Another delayed introduction...

Back in the middle of March I was in town to close on our old house and finish moving the remainder of our furniture. Thanks to Westley's grandma I discovered a miniature breed of goat I hadn't heard of. You guessed right ~  I brought one home!

Hello.

My name is Inigo.

Be prepared to fall in love.

Inigo was quite shy at first. It wasn't long before he found his place in the herd and is very sweet. A Mini-Silky has the myotonic gene which means he is a "fainting" goat but that does not mean he will faint. As of yet he hasn't and I don't really think he will. He has a long silky coat that could get quite long as he gets older and he'll be just taller than Westley and Buttercup. Food is his main interest :)

Hazel follows to watch over the morning routine in the goat pen.

Just to the right of Inigo you can catch a glimpse of Lou, the tribe's rooster. He waits at the gate watching for the goats to return from their morning walk. Lou takes his job 

as guardian over his tribe of 3 goats, 2 hens, and himself very seriously. We've seen him alert both the girls and goats to a food source and he frequently herds them into the shed. 

Took him a while but Inigo finally decided being up high on the stumps was fun!

Everybody looks forward to breakfast ~ even Cocobunny joined in for her share.

Fallen fresh pine needles are a nice treat enjoyed by all.

Buttercup, Westley, and Inigo playing games in the evening before dinner.

Growing pains

Coop activity is at a high these days with the guineas almost full grown and practicing their future guard duties. Frequent alarm calls are the norm these days and it's becoming more and more apparent we have a lot of girls. I'm hoping we have at least one boy! I thought we heard one a few weeks back but the girls are known to mimic the boys...  The male's call is a single syllable, "ki-ki-ki", and the female's a double syllable, "buck-wheat, buck-wheat". Over, and over, and over, and over again. When the males sense danger they start their call and the females will join in unison mimicking it and they proceed to provide a very loud alarm. You can't miss it. They'll likely be your initial welcome to the ranch because you "don't belong" ;) As for now they just like making noise. In January they'll be allowed to experience life beyond the coop. It'll be interesting to watch as they explore and learn their new surroundings.

When the keets were only a couple of days old.

One of them right after they moved to the coop at about 8 weeks of age.
(They were actually rather cute at this point but this one is just plain goofy looking in this photo.)

Guineas have really pretty feathers but their heads are bald - a reason I seriously hesitated to get them. Ours have lost their head feathers they had as keets and have started developing their 'helmets' - a rather stark contrast to their feathers. The neck feathers are a nice iridescent purple that I'll attempt to get a photo of one of these days when the light is just right.

I'm keeping an eye on you...

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Now for chicken updates...

Due to my paranoia the girls are allowed out on sunny days anytime we're outside. They're much happier free ranging around their yard in search of bugs, seeds, and whatever else they find. They'll be ecstatic to return to a normal routine once the guineas join them. And, I'll feel better because they will have added protection from the hawk. The itty bittys have joined the coop crowd, although they haven't figured out where to roost yet.... They get to join the girls most days as well. 

Not there first time out foraging but this was their first time to hang with the girls without wire to protect them from the inevitable establishment of their pecking order.

The itty bittys are about grown and developing beautiful fluffy curly frizzle feathers. 

Lucy, Carol, and Phyllis will not be providing us with adorable little bitty eggs... 

However, Lou, Carl, and Phil will be providing added security to the yard. Normally we'd have to re-home these guys but they have been raised together and there's not a hen (their size) in the equation to give them a reason to fight. Not that the boys don't dance around and spar once in a while. Hopes are they'll just do what roosters do ~ act as flock security and alarm clocks. 

Once upon a time the little bittys, Phyllis, Lucy, and Carol grew up to become...

Phil, Lou, and Carl!

Quietly discussing how they can escape back into the yard.

Phil pretending to sleep on his back.

Apparently this is Phil's best side...

Lou foraging in the grass.

A close up of little Lou's big eyes.

Carl is Rachel's favorite. He's got very bright alert eyes and is very sweet.

It was time to add more siding to the coop since the weather started cooling off and we had some rain. Here's the promised photo of the completed coop as well as a close up of the sign.

I'm looking forward to early February because we'll be adding to the flock and raising chicks is fun!!

Sadly, before I got this posted we lost Carl and this sweet handsome boy will be missed.... 

Needless to say, I'm very leery of letting them out before the guineas are ready now. I'm hoping they're good at their jobs...