Good morning! Good morning to you, too. It’s rainy and cool today, so everybody’s out. And the pigeon food isn’t just being snuck anymore — the chickens are gobbling it down. There won’t be any left for the pigeons!
The guinea fowl settle in
Here are the guinea fowl I introduced recently. I put them straight outside, and they’re already living out there happily. I wanted to record their funny voices, but they stayed silent the whole time. Their legs are a pretty salmon pink, and they’re hopping around happily.
When I looked up how to keep guinea fowl online, it said their legs and joints dislocate easily, so you must never grab them by the legs or the wings. It said to hold them firmly around the body, so that’s what I do when I catch them — but it’s terrifying. Please have sturdy joints!
Why are you hanging out with the chicks? Oh, I see! When I first got them, I raised them together with chicks, so they seem to see chicks as their friends. But as the guinea fowl got bigger they started stepping on and kicking the chicks, so I separated them. Apparently guinea fowl bond with birds they know, and if even one goes missing, they scream until it’s found.
They spend all day pecking at something invisible. Guinea fowl take two years before they can breed, compared to five or six months for chickens. We only have three, and they’re rare birds, so I’d like to try breeding them. See you in two years!
Happy’s new look
Happy has finished molting (shedding and regrowing feathers), and now just the very top of the head is smooth and bare. Such beautiful feathers!
Recovering after the accident
About two weeks after the accident, our injured chicken is much better: moving more nimbly and able to walk around. After resting in a cage, he was overjoyed to be let out — but he can’t see, so it’s still risky. A few days later, with the swelling on his face going down a little, he took a sand bath. And the bird next door was so inspired that it took one too — with no sand. An air sand bath!
By about three weeks after the accident, his body was recovering, though he was still shaken. I don’t know if his sight will come back, but he’s doing far better than before, scratching at the ground and trying to throw sand, and he seems to be in a good mood. I’ll keep caring for him until he’s well.
Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise! See you in the next episode.