Guineas on guard duty

I know y'all have anticipated this day as much as the guineas have and now it's here! Well, it was here. It's past. It was actually eight days ago... Okay, so maybe y'all weren't waiting with abated breath and the day has come and gone. So what?! At least I'm finally getting the photos up. A few of them anyway.

Just for review: The main reason we want guineas is for their ability to guard the flock. Ticks will be eradicated, at least in the immediate area, as well as snakes, which is a good thing. Of course, they'll eat the frogs and, sadly, all of those adorable small critters I love as well. And, eggs! Well, a few eggs. They are seasonal layers, and I'll have to hunt for their eggs, and they only lay about 100 a year. Still... 

So far all the things I've read are spot on. Guineas are noisy but they do tend to quiet down once in a while and you get used to it. They stayed in the coop for weeks so they consider it home and hopefully they'll be happy enough not to wander off. Time will tell. Yep, lots of extra poo... They are fun to watch and really are rather dumb. They stay in a rather tight knit group, follow us around, love the echo in the garage, and haven't bothered the chickens. We'll see how they treat the newbies once they are added to the flock. I'm thinking they guard the flock well because hawks just don't want to deal with the noise and numbers :)

January 1 was release day. After being cooped up (pun intended!) for weeks they are ready! Fortunately, they also readily come in with the chickens to roost at night on the topmost branches. Here is their first moment outside...

A confusion (LOL, so appropriate) or rasp of guineas...

 The roos tend to hang with them most of the day...

Slowly following me to feed the horses. Usually, they run or fly and don't spread out so much....

The drive offers an abundance of tiny pebbles needed for digestion...

A couple of days after release they were carrying on and the boys were crowing so I checked things out. They were all at the side door just wanting to say "hi"!

After a few days they finally braved going under the fence into the pasture while the boys were eating breakfast...

 Playing king of the rock then stopping to preen...

Empty coop is so quiet....

Seems like we have all girls so we won't be raising any. We'll decide next year whether we want to get a few more. If you, or anybody you know, want feathers for tying flies or crafts let me know ~ we'll have plenty! :)