Babies in the Barn!

by Pa Rock

Farmer in Spring

Every morning, not long after daylight,  I feed the cat at the chicken coop and then trek on out to the barn where I scatter hen scratch for the guineas.  Most mornings I find Mama Guinea sitting peacefully on her nest which is located at the back of one of the animal stalls, and the two male guineas somewhere close-by keeping an eye on the maternity ward.  

The "stall" is just a small area penned-off by ancient oak boards and nestled up against the backside of the barn's exterior wall.  It has no gate or point of entry, other than just climbing over - so I am not sure what it's original use was.  There are two of those "stalls" located next to each other, and entry to either would require more effort than I would be willing to put into the matter, so Mama Guinea sees me walking around in the barn and visiting with her over the side of the stall, but she does not have to worry about me coming too close.  The male guineas focus on her and basically ignore me on the one or two times a day when I invade their large, two-story home.

Mama Guinea had left her large nest of eggs alone for long periods of time as she was depositing her daily offering, and I was worried that they might not hatch.  But the young hen, who is just barely a year-old, knew more innately about what she was doing than I did - because this morning she had two chicks chirping to each other and to her as they frolicked around the edge of the nest!  Mama Guinea, who was still busy incubating the rest of her eggs, seemed to be trying to ignore the noisy babies.

Papa Guinea, however, was in the stall with her and pacing nervously back-and-forth in front of the nest, and Uncle Guinea was watching from the far rail of the stall that sits adjacent to the maternity ward.  Both the papa and the uncle appeared to be proud as . . . well, uh . . . guineas!

I am intentionally staying away from the barn for a few hours giving things time to get settled.  I will head back up around noon and see if there have been any new arrivals.

It is definitely Spring at Rock's Roost because we have babies in the barn!

Update. #1:     As of about 11:00 a.m. today there were many more new hatchlings.  I'm estimating fifteen or so, but they are out of the nest and hopping around like fleas - and impossible to count!  All three adult guineas are hard at work trying to control the babies.   Occasionally Mama Guinea will get them all back in the nest for several minutes, and then they start straying again.   They are also visiting the adjoining stall during their outings from Mama's nest.

I am unable to climb into the stalls, but I have managed to get feeders and waterers into each stall close to the interior walls.  Hopefully the little ones will discover those shortly and focus on meeting their physical needs.

Imagine the havoc in the maternity wards if human babies were born with the ability to crawl out of their bassinets and walk around!

Update #2:   The little chicks have discovered the feed and they seem to love it.   They are still hopping around like fleas, but all three adult guineas are in the stall working at keeping them controlled.   The unofficial count is fifteen babies with possibly as many at seventeen.  

Ranger Bob has suggested that I put a cot in the barn and sleep out there for the next month or so to fight off raccoons and other predators. Ranger Bob is a funny guy!

Update #3:   Wednesday, shortly after daybreak.   It was still darkish in the barn during my morning breakfast tour, but all three parents were in the stalls and  I could see several of the babies huddled in a corner.  The good news was that I saw no small bodies or signs of predators.  The little chicks will grow surprisingly fast, so every day of survival increases the likelihood that they will manage to reach maturity.  If that happens, Rock's Roost will be one noisy little acreage - with no damned ticks!