Monday, October 17, 2005

Mother and Chicks Doing Well

I stepped out of the house yesterday afternoon and there they were, the Guinea fowl family returned, scratching on the lawn, just in front of the last of the firewood waiting to be stacked.

Vigilant chicks survey the scene.

I wondered again if I should've tried to catch them and return them to wherever they belong. I don't know how long the chicks take to mature, or how much protein they need to do it, but in spite of the continued lack of frost, winter is coming soon, and the available bugs are diminishing quickly. But so far, so good. I was surprised to see them, that she had gotten them through a couple more nights and days without losing them to predators.

Foraging with mom.


I was only a few feet away, but they seemed relatively calm.


And off they go....

3 comments:

TroutGrrrl said...

Very cool. Thanks for the pictures. I'll keep my fingers crossed for them...

Pamela Martin said...

I saw the family again the next day--the chicks were noticeably bigger than the day before, astonishing growth rate, but they were also less well behaved, already tending to stray a bit so that when they left the yard one got left behind for a moment. The hen heard its plaintive cheeps and called it in.

Anonymous said...

nothing much cuter than a gamebird chick- little puffballs of feathers on very fast legs :)