Monday, July 30, 2012

New Animals!

Back in June I hinted about some new animals. It's taken an while, but I'm finally getting around to photographing the newest additions.

"Uncle" John brought this coop out last month and set it up by his garden. As you can see, "Uncle" John is quite a handy wood-worker. He had been busy builidng the coop and raising some keets since May. 

Keets are baby guineas, also called guinea fowl or guinea hens. The keets are almost fully grown, but they still hang out in the their coop. Eventually "Uncle" John will let them free-range during the day, and then they'll roost at night. 

The reason we are so excited to have guineas around here is they love to eat garden pests. We've been told that farms with guineas don't have ticks, potato beetles, Asian Lady beetles, or squash bugs. They are an organic way to deal with all those pests, and that sounds great to us. 

They are also good guard animals. They will sound the alarm when anything unusual happens - such as cars coming onto the property, predators in the area, or other animals around them. They also will kill snakes which makes them the ideal addition to the farm in my opinion!

6 comments:

  1. My friends and I don't think these birds are such a good idea. They make a lot of noise and will be an added bother! Get rid of them!

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  2. Way cool! There are some on K's mail route, and they certainly don't sound an alarm for her, but maybe they just know she's cool. Will they really eat the pests from your garden without eating the garden itself?? And can you eat their eggs?? And are their bald blue heads creepy up close?? I've been pretty in love with the abstract idea of guinea hens since I saw these pottery ones at a kitchen store in Seattle. I'd love to fall in love with the real thing (not that K wants new animals at HQ...). Anyway, how exciting! Let us know how they (and you) adjust.

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  3. Oh, here are the beautiful ceramic ones I fell for: http://mainstreetgallery.net/pottery/heidi-caillard/

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  4. dogs, cows, chickens, guineas, (farmer john)... what's next? a lion? look i support your farm and all, but even in tajikistan we heard about this crazy guy in zanesville who had a proper zoo. i say go with scarecrow guineas!

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  5. A - according to what we've read and heard from other farmers, they will leave the garden alone. I'll let you know if that's true or not.
    Ps - always more animals! John wants hogs, and I want another dog. Any good mountain dogs over there that you could bring home for me? They would make a great souvenir :)

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  6. Yes, hogs are nice. They mind their own business. Even a lion. Just no guinea hens!

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