Farm Fresh: Escape Attempts, Nesters, and Guinea Fowl

Well, one thing led to another (wet bedding, wet cardboard & bored pecking) and the goslings made themselves several escape routes from their brooder into the basement proper. 

 Funny enough none of them decided to do more than pop their heads out or take a couple steps outside.  Ducks like to stay together and I guess geese do too. Unlike with the chickens, where I am always herding stragglers, my older ducks always stay within a few feet of each other and all go into their house together at night.

 Needless to say, it was time to move the older ducklings (big sister A's flock) out of the wading pool brooder and move my young flock in. Pretty easy - since it was just right next door.  The older ducklings spent a week in the screened poultry tractor by day and in a play yard inside the duck house by night.  Now they can mingle safely. They go out and come in with the year old ducks.

 The turkeys are excellent flyers and can all perch on the edge of their brooder. If only the weather would warm up then I could put them outside soon. So far they mostly are just perching.  They make a loud peeping when they accidentally fly out to the floor and cannot get home. Then we go downstairs and help them.

  Here are the new Guinea Fowl:

 I know. I know. What?! another bird?  But hubby wanted these too.  They are very independent and will probably not want to come back into their coop ever again once we let them roam.  But they eat tons of bugs, way more than the chickens even. And since ticks and lyme disease are getting worse every year we thought it would be good to have some tick troopers. I bought these "extras" from a friend, just 3... And we will see how they do.

 Big sister A with my work boots getting ready to bury a pretty little dead bird we found next to the garden fence.

 And finally one of our hens decided to go broody.  I was expecting it to be one of the buff orpingtons, but it was one of the araucanas (who, btw, are never supposed to go broody, they being super egg layer stock).  She had only 3 eggs under herself so I added a few more.  We candled them after about 5 days and only saw one that was obviously developing and a couple others that looked promising. Baby L loves to climb in the coop and keep "Mama Chicken" company. She pets her and so far Mama Chicken has been more than fair.  But in the last 2 days baby L has been taking an egg out and inevitably dropping it outside, at which point I can see the half developed embryos that are now dead. It's very frustrating.  I hope that Mama Chicken can hatch at least one chick so she gets the hang of it and can see the fruits of her 21 day setting.