A Motley Crew

About a year ago, we "rescued" five Barred Rock chickens from becoming stewing hens at our friend Jeff's farm.  Since then, they've survived several mishaps and have generously given us eggs.  Though they've slowed down recently in egg production, we've decided to keep them around and have also added to their flock a Partridge Rock rooster.

The quintessential barnyard rooster...

...who poses for the camera by fluffing his feathers...

...and crowing.  Repeatedly.

Then we got three guinea fowl a couple months ago.  At first, we kept them separate from the rest of the chickens, but they refused to "stay put" and ended up mingling with the Barred Rocks and their man.  You can read about their antics here.

It was almost impossible to get a photo of the whole flock because every time I squatted down to take a picture, they came dashing toward me, hoping for goodies!  Anyway, the three guineas are right behind the Barred Rock in the front.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the guineas had taken to roosting on the chimney.  They actually moved to a nearby tree shortly after I wrote that, until one night a couple weeks ago.  I was awakened in the wee morning hours by some seriously loud guinea squawking, and thought I detected some whimpering.  Dashing out of bed (okay, I didn't dash, but it sounds more heroic), I went outside and found two of them under a bush.  The third, I was convinced, had become an owl's midnight snack.

We were saddened at the fate of the guinea, but then lo and behold - all three were waiting for us when we woke up later in the morning!  And you know what?  They have ditched the tree and have been safely roosting with the Barred Rocks ever since!

So there you have it - our motley crew of poultry.  We may soon be mixing them again with the 20 Rhode Island Reds so they can all spend the winter in the hoop house (updates coming soon - we're almost done).  Any fiascoes that will ensue remain to be seen.

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