Free Birds ...................................

The keets have grown into young adults and this year I'm trying something new with their release.

I've been letting them out during the day , but trying to get them to roost inside at night.


The 4 adult guinea have been busy looking after them and teaching them how to be a guinea.


They stay busy all day long running them back to the underbrush or into the woods.


Sunday night they decided not to come in and roost , so they spent the night in the woods , roosting in the trees. They all survived , thankfully. Tonight , all but one went into roost , I tried to chase it in , but it became spooked and disappeared into the dark and I couldn't find it. I hope it isn't spotted by any predators and makes it through the night.




Many Blessings
JoyceAnn

T'was a Few Days Before Christmas ..................

Around the Farmette .......... but it wasn't very quiet ...... except for the mouse.

The roosters were crowing .........................

The hens were cackling and pacing .........


The rabbits snorted and hopped about ..... those crazy guineas were mighty skittish & loud.

They were all wondering why JoyceAnn ........was cleaning and decorating their house.


But she kept on raking , scooping and shoveling until it was clean.
Then she hung up some bows and beautiful greens.

She hung a small red bow on the rabbit hutch ........ but didn't add greens ...... was afraid they would nibble on them before Christmas Eve.



But they heard her exclaim as she was finishing up ......



It's almost Christmas and Santa will soon be here ........

so lay him some eggs .



Ho ! Ho ! Ho !




~ Be Blessed ~
JoyceAnn

One More Try .............................

The guineas have been busy all Spring and Summer trying to hatch some eggs. But each time they began sitting , something has raided the nest and eaten all the eggs , fortunately the guinea hen has gotten away each time.

I noticed last week they had been hanging around in the chicken run , half of the penned area has weeds waist high since the chickens don't stay in there and are free ranging each day. I thought at first they were under the weeds for shade , but one day last week I went out to check on the goats and I heard that call they make when laying an egg. So I decided to look around and see if I could find the nest . I found the nest and it's inside the chicken fence area , so they may hatch some keets after all. There were 10 eggs when I took this pic , but there are 16 now and she'll probably lay for another week before she begins sitting. I hope she hatches some keets since we're down to one guinea hen. That sly fox made off with 5 guineas this past Spring , so we need a few more hens.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

The Red Fox and Lame Lucy .........................

Farm Friend Friday ~ http://www.verdefarm.com/

Last Sunday , Dh and I went to the Shakori Hills Festival to enjoy some music and dance. We came home around 10:00 p.m. and drove down to the chicken coop so I could close the door and lock it. As we came down the drive we spotted a red fox running away. When I opened the gate to the chicken run I found a guinea lying on the ground dead. The door to the coop had blown shut and I was afraid to look inside , but I opened the door and the chickens were roosting and all was well inside. I couldn't get an exact head count since it was dark , I thought Lame Lucy was inside. But the next morning when I let the chickens out I realized it was Lame Lucy that was dead. I'm not sure how she died , the fox may have grabbed her through the fence and hurt her or she may have had a heart attack , but it didn't get inside the fence. I didn't see any visible marks , but she could have had puncture wounds I couldn't see. I know the fox was trying to get her out , it had started digging at the fence. She apparently gave up on getting Lame Lucy and went after the others. I found a pile of feathers in the backyard and have another guinea missing. She didn't have a guinea in her mouth when we saw her , but she was running from that area. I think it was one of the young guineas I just released. We had 8 keets that hatched last fall and they've been in a holding pen , I sold 4 of them and decided to keep the other 4. I released them the week before , but 3 of them have been coming back to the pen at night , so each night I lock the gate after they come in. The fox probably has kits to feed because she came back Tuesday night and tried to get the guineas that were in the holding pen. There were signs of digging and a few feathers outside the pen , but she wasn't successful that night. Thankfully the 3 guineas that have been coming back to the pen at night decided it wasn't a safe home anymore and have been flying up into the tree with the others to roost the last two nights. I'm not sure what to do about the fox problem , but hopefully the guineas are on high alert and can outsmart that fox.

How do you handle fox/predator problems ?

~ Farm Friend Friday Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Guinea Fowl ~ Natural Pest Control

Click Here ~ http://www.verdefarm.com/ ~ to visit other farms participating in ~ Farm Friend Friday ~.

If you've never been around guineas , you'll either love them or hate them. They're noisy and can be very loud , which is a real turn off for many. Some people say they're great watchdogs , but I consider them to be more like an alarm system. They will sound off if someone comes on the property or if there's unusual activity going on. I will admit their calls can be nerve wrecking when hubby is on the tractor and they squawk like they're under attack (LOL). But we have learn to live with their noise , since their benefits far out weigh the noise.

We bought 8 keets about 3 years ago to help with tick control , the ticks were terrible that year. I would walk outside to the dog lot and return with 10 ticks on me. I had always heard about guinea fowl being good for tick control , so we decided to give them a try. We've been very happy with the results ,we rarely see a tick in the yard anymore.

But wait , they're not only a great alarm system and tick eating bird , they love those pesty Japanese beetles. During garden season , I love watching them walk up and down the rows taking care of all the bugs & worms. Guineas will not eat your plants or scratch your plants up like a chicken. They just walk down the rows , carefully plucking away those beetles , grasshoppers and any other yummy bug they find.

