Good morning! Here are Heart and Star. Heart is the leader of all the chickens, and Star is his childhood friend. Star is a Polish, a European breed — distinctive, isn’t he? He was introduced back in EP021, so please check that out.
The ducks are hooked on chicken feed these days, and the big chickens on pigeon feed.
What is this bird?
Now, everyone, what do you think this is? No, it’s not a chicken chick. It’s not a waterfowl either — the shape of the beak and the feet are different, and it moves strangely. It’s not a turkey, either. The answer is… a guinea fowl!
Meet our guinea fowl
Many of you might be wondering, “A what?” Guinea fowl come from the savanna in Africa and are usually seen in zoos. These ones were raised as meat birds, but we’re not going to eat them. They seem to enjoy hopping up and perching on branches like this.
Apparently they’re great hunters. They catch mice, and they’re very good at picking parasites off chickens — eating them doesn’t seem to harm them at all — so they make excellent pest control. They can see far and hear well, too, so when danger comes they’re the first to notice and sound the alarm for everyone. Not a watchdog, but a watch-guinea-fowl? What’s that?
When I got them they were only about a week old. Now it’s been about three weeks, maybe a little more, and they’ve grown quite big. Their voices are funny, so I tried to make them call. They wouldn’t, so I caught one — ouch, you’re pecking me! That shrill, screechy voice is how they warn of danger. I hear that if a house about three doors down kept them, you’d hear them clearly. They’re awake at night too, so they offer 24-hour security.
They look so unusual, but genetically they’re very close to chickens — guinea fowl and chickens even produce crossbred chicks surprisingly often. Those chicks can’t have babies of their own, though, so it’s a bit of a tricky combination. Anyway, I hear guinea fowl are very loud. If they end up louder than the chickens, let’s just laugh! For now, they’re having a great time.
The hen who was hit by a car
And here is the hen who was in the accident. She’s staying in with a small chick. She’s getting a little better, but still can’t eat on her own. The swelling in her face has gone down a little, and her movements are getting smoother. We’ll keep giving her nourishment by tube feeding and keep watching over her.
Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise! See you in the next episode.