We have babies!

[Sydney65]

Poor Rosie! That’s good that she has that juvenile keet who wants to be a nursemaid! Guinea life is tough, so many battles, losses, and the constant threat of predation. I don’t know if Welch even knows that her daughter Mud Pie is missing. Welch has been a good broody, so hasn’t been out of the coop for more than a few minutes in Six weeks! Poor girl spends most of the day pacing and calling to her flock. Hamlet no longer hangs out next to the coop keeping her company; he’s off with the flock. Not that the flock goes very far. I think that they associate the coop with safety, so they spend most of their time within 1000 feet of the coop. They are still very flighty and on high alert after the loss of Mud Pie. Today is the second day of brush clearing to try to make things less bobcat hospitable.

I do think that Lemon Pie might just want to establish that the keets are “hers” then leave it to Welch - that’s what happened last year. But it would be bad to be wrong. I’m going to feel awful for Welch if she goes through all of this egg/keet duties snd then is immediately ostracized by the flock. Last year they kicked her to the curb at about this time of year and she spent several weeks having to keep their distance.

Plus, that sickly pastel keet is looking better but has a lot of catching up to do. Keets got four days of high dose amprolium and I’ve just switched to low dose. Pastel keet is still tiny and just starting to feather her wings, but it’s doing as well as I could hope for. I’m still using the heat light in the morning but it no longer chooses to spend much time under it. Morning lows have been high 50s, now warming to low 60s for nighttime lows. This is the latest in the year that I’ve had broody raised keets, and I’ve been impressed with how cold tolerant they’ve seemed. It’s in stark contrast to a recent FB conversation on the Guinea Fowl Enthusiast group thread I’ve been lurking on, where people were insisting they keets will die if they aren’t kept at 95 F for 6 weeks.

I pondered that whole 95° thing- I think the difference is nature vs nurture. I wasn't out there in the middle of the night or wee hrs, but this group was rarely under Mama when I went out, & we had some chilly days no where near the 90s. There were a cpl that seemed to always be trying to get beneath her, one still tries to stay right next to her. Other than the time it took for a quick warm up was all the time they spent after the 1st cpl of days. But they don't stay under the warmer all the time, either, even with ac on. The last two hatches started sleeping on top of the heating pad cave instead of inside of it inside as soon as they were big enough to hop up on the perch it was draped over. - somewhere I read that they regulate their body temp through their feet, so perching on top was toasty. Oh, I know, it was a warning on the shoes I bought for Blue. Bc they were made of neoprene, they would have really been hot in the summer and prevented a cool down.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Well it’s been an odd day and a really exhausting weekend! Hubby rented the Billy Goat, which is a Brush Hog type machine. For two days, we’ve cleared brush from “Bobcat Hill” and elsewhere. I didn’t really expect the bobcat to make an appearance for awhile as I suspect he’s a male with large territory since he seems to reappear at about six week intervals. All of this brush clearing finally allowed me to find Scout Lemon’s feather pile.
She disappeared about six weeks ago, and I had at first thought she was on a nest. When we lost Mud Pie, I figured the bobcat got SL.

SL’s feather pile was only a few hundred feet from the coop! So both Mud Pie and Scout Lemon were eaten near the coop. That makes me feel awful, since I’ve encouraged them to hang out near the coop and view it as a safe place. I looked closely at Scout Lemon’s feather pile, and it looks like she was eaten by a different predator! SL’s feathers were sheared at the base, instead of pulled like MP’s feathers! Sheared feathers indicate carnassial teeth, like coyotes have. So, it looks like we’ve had two different predator kills lately!

Operating that Billy Goat is hard work, plus it was in the mid-90s today, I felt like I might have heat stroke! So we worked for hours, multiple people outside, heavy and loud equipment etc. Everyone goes inside for half an hour until about 2 PM, when I head out the back door. I hear alarm calls at the guinea coop and then see Hamlet and several guineas panic and flush. When I get there, I find a big mass of stuck together feathers, not like the molting that they are all doing but a mass of pulled feathers, and they seem to match Kingpin, who is missing feathers over his back! They were all panicked but I didn’t see anything. I got the dog with the nose (beagle), but he just sniffed around a little bit and didn’t seem very interested. What the heck was THAT predator??? Hawk? Coyote? The feather pile was in a weird spot as there’s no good hiding space for an ambush, but under a tree, so also not a usual hawk attack area either! Man, I am so done with predators right now!!!!

