Every evening the guinea hens and guinea keets come in to get a little feed. They're generally waiting for me about sunset, perched on gates and pallets.
As the light turns golden and night is coming on, there will be a BUNCH of them waiting for me.
When they see me, they start fluttering their wings and getting ready to fly down off their perch. You can see one in the left front testing its wings (enlarge the picture and you can see it better!).
Pretty soon the guinea keets are taking that short flight down off their perches. They sometimes do it in stages, from the highest perch to the next lower down, then onto the ground.
More and more of them get into the act, cause they sure don't want to get left behind!
They'll get their share of the cracked corn I've thrown out.
Then they'll start another migration, looking for a place to roost for the night. This bunch is roosting inside the sheep shed. Most of them ran under the gate, but this one decided to perch on top of the gate for a while.
The sun was getting pretty low by the time they got in the shed to find their places. They flew up onto their favorite spot. The sun really glinted off the ones in flight.
It didn't take them long to get settled in and ready for the night.
As the keets keep getting bigger, the guinea hens may decide to go back to roosting high up in the trees in the back yard. However, the sheep shed is a pretty good spot because our dogs don't bother them, but they are smack dab in the middle of the area our Maremma LGD (livestock guardian dog) patrols at night.
Than means they can sleep tight, and no predators bite.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a big bunch of guineas. I bet you don’t have a bug or tick problem. I love those loud and noisy critters. They have great personalities. I’ve seen them run snakes off and let me know when the mail runs. I have six I’m going to turn out next spring to eat all the ticks and such. We haven’t had any for about 2 years now, so it’ll be nice to hear the alarm again.
No, we don’t have a tick problem NOW, but we sure did before we bought guineas! Every time you walked under a tree, at least one tick fell down on you. It was gruesome (cause I HATE ticks). They are loud and noisy, but they are GREAT to have around the farm!
Great shots of the Guinea fowl, I do not think I have seen one before. Your first photo is my favorite.
Thanks for the compliments. Guinea fowl are great on the farm. I liked the first photo too. There was some nice light for it.