Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

The very pale green darkened in the refrigerator. Got another pale pinkish one. Haven't eaten any of them yet - gotta get rid of the storebought ones first.
Haven't heard Wally crow yet. How old is he? Also, unless Boo is running around the run, the girls are quite quiet.
Wally is only a few months old and was running with a lot of roosters, many of them older and more dominant. No doubt it will take him some time to decide he can be dominant without getting a beat down, but I'm sure he will figure it out eventually. Ameraucanas seem to be the most possessive of any of my roos, so I expect him to become a real "lady's man" in your coop. The hens love the beards and muffs on the Am roos, they often pick them and the roos allow it because they just dote on their ladies. Seems to be a breed trait and the people who win shows often keep their best roos isolated until show season is over to keep their facial feathers intact.
 
My opal legbar I got from Dennis in April became broody today, only a month after starting to lay. I stole the egg she was sitting on when she went to get water. I think she hates me now.
I have never had an Opal go broody. Only a few times have any Cream Legbars gone broody and they are very fickle and quite after a few days. But the best feral broodies are the old legbars I let go into retirement, they can get super mean when guarding their chicks. I think they just only get the inclined to broodiness when not confined, as I have some hens still laying a lot after 5 years in pens and never broody.
 
I have never had an Opal go broody. Only a few times have any Cream Legbars gone broody and they are very fickle and quite after a few days. But the best feral broodies are the old legbars I let go into retirement, they can get super mean when guarding their chicks. I think they just only get the inclined to broodiness when not confined, as I have some hens still laying a lot after 5 years in pens and never broody.
Mine aren't that confined. They have about 900 square feet to roam around in, and the fact is they could jump the fence if they really felt the inclination to do so. This opal from the beginning spent a lot of time fussing over all the nest boxes (they are in different parts of the pen.) She sometimes spends an hour or 2 trying to decide where to lay her egg. She also removes my wooden eggs from all the nest boxes.
 
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I need some advice about this girl.

She's my last remaining guinea hen (3 years old), as I'm transitioning to chickens. She gets along fine with my older hens, but not the younger ones. We've been working on it for 4-5 months, and there have been times when I thought it was getting better, but it never lasts long. Inside the run, she follows them around and tries to keep them away from the food/water (we have multiples, so she's not successful in that). When they're out free-ranging, she seems determined to run them off into the woods. Today I saw her jump on one and tear out some feathers. She's got them so scared, sometimes they won't come back when it's time to go in. We've got a lot of predators here, and I'm afraid I'll eventually lose them.

I don't want to cull her. I've loved my guineas, and she's the last. I've tried separating her periodically, in an adjoining area, hoping they would get more used to each other in time, but it hasn't helped. I don't want to separate her long-term - I tried that previously with a bully in my guinea flock, and it was a disaster.

I don't know anyone else with guineas, let alone someone who might want an extra hen. My husband says it's time to cull her, or list her on Craigslist as a free dinner. But I'm still hoping it doesn't come to that. Any other ideas?
 
I admit that I can’t stand guineas, so the fact that I’m about to say this is mind blowing. You need another guinea or two. It’s quite possible she really doesn’t like being alone, and is dealing the only way she can. If you really want to be done with them ( :woot ), she doesn’t have to be a free dinner. Don’t ask, don’t tell, but do ask $10 for her.
 
Today when I was in a tall shed closing a pen, I heard a loud splat and then felt some warm liquid in my hair and running down my neck. I looked up to see a guinea, way up in the rafters. I think it had a smirk on it's face.

Reminded me of a ditty I heard as a pre-teen boy:
I saw a birdy in the sky,
it dropped a toidy in my eye,
now I don't worry and I don't cry,
but I'm sure glad that cows don't fly!
 

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