CHICKENS! Buc~A~Buc Farm: Adventures In Willsonland!: The Guinea Saga Begins

Today was the first turn out day for Rebekah's beloved Guinea Keets. They are two months old and need to begin free ranging. The problem being, I was unable to get them under a hen to be raised. This means they have not been taught, well, ANYTHING. It is sooo much better to have a Mama hen raise keets. This goes for all poultry (and a whole lot o' other things). Being raised by a mother or foster mother makes all the difference as far as life skills - i.e. Staying Alive. Hey, that might be a catchy tune someday...

As for Mama Guineas - they make awesome setters but horrendous mothers. They will set on a nest faithfully through anything. Then the first keets hatch. UP she gets and takes off. If the keets keep up, great. If not, nice knowing you AS EGGS, children! So, whenever an adult free range guinea slips away and actually succeeds in hatching a clutch of eggs, the first thing we do is go on a keet hunt. Generally they are everywhere, spread out, waiting for crows and a cornucopia of other varmints to pick them off. Mama Guinea is done. The opposite is true if you have managed to pen the Mama while she is on the nest. Then the keets hatch and, since Mama is confined, she will care for them wonderfully. So that's the lesson in guinea motherhood for today.

Anyway, these keets were raised in a brooder box and then an outdoor pen by themselves. They have learned nothing except what instinct God gave them, and apparently the shaker was low that day. So. They only have me and a hope they will learn enough, quick enough to reach adulthood. Also, Guineas never become truly tame. They are always at best very flighty. So think SPASTIC.

So today I let them out and they did fairly well, immediately going after bugs, etc. and exploring the yard a bit. Unfortunately, Helen and Martha with their broods, and (Chick)Ken the spare rooster, did not take kindly to them, chasing them away whenever they dared get too close. Eventually they figured out to stay to themselves. How wonderful it would have been if Helen had allowed them to integrate into her brood! But it was far too late for that, and, frankly, Helen has enough children! HA! I actually did try to get Martha to take them as freshly hatched chicks, but she rejected them pretty quickly. So. I'm the Mama.

I checked them often and they were doing well and keeping close until the last check. They had disappeared. Smoke. Gone. Walked my yard and the neighbors yard and all the brambles in-between. I was just beginning to formulate what I was going to say to Rebekah when I came across them. Thank you, Lord! The entire group of them were halfway up one of the evergreen trees.

With Rebekah's help and a fish net handle, we were eventually able to prod them all down, then herded them back into their grow out pen. I'd say their first day out, all in all, was a success. Though I could have done with out the brambles.

On of our successful Mama Guineas raising her new clutch of keets. It doesn't happen often. Btw, they are FIERCELY protective of their babies, once they decide not to abandon them. The reason this picture is blurred is because I was having trouble avoiding a face full of angry guinea!