I've learnt to enjoy their squawking and quirky ways. So if you've thought about adding guineas to your farm , I highly recommend them. They're the best natural pest control you can have around the farm , although sometimes they get sidetracked and spend time talking and pecking at their reflections in a window (LOL).




~ Farm Friend Blessings ~
JoyceAnn

Garlic ~ Goats ~ Guineas

I'm really hoping for a good year with the garlic , the garlic didn't do well last year due to drought conditions. We had more rain Sunday and we're suppose to have rain coming on Thursday. It's time to fertilize , I'll be spraying the plants with fish emulsion next week. If all goes well I hope to start selling at the Farmer's Market this year.

I think the girls have decided that they don't want kids or maybe I'm wrong and they're not pregnant. They're beginning to make me second guess myself , but I'm pretty sure their udders are filling with milk.

I decided that we didn't need 15 guineas around the farmette , so I listed the 8 that were hatched in the Fall on Craigslist last week. Last Friday I had a lady come and purchase 4 of them for tick control , she said ticks were awful at her home and last year the doctor removed a tick from her youngest daughter's eardrum and she really needed something to help get them under control. I'm happy , I know they've gone to a good home and will help rid them of their tick problem.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

There's been ..........................

lots of gossip around the water bucket this week about our spring like weather. Today it was in the 70's and this weekend is suppose to be nice too , I'm looking forward to it. How's your weather ?

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

Around the Farmette .................................

it was very peaceful , after ............

everyone had their breakfast.

The goats were enjoying their hay ............

the keets are now adults. Their heads have turn white and they've developed their calls/voices.

This chicken has decided that it wants to be a guinea , it hangs out with the guinea.

We cleaned out the goat pens the other day , I threw the straw in the garden. The chickens have been wonderful helpers , they've been busy looking for bits of sweet feed and spreading it all over the garden.

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

We went to a Garden Party ...................................

Nana took us for a hike Sunday evening , the woodland floor was covered

with yummy yellow leaves.

The ferns were lush and green , but not very tasty.


We did a little climbing and jumping as we were trying to get down to the creek.


The creek was mostly dry , but made for an interesting trail.


We did find a small hole of water , it didn't look to refreshing though.

When we got back from our hike , the chickens and guineas were having a garden party.

We decided to crash the party , the guinea weren't
to happy with us , they started to leave ................

but the buggy appetizers changed their minds.

The chickens enjoyed a dust bathe in the sun.

I found a low hanging limb along the edge of the garden , those sweet gum leaves tasted um , um ........ good !

There was a sweet gum ball hanging from the branch , I tried to knock it off with my horns. Nana said it look like I was trying to bust a pinata , whatever that is. Sorry the picture is blurry , I was moving around to much.

It was a fun day , hope there's another party soon !

~ Garden Blessings ~

Jazz , Jo and Goatee

Goatee and the Proud Mommy Guinea

He's so cute , but he must feel threatened by the kids. Curious J stayed with me yesterday , he's having allergy problems. We walked down to check on the goats and the guinea before lunch.

Goatee started trying to butt at Curious J through the fence. I'm beginning to think I might not be able to keep him around if he continues to be so aggressive. Are bucks always this aggressive , he's only 3 months old , so I'm sure he'll probably get worse. I would love to hear from you goat owners , what do you think ? Is this normal or is he just aggressive ?

Curious J threw him a sunflower stalk over the fence and he decided to ..............................

dance for his lunch (LOL).

Here's the proud Mommy Guinea , if you look closely to the left , you can see a keet. You may need to enlarge photo , the keet blends in well with the grass.

Hope you've had a great day !

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Reckon Farming's .......................................

My daughter bought me this plaque a few months ago. Lately , especially with the heat this week , I've been thinking that very thought (LOL).

This morning Lame Lucy was in the nest box and Ms. Arlene was trying to rush her along. The other guinea on the roost was apparently waiting for her friend to lay her egg.


When I went to get hay , Ms. Fern was busy looking for a place to lay. She was under the shed , trying to nestle down in the hay. I had the black pipe laying on top of the hay bale to keep the chickens off the hay . But as the hay has dwindled down , it' s become the perfect place to nest.


As I was trying to put hay in the rack , Jazz decided my shorts might be good fiber (LOL).


Wednesday I cleaned the goat shed and rearranged their living space.

I replaced their small bowl with a bigger pan , they weren't to excited about the new pan. They kept looking at it , like I was trying to trick them or something. But after a few minutes , hunger won out and they started nibbling.

Jazz likes to pose for the camera , I think she may have a future as a model (LOL).

Dh and I trimmed their hooves this morning , it was the second time we've did this and it went much better this time (Yay)!

As I was leaving the goat pen I noticed all the guineas hanging out to the side of the pen , they kept watching me and making strange calls , upon closer inspection I found out way. There's a new guinea nest started next to fence , if you enlarge the photo , you may be able to see her better.

As I sum up the week after cleaning the chicken coop , mucking out the goat pen , trimming hooves , feeding and hauling water each day in this mucky , yucky , humid heat ............................

I Reckon Farming is for Us !

Hope you have a Wonderful weekend !!

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn