Coyotes

Soo, we lost another guinea last night. They took the male and I was woken up by the female looking for her mate. She was kind of sad walking around calling for her mates. If she's not eaten tonight then we're most likely see about slaughtering her and putting her in the freezer. Either way.. it's not the way we wanted her to go.

Guineas

They eat a lot of layer feed and enjoy eating the grass, not so much on the worms or other live buggies. And so far, they have not laid any eggs. We'll have to see how long it will take them to feel comfortable enough to lay. They also do not perch, I'm not sure why. They've gotten a lot calmer but they still call out warnings if things change too drastically. All in all, I still like their calls.

Animal Count - As of Today

Sooo, as of today we are at:

Chickens:
1 Silkie
1 Rhode Island Red
1 Rhode Island White
9 Ameraucanas

Chicks:
8 Dorking pullets
2 Dorking cocks
4 White Faced Black Spanish pullets
1 WFBS cock
3 Blue Andalusian pullets
1 Blue Andalusian cock
3 Old English Game (something or other)

Ducks:
7 Runner Ducks

Goats:
3 Boer/Nubian Crosses
1 Nubian

Cats:
Calvin and McGee

Guinea Fowl:
2 Guinea Hens
4 Guinea cock

Our averages:
9 chicken eggs
6 duck eggs
3.5 cups (2.25 lbs) of goat milk

All but the guineas free range which has caused issues with my veggie garden and fruit trees. If the ducks don't trash it all and the goats don't eat it all, we should have enough wheat to hold us over for part of the year.

The Guinea's Monkey Chant

Guineas make the coolest sound. Although they are a lot noisier than the chickens or ducks, or goats for that matter, they chatter on as if they are taking part of the monkey chant. I can't help but start dancing and want to join in on the chant when they do start.

I picked up 6 guineas yesterday for us to raise and fatten for an event we'll attend in later May. There are two mating couples and a set of males that I picked up. If they get more familiar with the location and their enclosure, I hope that they might be able to hatch a clutch of keats for us to keep. I would really like that now that I know that I don't actually mind, but enjoy, their chatter. They are gorgeous and very intelligent. I think we would have to clip their flight feathers if we were to keep any.