 

[Sydney65]

Well it’s been an odd day and a really exhausting weekend! Hubby rented the Billy Goat, which is a Brush Hog type machine. For two days, we’ve cleared brush from “Bobcat Hill” and elsewhere. I didn’t really expect the bobcat to make an appearance for awhile as I suspect he’s a male with large territory since he seems to reappear at about six week intervals. All of this brush clearing finally allowed me to find Scout Lemon’s feather pile.
She disappeared about six weeks ago, and I had at first thought she was on a nest. When we lost Mud Pie, I figured the bobcat got SL.

SL’s feather pile was only a few hundred feet from the coop! So both Mud Pie and Scout Lemon were eaten near the coop. That makes me feel awful, since I’ve encouraged them to hang out near the coop and view it as a safe place. I looked closely at Scout Lemon’s feather pile, and it looks like she was eaten by a different predator! SL’s feathers were sheared at the base, instead of pulled like MP’s feathers! Sheared feathers indicate carnassial teeth, like coyotes have. So, it looks like we’ve had two different predator kills lately!

Operating that Billy Goat is hard work, plus it was in the mid-90s today, I felt like I might have heat stroke! So we worked for hours, multiple people outside, heavy and loud equipment etc. Everyone goes inside for half an hour until about 2 PM, when I head out the back door. I hear alarm calls at the guinea coop and then see Hamlet and several guineas panic and flush. When I get there, I find a big mass of stuck together feathers, not like the molting that they are all doing but a mass of pulled feathers, and they seem to match Kingpin, who is missing feathers over his back! They were all panicked but I didn’t see anything. I got the dog with the nose (beagle), but he just sniffed around a little bit and didn’t seem very interested. What the heck was THAT predator??? Hawk? Coyote? The feather pile was in a weird spot as there’s no good hiding space for an ambush, but under a tree, so also not a usual hawk attack area either! Man, I am so done with predators right now!!!!

Did Kingpin have any bites or other injuries? When Bella was hit, there was an initial explosion of white down where she was hit. After she returned to coop, they fell off in clumps - only from her back.
I'm reading abt predator methods- does a fox actually "pluck" feathers or are they meaning plucked from the area(captured)?

 

[Sydney65]

"You may notice a hawk circling the area above your chickens, screeching as it does. More than likely, the bird is checking out your chickens for potential prey. They may not attack your chickens right away, or even the next day. They will often wait and return when the coast is clear to make a grab at a bird....occasionally, a full grown chicken will be dropped by a bird. Chickens that have been attacked by birds of prey may have puncture wounds from the bird’s talons. They may also have missing feathers."
https://newsfromthecoop.hoovershatchery.com/how-to-identify-predators-birds/

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Did Kingpin have any bites or other injuries? When Bella was hit, there was an initial explosion of white down where she was hit. After she returned to coop, they fell off in clumps - only from her back.
I'm reading abt predator methods- does a fox actually "pluck" feathers or are they meaning plucked from the area(captured)?

Kingpin’s feathers were pulled, like a predator grabbed his back and got a mouthful of feathers. I don’t see any injuries and he had no trouble getting up to the roost tonight.

As far as feather plucking, I don’t think most predators want to eat feathers, so they pluck the feathers as they consume. The pattern of plucking and consumption helps to identify the predator.

 

[Sydney65]

Kingpin’s feathers were pulled, like a predator grabbed his back and got a mouthful of feathers. I don’t see any injuries and he had no trouble getting up to the roost tonight.

As far as feather plucking, I don’t think most predators want to eat feathers, so they pluck the feathers as they consume. The pattern of plucking and consumption helps to identify the predator.

I never pondered what predators do abt feathers until I read that article. The way they fly all over I guess I figured they fell off during an attack. Lord knows if you reach and only get the tail, feathers is all you end up with. I'm glad he escaped!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Ok, so I have some updates… I looked again at Mud Pie’s feather pile. Every feather plucked, none sheared at the base. I don’t see damage on the quill/shaft, just the barbs, but each feather is cleanly pulled out. Bobcats have carnassial teeth too, jut less well developed than coyotes, so some of the feathers should have been sheared if that was Muddy’s predator… I’m using two books: Mammal Tracks and Sign, and What’s Killing my Chickens (screenshot is from Gail Damerow’s book). Feather plucking seems most like hawk, though I don’t see notches on the quill…

