the wise decision to keep the turkeys and chickens separate. There seems to be research from both sides. Some say absolutely no they have to be kept separate, others seem to have raised the two together successfully for years. We don't want to take the chance in loosing turkeys to black head disease. We hauled several wheelbarrows of old dirty shavings out into the chicken yard. The hens had a blast scratching the piles flat. We wanted to start fresh for the ladies and gents (guineas). After all the shavings were out we spread lime over the area to kill anything left behind on the concrete. The temporary inside wall is ok for summer just not good for keeping winter cold out. Now this will be a permanent area in the barn.

We ripped out the old wall.

Put up a new wall which will add a dead air space for insulation and cut a door. The guineas will stay in until they are much bigger. The door is there so when the turkeys come in for winter they will be able to go out into their own yard.

My daughter Sue came up from New Hampshire to spend the weekend and she got into the fun by spreading the new shavings. Also know as free labor. She loves coming to the farm and hanging out with the animals. With us too, but she loves the animals.

Then it was time to start moving the guineas.

Ted was handing them to me 1 by 1 so we didn't loose any. They really love to fly.

Their first time out and about. They are still afraid of us and run like we are predators but they have so much fun being out in the big space.

One of the pearls flew to the top of the net that separates them from the hens.

They walk together in a flock and do everything as a unit. It didn't take long for them to discover their water. I grew up with the regular grey and black spotted guineas. The assorted kinds are so beautiful. My mother loves guineas and the noise they make.

They finally settle down and take a nap.

The guineas are happy in their new home. We added a heat lamp for the cooler nights. It says off during the day. In the evening we turn on the overhead light and give them white millet seed as a bedtime snack. We are attempting to train the guineas to return to the coop at night. The seed is suppose to be one of their favorite treats. Research is ongoing. We pull blades of grass and grass with seeds to put in their coop. Hopefully by next spring they will be out in the green fields eating grass seed and bugs to their hearts content. We have more projects to post on the next blog event. However, the computer is having issues. You know that aunt who is loony as a bed bug but no one wants to be rude and just call her crazy. She has issues. Well, the computer is in the shop getting an attitude adjustment. I'm on Alex's laptop right now. I kinda like it. Hmmm...... We hope everyone is well and happy. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.