The Ugly Stage

The keets, who are not so keet-like any longer, have reached the accompanying not so pretty stage where any superficial beauty contest victories are out of the question. The birds are losing the feathers on their heads. Soon they will have a leathery looking crown with the signature 'helmet' on top. 'Waddles' are also beginning to emerge and at long last the guinea fowl will resemble the Martian's entourage from Bugs Bunny fame.

I don't know what she's doing. Do you know what she's doing?

It can't be good.

These are the guinea fowl hatched by our surrogate mother, Ms. Broody White Orpington. She picked up where the buff Orpington left off and hatched our quartet here. Looks like two pearls and two lavenders (possibly white but odds are with the lavs). It is yet to be determined which sex they are as its difficult to discern by sight. Most guineas are sexed by their call and these are blessedly quiet for the most part. That will change and we will hear the annoying, telltale "buck wheat" bleat soon enough.

These birds grew up inside after being snatched from their hatching place and now are fletched out enough to brave the great outdoors, under protection. Soon we will integrate them into the rest of the flock, but not before they've all been introduced and the young ones are happy enough to stick around.

In the next week we should have a new group hatch from our incubator (the mechanical one, not Ms. Broodypants). Our workroom will once again smell like a barn.

We're having another baby!

There I was, milking one of our dairy goats when I heard the tell-tale 'cheep cheep' of a new arrival. Up tho this point we have been hatching our guinea fowl keets in an incubator. Last month, when one of our Orpington laying hens went broody we shoved a few guinea eggs under her. Apparently she did a great job.

I looked up to see the adult guineas intently gazing at something on the ground. There amid them was a small fuzzy child hobbling about. I scooped her up and deposited her into my shirt pocket while I finished milking. It was a very "Farmer-in the dell" moment.

Since then the good mother has hatched us three more little ones and they are now safely tucked in our brooder, fletching out their wings and keeping me awake all night... much like my first child.