Not a lot going on in the rabbitry. Still hot. Still just the 1 litter. Still no does bred. Still waiting for it to cool off. The boys could all be heat sterile.
I'll be getting pix of Foxy's 2 babies soon. They are about 4 weeks old now and so very promising. I think the Smith's buck was just what I needed. They're both bucks and the blue has good deep color. My dilutes haven't been that impressive lately. One buck was so light, 2 judges questioned whether he was blue or lilac.
So I'll talk about guineas again. Just got the latest issue of Backyard Poultry and there's a fun article about guinea fowl. The author talks about what she's learned from her guineas. Kind of like "What I learned in kindergarten". I'll talk about my observations of my flocks.
Yes, I referred to the flock in the plural. There are 3 separate flocks.
Flock #1: The adult pair and their 1 keet that survived hatching in the "wild". These 3 stick tightly together and the only ones that leave the fence for most of the day. Such a cute little family! In the morning, they head for the front yard and proceed to scarf up all the Japanese beetles they find. My gardens thank them! Jap beetles aren't super fast, but it's still pretty amusing to watch the birds take off like a shot and snap them out of the air. Guineas are such funny looking birds when they run.
Flock #2: The 7 from NC that were supposed to be pied. So much for that idea. They are showing some adult plumage now, and it's not there. This flock includes Rooster Cogburn. This is also the flock that forced me to change the dog and cat feeding routine. Cogburn roosts on the porch at night, and even though it's nearly dark when I take the food out, he hops down to grab a bite. I'm ok with that. I just don't want the guineas doing it, and they've gone to roost for the night. Since I changed the routine, they aren't coming up on the porch as much. BTW, I made a "rattle" to spook them off the porch. It's a plastic gallon water jug with some stones inside. I throw it at them and tied a string to it so I could reel it back in. After a few spooks, I can now just shake it at them and they take off. There is at least 1 hen in this flock.
As I write this, Flock #1 just went out front. No, I didn't see it. I heard them on the house roof. I still don't get why they don't fly over the fence which would be much easier. Who knows what lurks in the minds of guineas.
Flock #3: The 4 from the hen's last clutch. Same clutch the wild baby came from. For some reason, they aren't roosting high at night. They settle in under the shrubs around the rabbit shed. Maybe it's too crowded with all the others on the "guinea rack". Might have to throw another one together. I've only heard 1 hen in this one so far.
The only time the 3 flocks come together is in the morning when I go out to tend to the rabbits. After I'm done, I toss out the cracked corn mix for the birds. During that time, they are chasing around as I move around in the Summer House. I mess with them. Heheh. Every time I go to the side where I usually throw out the corn, they bombard the fence and even go up on the metal roof. Which then has the rabbits on alert. It's noisy. I open the corn container but don't give it to them. The next time I walk over there, I get it ready to toss. Then do something else with the rabbits. When I'm ready to leave, I wait until they are at another side and then toss the corn. Mad dash to the feed station ensues!
I find it very interesting that these flocks are so segregated. I don't know how they know, but the adult pair recognize the baby they raised. They chase their other 4 identical keets away.
Update: Found one of #3 dead the same morning I wrote this blog entry. I think what might have happened is that it was seriously injured by an adult. I assume that based on where I found it. There is a narrow space between the shed and Summer House. More than once, I've caught an adult beating up these smallest keets as they move through there. There isn't room for them to move out of the way fast enough. I now have the space blocked. I'm pretty sure it was the 3 week older singleton that was also a hen. That's an unfortunate loss because there's not a lot of hens.
I'm thinking the hen won't lay another clutch this year. Apparently, if they raise a clutch, they don't lay again until it's grown. By then, it will be fall, and too late for any more.
I've seen some ads for color guineas. Notably Royal Purple and Lavender. I believe this is what my first pair was. I definitely want to bring some in. Hopefully next year. I have all the guineas I need right now.
In other news:
I have a new computer! Yay! I took advantage of TN's Tax Holiday last weekend and upgraded from my old XP to Win 7. I'm loving it! XP was getting clunkier by the day. The new one is so much faster and Win 7 is a very slick interface. Almost every operation has been simplified. Bout time, MicroSoft! Not only that, but the eMachine I settled on (great price) is so tiny. My desk has a space on the one lower side for the CPU and the old puter took up most of it. The new one is so small, I can put it on top of the desk which gives me easier access to its functions, like the DVD drive and USB ports. This also means I don't have to pull the desk out to change connections in the back. I'm going to install some shelves in the old CPU space for more storage. Oh yeah and another thing. The eMachine is nearly silent. I read 1 review that said "you can hear it thinking". The only time I've heard a peep out of it is during boot up.
I got a new toy, too. A Netbook that was covered by the tax free weekend. I've been thinking about it since I got mobile broadband. Didn't really need it, but there are times it will come in handy. The occasional overnight rabbit show. When the power goes out for any length of time. I usually end up reading a book by candlelight or the clip-on book light (not very comfortable), but now I can go online or play games when that happens. It's nowhere near as powerful or fast as the desktop, but good enough for the price and size.
Oh wait, one more new thing. I guess the title of this entry isn't accurate. I bought a new domain name. I've owned 2 for a long time, and didn't see myself needing another. As I was backing up and weeding out my bookmarks in anticipation of the new puter, I discovered a site I've always liked was closed and the domain name had gone up for sale. It was originally a decal store with really unique graphics. It can cost a small fortune to acquire a domain name 2nd hand, but the price was very reasonable. So I snapped it up! For now, it's forwarded to my other domain and host. I'll eventually move it over so the URL matches the site. DarkMoonGraphix.com. Stay tuned.
tnt
