Guinea Surprise

We had a very eventful, guinea-filled weekend! Remember the photo of the broody guinea I showed you here? I was pretty sure her eggs weren't going to develop because I had seen her off the nest quite a bit and it has been getting really chilly at night lately. Well, I came home Friday and found this.

Every single one of her eggs had hatched! The keets all looked to be doing great and I was so excited when I saw them. Discovering unexpected babies in the middle of your back yard is quite the adrenaline rush. It was for me, anyway! However, we aren't really in the market for more guineas. We still have 13 of the original flock, plus 15 of their offspring (see them hatching here) and now these too? But one look at them and I knew we could make room for more.

 
With the temps getting close to freezing every night here now, we thought it would be best to bring the keets inside under a heat lamp. We marched out back to snatch up the keets, and the mom came at us! If you've never encountered a new guinea mama, it is quite shocking how aggressive they can be.

Guinea mom and dad protecting their babies.

We had to come back again armed with a rake and trash can (don't ask) and managed to get most of the keets gathered up. We decided to let the mama keep a few because we felt bad about stealing her babies and she wasn't letting us near them anyway. As of this morning three of the ones with the mama are still alive and following her around everywhere, so hopefully they make it. The 11 that we brought inside are doing really well and growing so fast. Luckily we have 20 acres so at least they have plenty of room to spread out!

~Tammy

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Quick & Easy Fall Wreath

Inspired by a photo I saw in a recent Better Homes & Gardens magazine, I decided to make a mum wreath for my front door. We haven't done much in the way of decorating this fall and I thought this would jazz up the entry way a bit. First, I gathered my supplies - artificial spider mums, wire cutters, and a foam wreath.

I simply cut each flower off the stem, leaving about 1/2" to 1" so that it would stay in the foam securely and placed them all around the wreath.

The flowers on their own would be pretty enough, but I thought it would look even better if I added in some of my feathers I've collected (go here to see how I used feathers in the past). So after I had all the mums in, I placed some guinea feathers in between the flowers. Then, I secured the wreath to a long piece of ribbon I had in my craft bin, and hung it on the door.

I really like how it turned out. I think the dark spotted guinea feathers add nice visual contrast to the white spider mums. Even better, the total cost was under $10 and only took about 15 minutes to complete. Now that's my kind of project!

~Tammy

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Feathered Friend Friday

A couple weeks ago, I shared the crazy night time routine of our chickens, so this week I thought I'd show you how the guineas prepare for bed.

There is definitely less squabbling and fussing in the guineas' night time routine. Instead of roosting inside a coop (which we tried to get them to do with no success), they roost high in a tree right beside the coop. It's kind of funny how some of them get up into the tree. Guineas can fly amazingly well, so some just fly straight up from the ground. Others like to take a tiered approach and jump up on the chicken run, then onto the metal carport, then into the tree.

Once they are up in the tree, they shuffle a bit to find a good branch, but it's typically pretty uneventful. However, when it starts to get dark, they do get loud and chirp quite a bit. My theory is that they are just talking to each other to make sure everyone is safe in the tree. Or maybe it's just because they like to make noise!

Thought I would also share this video of a scuffle I caught while I was waiting for them to head to bed. It was so funny how two of them were sparring and all the others were standing around egging them on (kind of like a schoolyard fight!). I was going to intervene, but it was over as soon as it started and was mild compared to other tiffs I've seen.

Never a dull moment with these animals. Between the chickens and guineas we have plenty of entertainment out here!

~Tammy

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Easy Crock Pot Sweet Potato Chili

The weather here in Missouri can never decide what it's going to do. I planned to have chili last night and it was 80 degrees! I decided to pretend it was a frigid day (it will come soon enough) and warm myself with some of this sweet potato chili.

Sweet Potato Chili
Adapted from Carol Hee Barnett @ VegNews
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder, or more to taste
1-1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
One 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
One 15.5-ounce can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1-1/2 cups water
Salt

Directions:
1) Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and cook for 30 seconds. Add the sweet potatoes and stir to coat with the spices.
2) Transfer the mixture to a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker. Add the tomatoes, beans and water, season with salt, cover, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

The original recipe called for chipotle peppers added in just before serving, but I didn't have any on hand. I tried the chili first and it really needed some smoky flavor, so I added some dashes of smoked paprika. I also sprinkled on just a touch of cayenne for that great mix of sweet and heat. 

It hit the spot! I was going to make cornbread but instead just went with crackers so I didn't have to heat up the oven on this unseasonably hot day. We had plenty leftover to freeze, so I'll probably give it a rerun this winter with some jalapeno cornbread. Into the recipe folder it goes!

~Tammy

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