Wednesday, June 30, 2010

More Hens and another Guinea Hen ........................

( Three of the Elders )

( Here's the male guinea trying to get a glimpse of the new Guinea Hen , she's hiding behind that piece of tin , playing hard to get ~ LOL ~)

Saturday afternoon , my Mom and I went to a friend's house to pick-up some hens he wanted to get rid of. They're older hens , but he said they were still laying. We'll probably prepare them for the freezer this Fall , it's just to hot to tackle that job in the heat we've been having. He gave us 5 hens and 1 guinea hen. I made the mistake of introducing the hens to the other hens to soon , but it's so hot I didn't want to leave them in the small plastic coops. I tried to put them in a small fenced area within the fenced run , but 3 of them flew out , so I just let them be. When I went back that afternoon to check on them I had 2 dead hens. I lost Dandelion and one the hens we had just brought home. I think they may have fought until they died of a heat stroke , it was very hot that day.
We've had another guinea sitting on a nest for about 3 weeks , but she came off of it for some reason last week and didn't go back. I checked the nest a few days later , there were no eggs or shells. I think maybe a snake had made a visit before I did. I haven't had any hens go broody , so I couldn't take the eggs and try to hatch them like I did last year. The friend who gave us these hens has an incubator , so I'm hoping when I find the next guinea nest I can borrow his incubator and hatch a few keets. One of the male guinea has already claimed that new guinea hen , he's been staying real close by. So I guess he's happy that I brought her home , she was the only guinea at the other farm and looked out of place with all the chickens. I'm not sure if she'll join the guinea flock , yesterday afternoon she did go out with them for little while , but she came back to the coop to roost last night. Time will tell , maybe she'll stay with the chickens and lay her eggs in the coop nest , that would be great.

Hope everyone is having a good week , we've finally had a break with the heat and it feels wonderful. So I need to get this posted and head back out to the gardens , time to weed , weed , weed.
Thanks for all the comments about the honey prices yesterday , I guess were're somewhere in the middle range with honey prices.

~ Many Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

7 comments:

Peggy said...

I am so enjoying this little break from the heat! Like you been trying to get things done while its cool. Even worked in the rain as it felt so good. LOL We have had a few chickens die from the heat even with all our shade trees. We cut back on the scratch and feeding higher protein feed early in the morning and late evening. Seems to have helped. Have a wonderful blessed evening.

Millie said...

So sorry about the hens. They are so fickle in the heat. Good luck with the weeding; I've had a horrible time trying to get into the garden this year.

Lib said...

We too are enjoying the cooler temps.Caught up on outside work:o)
Love Your pics. Since we're no longer able to have farm animals due to caretaking never know when we'll have to leave home, ill enjoy yours and Peggys pix. THanks for sharing!;o)
Have a great wk.
Blessins',Lib

Granny Annie said...

I am glad to find your blog. We have chickens, guinea fowl and recently we acquired four pygmy goats. I am curious to know how you tell you male and female guinea fowl apart?

AkasaWolfSong said...

I'm sorry about you losing your hens! I think you made the right decisions tho as to where to put them.
This break from the heat is very welcoming to me too. My DD and I spent most of the day out cleaning up the gazebo and deck as well as doing alot of trim work. Well, I should say she did while I enjoyed putting my Grandaughter to work with a little watering can to give all the flowers and potted vege's a good drink of rain water I collect in 5 gallon buckets.
The cooler weather lends itself to accomplishing many tasks doesn't it? It is a welcome relief!
I loved your post today! :)
Many Blessings and Happy 4th of July to You and Yours!

J C said...

Appreciate your chickie stories Joyce Ann. Poor babies. You're a good chickie nannie. (That's a good thing!) xoxoxo

Flassie's Fil'a said...

Sorry about the hens, JoyceAnn.

I'm enjoying the weather
here it hasn't got real
hot yet. I enjoy the lower
temps with sunshine and a
cool breeze.

God Bless You and Yours!!!