A Rainy Monday ...................................

We had rain yesterday and it's suppose to rain more today , I'm so grateful for this rain. It's been a month or longer since we've had enough rain to really wet the ground. I spoke to soon about the keets , we've lost 3 since Fri. I'm hoping the rest will be o.k. , there's not much you can do for such tiny birds. I'm trying to make sure they warm enough , other than that I'm not sure what to do.

These photos are from last week , I finally got the girls a collar.

Ms. Jazz liked the garden bench !

The girls and Goatee thought my pants tasted delicious (LOL).

How was your weekend ?

~ Many Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ Saving Seeds ~

Yesterday afternoon , I cut the 3 sunflowers that bloomed this year to save for next years seed. I tied them together and put a large paper bag over them , they'll be hung from the rafters in the outbuilding to finish drying out. I also gathered some old okra pods to dry for seed next year. My okra hasn't did well the last few years , but next year I'm determined to grow beautiful okra.

We had 2 more keets hatch yesterday , we have 19 keets from this clutch and 2 from the first clutch. Mya , the barred rock hen has did a wonderful job sitting on the eggs , she doesn't mind a bit when I remove the keets and take them to the brooder. She still has 10 eggs under her , so there maybe more keets to hatch. I'll be keeping a few , giving some away and selling a few hopefully. I've found 2 more guinea nest , something found one nest and has been eating the eggs , so the guinea abandoned that nest. I found another nest Monday that had 17 eggs in it , I plan to leave it alone and let nature take it's course.

~ Harvest Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

~ The Missing Guinea Keets ~

Monday , I finally caught the guinea off her nest and was able to take all the eggs and put them under the hen. There was another keet in the nest that had died , it had got out from under her.

Tuesday morning when I went to feed the hens and guineas , I found another keet had hatched under the hen , it had got out from under her too. It was cold , so I brought in the house and wrapped it up in a warm washcloth. I put it in the brooder with the other small keets. I wasn't sure if it would make it , but it did. So now I have 6 keets , the oldest two graduated out to the chicken coop Monday , they're in a larger box and have really grown in the last 3 days. Tuesday afternoon I went out to check on them and make sure they had water , I forgot to put the wire top back over their box , when I went to close up the coop for the night , they were gone. I searched the coop and couldn't find them , I didn't think they would stray to far away , but I wasn't dressed to search the weeds and outside of the coop in the dark. I went back to the house , put on jeans and boots , Dh said he would drive the truck down to the chicken coop , so we would have more light. One side of the chicken pen has tall weeds , for some reason , the chickens never go to that area. Dh found them nestled up in some straw under the tall weeds , he almost stepped on them. So it ended well , I'm thankful we found them , it was beginning to rain and Lily Belle ( the cat ) was sitting near the coop when I discovered they were missing , so it could have ended tragically , but thankfully it didn't.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

....... And then there were 2

Saturday morning I went out to feed the chickens and guineas , when I got to the holding pen I saw 1 of the keets outside the pen with Poppa. I picked it up and put it back in the pen with it's Mom , then I noticed they were all gone except for the one I had just put back. I looked around for awhile before spotting another keet under a log. I put it back in the pen , but decided later to take it to the house because it was cold , slightly damp and seemed weak. I looked for the other 2 keets , but couldn't find them. I let the Momma Guinea out of the holding pen , I thought if they were out there in the grass or under a log they would come to her. I went back out later to check on them , I never found the other 2 and while I was out there I saw a hawk flying over the neighbors house. I decided to take the other keet to the house too , they're safe and doing well now.

~ Blessings ~

JoyceAnn

It's a keet , keet , keet , keet !

~ The Proud Parents ~

~ Under Mommas Tail Feathers ~

~ Proud Poppa on Guard ~

~ Poppa Peeping In ~

~ 4 Little Keets ~

Dh spent the weekend building a holding pen for momma guinea and the young keets. I thought we had 28 days , but later read it could be between 26-28 days. I was expecting them to hatch around the 13th. Saturday evening when I went to check on her , I found a small keet had drown in her water bowl. We left her on the nest Sunday , Dh needed to finish the holding pen. Monday I slid the pen up near the log and pulled the board out that was in front of her. She jumped out and I got a glimpse of the nest , there was another dead keet and about 5 eggs that had not hatched , I wonder what happened to the other eggs. I saw 1 live keet , peeping out from the grass. The momma guinea went back to the nest after about 10 minutes , I waited to dusk to put some logs between the holding pen and the nest. Yesterday morning when I went to check on her she was in the holding pen with 4 baby keets. I hope to keep them there for a couple of weeks. The Proud Poppa has been guarding them during the day , he stays close by , he tried to intimidate me a couple of times , but I just stomped at him and he backed off , now he doesn't pay me much attention . I 've got to get some plywood or something to cover the cage at night , we have a predator ..... more about that tomorrow.

~ Homestead Blessings ~
JoyceAn