Yesterday I took a day off and worked on the guinea run (this is such slow going!). Note that I could have spent last weekend A) working on their run or B) clearing brush. I picked B and now am feeling like I should have gone with A… So while I was working outside yesterday, I heard the ducks then a subdued guinea alarm call. I found the guineas quietly clustered in brush under a tree by the coop, so I stood near them for awhile. Suddenly a hawk materialized from across the pond, flew low and fast, then disappeared into the woods. I’m >90% sure that it was a Cooper’s hawk! So, we do have Cooper’s hawks migrate through and I’ve had a few close calls with chickens, but only red tailed hawks had taken our birds (duck and guinea) previously. Now I’m thinking our most recent predator was a Cooper’s hawk! That fits a lot better with Kingpin’s attack as Cooper’s are forest birds that would be so upset by people recently clearing brush. Oh, and I’ve just removed most of the brush that the guineas need to hide!!! My husband, who worked tirelessly clearing brush for three days trying to make the guineas safer, was SO disappointed when I explained all of this to him!

 

[Sydney65]

Ok, so I have some updates… I looked again at Mud Pie’s feather pile. Every feather plucked, none sheared at the base. I don’t see damage on the quill/shaft, just the barbs, but each feather is cleanly pulled out. Bobcats have carnassial teeth too, jut less well developed than coyotes, so some of the feathers should have been sheared if that was Muddy’s predator… I’m using two books: Mammal Tracks and Sign, and What’s Killing my Chickens (screenshot is from Gail Damerow’s book). Feather plucking seems most like hawk, though I don’t see notches on the quill…

Yesterday I took a day off and worked on the guinea run (this is such slow going!). Note that I could have spent last weekend A) working on their run or B) clearing brush. I picked B and now am feeling like I should have gone with A… So while I was working outside yesterday, I heard the ducks then a subdued guinea alarm call. I found the guineas quietly clustered in brush under a tree by the coop, so I stood near them for awhile. Suddenly a hawk materialized from across the pond, flew low and fast, then disappeared into the woods. I’m >90% sure that it was a Cooper’s hawk! So, we do have Cooper’s hawks migrate through and I’ve had a few close calls with chickens, but only red tailed hawks had taken our birds (duck and guinea) previously. Now I’m thinking our most recent predator was a Cooper’s hawk! That fits a lot better with Kingpin’s attack as Cooper’s are forest birds that would be so upset by people recently clearing brush. Oh, and I’ve just removed most of the brush that the guineas need to hide!!! My husband, who worked tirelessly clearing brush for three days trying to make the guineas safer, was SO disappointed when I explained all of this to him!

And coopers aren't that big so probably dropped him. Makes sense. We had one hanging around the first year when the keets were in the kennel. I have a pic of it eating a mouse outside my door. It liked to hide in a scrubby evergreen in the fence row, so we chopped it down.
The part about scoping out where prey is and REMEMBERING for a later meal was unnerving to read. Hawks aside, we still have an eagle wandering around somewhere.

 

[southwind00]

Suddenly a hawk materialized from across the pond, flew low and fast, then disappeared into the woods. I’m >90% sure that it was a Cooper’s hawk! So, we do have Cooper’s hawks migrate through and I’ve had a few close calls with chickens, but only red tailed hawks had taken our birds (duck and guinea) previously. Now I’m thinking our most recent predator was a Cooper’s hawk!

It may have been a Coopers but they know their size limits and are more timid than their larger cousin the goshawk, Same silhouette in the air and a young male gos would be about the same size as a full grown female Coopers. Goshawks are way more daring and will chase birds on the ground. I've lost at least one, maybe two guineas to Goshawks this year.https://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2015/03/19/g-is-for-goddamned-goshawk/

 

[Sydney65]

It may have been a Coopers but they know their size limits and are more timid than their larger cousin the goshawk, Same silhouette in the air and a young male gos would be about the same size as a full grown female Coopers. Goshawks are way more daring and will chase birds on the ground. I've lost at least one, maybe two guineas to Goshawks this year.https://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2015/03/19/g-is-for-goddamned-goshawk/

My response to her article: I blame them! I do! Every blasted carnivore that has left a stain on this season and a coop that echoes with the missing. I don't care how regal, pretty, endangered, majestic or hungry they are. I blame them!
(Dont mind me-I have ppl wanting keets and I'm struggling with it. I won't cry, I won't...I might.-Quiet, R2. Lol.)