The proud farmer.
Or at least the proud guinea-hutch-making assistant.
I know I'm biased as his Muma and all, but isn't he handsome?




Which brings us to Guineas. The weirdest domesticated bird to be found. But,having raised them from day-old chicks, I have to say that I have taken a real shine to these birds. Out of thirty chicks, 28 have survived to adulthood, which seems pretty hardy. And now that they are free-ranging around the homestead, our tick population has plummeted. I can say this with some authority, as every night I "tick check" the children AND the dog. At first, we would pick two or three ticks off the kids in the course of any given day, and on bad evenings, I have actually pulled more than 30 ticks off of the dog. (And yes, we DO use an anti-flea and anti-tick - FRONTLINE - medication on him, every three weeks, as advised by our vet). Sooooo, I know from ticks.

Imagine how pleased I was last night, then, when I found NOT A SINGLE TICK, not on the dog, not on the kids, not on me. The guineas have been free-ranging for barely 2 weeks! Granted, this is the end of "tick season" and Rick has mowed and cut and trimmed and slashed the rampant verdant growth around the farmhouse, but I'd like to give the guineas their due. They return to their hutch every night (see below), they wander around the farm eating bugs all day, and they are excellent at warning of approaching visitors, low flying hawks, and 747s (they are admittedly a little confused by large airplanes, causing them to panic and run for cover).
Here's to guineas!

Now I'm off to deal with the chickens...