they grow up so fast

Our little guineas are growing up so fast.  They're getting their big-guinea feathers already and are more than twice the size they were when I pulled them out of the incubator.

 

 

With 4 curious kids in the house,our birds get picked up and carried around a lot, which makes for more tolerant and tame birds once they're adults.

That's not to say we don't get this look from them now and then though...

 

We have guests coming in to town today so my presence here will be spotty at best for the next week or so.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. See you soon.

we made guineas!

They made it!  Not 7, as I originally had hoped, but 9 little fluffy guinea keets to add to our flock.  There are a few more eggs in the incubator that haven't hatched and we'll give them a few more days, just in case, but I'm thrilled with 9 babies in the house.

We've hatched chickens before and last year I hatched out Goose the duck, who is now a big handsome boy (who still loves his momma), but this was our first experience with guineas.

 

There's always that one guy who stands in the food dish.

 

They'll be in our makeshift brooder (a plastic bin with rags and grass in the bottom and a stuffed animal to cuddle under) in the dining room for the first few days before we move them out to the brooder box in the garage.  That will give me a chance to keep a close eye on them and give them a chance to thrive in the crucial first few days.

 

Hey dude, someone's peeping on you.

 

It amazes me how quickly instinct kicks in.  Even before they were fully dried off they were wobbling around the brooder, pecking at the bits of grass.  Just overnight they went from wobbling to running and that's the only way they travel, no strolling for these guys, run, run, run.  In a few days if the weather is warm enough they'll get to spend time out in the tractor (a moveable cage we pull around the yard so they can run in the grass) and then the hilarity will really begin as they try to catch bugs and learn about the world.

There's always something going on around here.  The kids have already started gathering eggs from the chickens to hatch next.  Maybe Kit was right, maybe I am the Keeper.

Happy mid-week, everyone.

something new on the workbench

 

For the past several weeks I've been sharing my workroom with the incubator.  Yesterday as I was sewing I heard the faintest little peeps coming from the guinea eggs, telling me that hatch time was near.

 Yesterday afternoon two had pipped through their shells (meaning they had poked a hole but hadn't full hatched yet) and this morning they were out and wobbling around the incubator, knocking into the other eggs.  We call that "bowling for brothers".

After I took these photos a third hatched out and I am counting 4 more that have pipped.  We'd be thrilled with 7 new guineas in the flock so we're really hoping all these little guys (and more, hopefully) make it.  We lost our only male guinea just this past week, probably to the coyote we've had visiting, and we rely on them for tick-control.

Hopefully I'll have some fluffy chick pics for you tomorrow.

Cross your fingers for us!

fluffy

I have decided that today will be a great day, so I am starting it with fluffiness.

The upside of being in charge of the feeding and cleaning duties for our new friends is that I get to hold them for a second while I'm doing it.  Yes, they kept me up with their peep-peep-peeping last night but c'mon, look how cute they are. 

I hope your day is fluffy too.

Have a great weekend.