Bird Tales

If you follow my blog, you will know that Hubbs believes in the trainability of birds.

I might add to that "in spite of the untrainable guineas, he still believes!"

Last summer we started with 30 guinea keats.
We had three old guineas in addition to the new keats.
Hubbs tried his level best to train the guineas to return to their house each night.
Closing them in at night would keep them safe from predators.
We tried luring them in with their tasty treat...white millet.
Result of guinea training project: one year later, we have only 3 guineas.

Conclusion:  Guineas are untrainable, stupid actually.

Our current project?
Training ducks to return to their house each night.

For the past week, our ducks have been going into their house
each night around 9 PM.....ALL BY THEMSELVES!!!
(clapping, cheers of congratulations....still holding breath, however)

Now, I could go on about Hubbs' attempts at training Hank, the viscious, flogging rooster.
But, if you have followed this blog....you know the result of that training!
(super soaker, bloody arm, lethal injection....need I say more?)

Training turkeys?  Not on your life!
From what we hear, turkeys are rather short in intellect.
I did want to tell you, however, that we have two Tom turkeys
and one Thomasina.  
These two fellows are really starting to look like turkeys now, aren't they?

So, let's talk about my chickens.
Aside from the heat being extremely hard on them,
chickens are the easiest bird to care for.
No training necessary.
They come home to roost each night.
Chickens are smart.

Sometimes too smart!
You see, yesterday afternoon, my Americauna chickens
decided to pick their lock and go for a little adventure in the woods.

Yes, they escaped right out the front door and headed for the shelter
of the woods.
I hate to admit this, but I must have left the latch unlocked (inadvertently).
Now, the door is open....waiting for them to return to roost for the night.
(which they did, thankfully)

Ah, the trials and tribulations of raising birds.
(almost as challenging as raising children!)

Check out this one....
"Hey Mom, I want my dinner!!!"
Hubbs took this picture.
His nest is in a hanging planter on our back deck.

So there you have it....
Bee Haven Acres....
has gone to the birds!!!

WaaaaaHooooooo!!
Quack!

Comments

Tidy Brown Wren said…
I think I'll just stick with my smart chickens. We all get along very well.
We have a hard enough time training our dogs. Pretty sure birds...out of the question! They would probably flip me the bird like my dogs do. :)
Anonymous said…
My birds (wild) are having a hard time in this heat as well..all of them panting..This morning on our walk, Mollie and I saw 2 fully developed baby robbins..dead in the grass..They were in different yards..very sad..there are also 3 piles of feathers that some predator has gotten...then there are the sparrows that nest in the gourd out side my kithchen window..The nest is empty for the third time this summer and they are busy, busy trying to fertilize more eggs..every time I look out the window, there they are...having a great time (I guess)
Sandy said…
Delightful post Bev! I hope the heat breaks soon...so sad about the chicken. We're glad we are missing the PA heat. It is pleasant here in Anchorage, Alaska hitting 60 degrees today. Unfortunately hubby is resting from a cold so we are here for a few days until he gets better.
You have smart fowl....they dont trust people one bit. Ha!
Great post as always!
machelle
Kessie said…
I always kept my (solitary) guinea shut up in the chicken house, and she thought she had to roost as absolutely high up as she could get. I don't think they're necessarily stupider than chickens ... they're just not quite as domestic and think they have their own ideas about survival.

And mine died of a black widow bite. Go figure.