Introducing the New Homestead Babies!

I am always excited to get new babies! Having gotten the new chicken hens settled in to their new place in hen house with all of the big guys and gals, I have more time and space for little ones!

Sweet Tucker! He may have a face that only a mother
can love, but I love him bunches! Sweet sweet guy!
5 Weeks Old

First is the new trio of turkey-heads!

Sari (left) and Terra (right)
3 Weeks Old

Tucker is the oldest. He is a bourbon x slate cross, was hatched on June 6th, and was 1 of 20 hatched. Unfortunately he didn't develop quite right. His skull is a little lopsided and one of his eyes is small and I don't think he can see out of it. I'm not sure what happened during incubation to make him like this, but I'm pretty much positive that it isn't genetic. All of his hatch-mates were sold, but we decided to keep him. I have kept an eye on him to make sure he is growing well and isn't suffering or having problems. He was so lonely for about a week while he waited for another hatch, so he spent a lot of time riding around in my shirt. I'd stick him in the top of my tank top and he would lay his head down and fall right to sleep. When the next batch of turklettes hatched he showed them all how to eat and drink, and really enjoyed having snuggle buddies.

I couldn't leave tucker all alone so I kept 2 more babies out of the last hatch on the 18th. I'm hoping both are hens. Sari is a self blue like her daddy, Yellow. I have a strange sense of humor, so Sari means Yellow in Turkish, or so Google says. She is a calm sweet little baby. Terra is a Bourbon Red. She is loud and opinionated. She puffs up and calls when she is upset about something. She sounds like a little turkey hen already!

Our other new babies to be introduced are our new guineas!
I have been wanting guineas for a long time. I keep hearing how wonderful they are to have around for insect control, especially to keep the tick population down. I also want something that will alert me to anything out of the ordinary, such as hawks or snakes. Most snakes I am fine with. I like having them around to keep the mouse population in check. I don't feel quite as warm and fuzzy when it comes to the venomous ones. We just found the second Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake on our property in about a year and a half, and these are BIG snakes! Luckily they are not aggressive, but I'd rather not have them around. Hopefully the baby guineas will grow up to be good alarm systems.

They are supposed to be Pearl Guineas. Right now they are marked with different shades of brown and have feathers sticking out at awkward angles. They remind me of frizzle chickens! They make the most amazing noises. As silly as it sounds, they remind me of a Disney movie forest, filled with happy bird, bug, and frog sounds. They make all kinds of different noises and I could listen to them for hours. I got 12 babies, but sadly I lost 1. I'm not sure what happened to the poor little guy. The rest of them are doing wonderfully! They are so active even at this young of an age! They range in age from 2 weeks to 5 weeks, so are slightly different sizes. The ladies I bought them from said that they did that specifically because they were from separate, unrelated, flocks, so that I can mate them when they get older.

I have been told that baby turkeys start killing when they are 2 weeks old, so I shouldn't put the guineas in with them. The 3 turkeys seemed so lonely in the big outdoor brooder, though. And the guineas just didn't have as much room to run around as I thought they needed in the smaller indoor brooder, so I put them together outside in "The Tank". They all eat the same high protein game-bird starter so keeping them together isn't an issue on that front. I put in a large PVC corner joint, big enough for the little guineas to hide in but too small for the turkeys, to allow the guineas to escape if they needed to. I kept a close eye on them to make sure that the turkeys didn't bully them. Almost immediately, Tucker got excited to see new babies, and started showing them how to eat and drink. He is such a good big brother! Sari was a little stand-offish but warmed up to them quickly. Terra puffed up and paced around, yelping all the while. I think she must be Tabby's baby, because she acts just like her! Eventually she settled down, and now they are a great big happy family!

The new babies are settling in well. I'm looking forward to seeing them all grow up! The new hens in the hen house are fitting in well too, and I have even started getting some new, very small, green eggs! New additions are always so exciting! Our next addition is in the works and we will be announcing their arrival soon!