Wednesday, April 13, 2016

The Guinea Egg Mystery

by Pa Rock
Farmer in Spring

Last week while giving my large yard its first mow of the season, I came across two or three individual eggs that had been laid in the grass in various locations.  Normally the hens lay their eggs in nesting boxes in the hen house, so I thought the appearance of the eggs on the lawn very strange.   Having no way of knowing how old the eggs were, I chose to run over them with the big riding mower rather than risk making someone sick off of a bad egg.

Yesterday while I was out feeding the peacocks, I found another egg on the ground - this one lying right in front of the door to the peacockery.  That egg was still warm.  It was the same color as the eggs the hens lay, but only about a half to three-quarters the size of a hen's egg.  I had the suspicion that it might have been the fait accompli of one of my five remaining young adult guineas.

I had never seen a guinea egg before, but I had always assumed they would be speckled, or green or blue, or be somehow more exotic than ordinary chicken eggs.   I hit the google where I learned two things:  the fresh egg that I had in my possession was indeed a guinea egg, and guinea eggs are fairly expensive.  I determined to try and find a small hobby incubator and hatch the thing.

Then, late in the afternoon, something strange occurred.  As I was stumbling about the house doing various chores, I came across a second guinea egg - this one sitting next to a pillow on the couch.  It was still slightly warm.  I set it aside with the first, ready to raise a pair of young guineas.

I asked my son this morning where he had gotten the egg that he left of the couch.  He replied with a straight face that he didn't know what I was talking about.  If Nick was being truthful, and his genetics would indicate that he has an innate ability to falsify with impunity, that would leave two possibilities:   either Nick's Boston Terrier, Riley, brought the egg into the house in his mouth and deposited it on the couch as a gift for me, or one of the guineas gained entry to my living quarters and laid the egg - perhaps while watching television.

Both of those scenarios would serve as an indictment of my housekeeping skills!

Today I am looking for a small incubator - and taking great care to watch where I step and sit!

Farming is a never-ending adventure!

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