I'm baaack!

Sorry everyone, I needed a break from the blogging world!  But now I'm back!  And it's gonna be great!  Spring is here, the weather is great so much is going on, my only problem will be finding the time to write it all all!  So get ready and hold onto your seats, it's gonna be an awesome year!

Our winter egg production was down to 7 or 8 eggs a day, from 16 hens.  Still more than I'll ever eat!  Thanks ladies!!!!  Egg production is already starting to rise since the weather's been so nice.










Muffin the rooster has been feeling his oats and has started chasing me and attacking me when I enter the chicken pen.  Silly boy.  I remember from my lessons learned in the past to carry a broom, and he remembers getting swatted with the broom a few times, so he leaves me alone as long as I carry my broom friend.  It's funny that he looks to see if I have the broom or now.  He's too smart...

A baby deer spent a few months in our back yard this winter.  I assume her mother was killed by hunters.  This seems to happen every year.  I guess the mothers bring their babies to our backyard before hunting season a lot.  We have good grass and brush for deers to eat and provide a salt block.  When the mother's are killed, the babies seem to come back here, where they remember.  Luckily, a large number of deer travel through, and the babies join another herd.  If they're lucky, there's another baby deer in that herd so they have a playmate.

This little deer spent a few months with us, she was wasn't afraid to come up to the house, as long as we were inside.  Herds passed through, some even spending a few days out back with her, but she refused to go with them and leave the backyard.  Guess she was waiting for her mother.  Too sad!  Eventually she left with a herd, and we haven't seen her since.

The guineas have been feeling their oats, too.  They've been chasing each other and are pairing up and going off alone in pairs to make nests and lay eggs.  The only prob is that we don't have enough females to go around, so quite a few males don't have mates, and they aren't happy about that.  It seems that each female picks a mate for that season (maybe longer) and they stay together as a couple.  When the weather gets cold again then they all stay together as one flock to deal with winter.  We have a group of guineas that we raised from eggs from the last parent guinea flock.  The parent guineas, all except for 2 males, were killed off by a monster that lived in the woods.  I don't know about these guineas mating, because they all may be related, father and daughter, brother and sister, and these ones aren't that bright, so I can only imagine their children will really not be too bright.  Or maybe it doesn't matter if birds inbreed???  Let me know! 

The guineas are very friendly to us, and greet us every time we are outside.  They hate and attack chickens.  If a chicken gets outside the chicken pen they will eventually kill it by pecking it to death.  Even if I'm out there with it, beside it, they still attack it.  They don't attack cats or people. They love people, people sometimes have treats.  They do attack deer and woodchuck and especially love to chase cars.  Strange birds, these guineas are.  But I love them still.

I could go on and on, but theis is getting long, so I'll save the rest for later!