The lighter colored keet closer to the camera is Macbeth, and I believe he’s pastel, see more recent pic. The white one further away from the camera is Hamlet, and he’s white. I’m a bit concerned about Hamlet. I’m pretty sure he’s male, but he doesn’t have the swagger of his male clutchmates...
Well mine have had plenty of toe issues... I just really can’t imagine trimming their nails. I do have some rooster spurs that could use trimming... When I’ve tried to trim chicken nails, I’ve found the quick is really close to the tip and easy to hit? So I stopped trying with chicken nails too.
Yes, getting rid of my aggressive ringleaders has helped tremendously. The new guineas that were brooded only with guineas just don’t care much about the other birds. If I had had the heart to also get rid of my least aggressive original cock when I got rid of the worst aggressors, then I would...
This cracks me up Sydney!!! :gig My guineas had better be trimming their own nails! Chickens too! Since I lost my silkies, I actually don’t have a bird that would let me pick it up without screaming bloody murder...
We have 22 Guineas! I still haven’t updated it but here’s a chart of the flock. 5/7 of Welch’s babies were boys, so I now have 9 cocks and 13 hens. There seemed to be a fair amount of mate swapping going on last summer...
Yes, I find flick dynamics fascinating! We currently have at least three fringe girls, aka the Three Fates, Slate, Violet, and Viceroy. What’s odd to me is that they are lowest on the pecking order, but two of them were Bruiser’s mates, and he’s highest on the pecking order... Scout Black is a...
I’ve had several outcasts. I differentiate “outcast” from “fringe birds” as they seem to have different roles in my flock. The fringe girls are driven away from the core flock but are still members. I postulate that the fringe girls serve the flock as sentries, and are chased to a distance so...
Yes, my core harem that had stayed together the previous year (when there was only one male) stayed together, but the newer couples and trios did some swapping. I was surprised that you when a hen went broody, her male left her and found another female...