We recently found a nest of guinea eggs in our garden, and I was excited because I love to cook with guinea eggs. Our guineas free range, so their eggs boast yolks that are bright orange with a rich, buttery taste. Guineas will not return to a nest if their eggs have all been removed, so I left a few and marked them so I could just take the freshly laid eggs at the end of each day.
We had been doing this for a week or so, when one day David noticed a guinea sitting on the eggs late in the day. It seems like we usually have at least one broody guinea each season, so I figured this was the case with our garden guinea.
My suspicions were confirmed when she was still on the nest the next morning and all through the day. She has been sitting for a few days now and hisses when I come near, so she is definitely trying to hatch out some keets. There are probably only about six or seven eggs under her, so luckily we won't have too many more guineas running around (our current count is somewhere near 30 and that's just about enough for us!).
She's in a pretty well covered spot in one of our garden beds, so I think she is safe there. I really didn't want to let any guinea hens hatch out more keets this year, but David said we should just let her do her thing and not intervene at all. Last time we rounded the keets up and took care of them until they were grown, but this time we will just let mama do her job and leave the rest up to nature.
So here in a few weeks we may have some little keets running around following behind their mama! Of course I will be ready, camera in hand, to capture all the insane cuteness.
PS - Go here to see our adorable batch of keets that hatched last fall.
~Tammy
Shared with The Backyard Farming Connection Hop
I look forward to seeing the pictures of the keets :)
ReplyDeleteAww...I can't wait to see them....:)))) I want to raise some chicks....but the hubby.....:(....we will see..:)))
ReplyDeleteHow cool, you have your eggs and soon to come some new chicks! I can't wait to see the cuties! Happy weekend to you!
ReplyDeleteHi Tammy ...excited for you and the broody guinea . Love baby guineas. Oh who am I fooling ... I love all baby birds lol
ReplyDeleteLove your last photo of the mama. Can't wait to hear about the eggs hatching. Take lots of pictures! :)
ReplyDeletegood luck to her!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute name for baby guineas! I can't wait to see pictures!! :)
ReplyDeleteYou really need to ditch the vegetarianism Tammy :D
ReplyDeleteJanie x
What a pretty mama she is! Had a wee giggle at Janie's comment above. I am not vegetarian, but am having this struggle with myself about whether I could eat something that I've seen grow from a tiny chick to a rooster. Luckily "Lucky' (as he's known for obvious reasons!) was the only rooster we had last season, and he's still around due to me wimping out at the last moment. We very rarely eat chicken as I can only eat free range, and its so expensive. Still not sure what we will do with next season's baby roosters! Have a lovely weekend, S:)
ReplyDeleteI wish I was closer Tammy! I only have one guinea left and she's a pistol. I could use a few more to put her in her place. :)
ReplyDeleteShe's a beauty, nesting there in the garden!
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of guineas.. When we had guineas I always thought mornings sounded like we lived in an African bush... so noisy! And we only had 4-5 at most at a time. :)
Nature is marvelous, and it's fun to see her doing her thing.. I'll look forward to seeing her handiwork!!
How fun! It'll be neat to watch her raise some keets. We never did get around to ordering guineas this summer.
ReplyDeleteAww, that's sweet that you're going to let her hatch. :)
ReplyDeleteShe is a beautiful guinea! Congrats on the new additions! Can't wait to see them :)
ReplyDeleteThis is the sweetest post.) and it will be fun to see the little ones. Free range, birds that are allowed to roam free produce a much different egg even than this organic market variety. The yolks are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI love that first picture of her hiding in the garden! Hope all goes well and you get some new little keets in a few weeks! :)
ReplyDeleteYour photos capture emotion, which I typically love....but when I have to look into the eyes of guinea - those scary, hollow eyes - in the photo, I feel I must faint.
ReplyDeleteShe is so pretty! I bet your eggs are delicious :)
ReplyDeleteWow I did not know you had so many. She looks very determined sitting there. Can't wait for the babies.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing these babies!
ReplyDeleteThe babies are so cute! I love seeing what good Momma's they are! Can't wait to see the new batch! xo
ReplyDeleteYou have 30?! Wow! You do have the population there, huh?!
ReplyDeleteHahaha - the chickens are going to take over your farm! I can't wait to see the little ones!
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't realize that you guys had so many chickens. I love that picture peeking through the brush :)
ReplyDeleteHope she does well! Do you have many predators around you? I really want to let our guineas out but everything gets eaten around here (hence our giant roofed "aviary"!) I'm thinking of letting them out on day parole once in a while!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute idea for a Friday post! I will be visiting to keep current on how your little feathered friends are doing :)
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestion from your husband!! Hope Momma guinea is rewarded!!
ReplyDeleteI love Guinea Fowl Tammy. Thanks for sharing these, which also taught me about their behaviour. I posted an update on my seedlings if you want to take a look.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! If you have too many, maybe you could sell the newbies to another guinea lover!
ReplyDeleteLove Guinea's it's exciting I have got to say...hope all goes well for mummy.
ReplyDeleteThe guinea's are so pretty! Are they vocal? I have heard some people say that they are.
ReplyDeleteSO I gotta ask! She doesn't go up to the coop to roost at night!??? and (thinking not!) how has she not been eatin!???
ReplyDeleteNature taking its course. Well. Yes in some cases...:)
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Guineas are such strange looking birds. We had some until the predators got them all, one by one. They are so vulnerable when they're broody.
ReplyDelete~ Kathi
Awesome!! I know that when my chickens get broody, for some reason they usually give up before they hatch, so I try not to let them keep any eggs anymore. I guess it is because of what breed they are. I am with you that your bird population can get a little crazy at times. But I am excited that your hubby is going to let your garden girl do her thing!! Can't wait to see the pictures later :) Exciting !!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Susie
so cute looking forward to see the little ones!
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OMG, I had no idea that guineas actually hissed. She doesn't look too thrilled to be having her picture taken either. I hope she does OK, as it seems I'm always reading about poor guineas that get chased or taken by predators. I'm so protective, I'd probably build a fence around her as she sat on the nest!
ReplyDeleteThis is so adorable. I love it that the Dad guinea stays around to help too :)
ReplyDeletewhat a pretty little mama she is!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I've not yet had guinea eggs or duck eggs......they are on my list of things to try. We opted not to get guineas yet since our property isn't big enough to keep them happy and we have neighbors with dogs not on leashes.
ReplyDeleteI looked out the front window one day to see 2 guineas running down the side of the road, one behind the other. They were headed home I suspect. "Home" was still about 1/4 mile up the road. I tried to convince them to come and stay here for a day or two but they were on a mission. :)
That last picture is beautiful! Looking forward to see those cute keets.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they are more prolific then other chickens? My dad started with only a few and before you knew it they out numbered all his other birds combined. They are interesting to look at but his were so noisy! I wonder if this hen decided she better start sitting before all her eggs disappeared, lol.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how successful she is as a mom. :-)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see how it goes with the babies - hope this guinea is more attentive!!
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