Chickens

I sat and studied the chickens tonight. Although they are at least 8 weeks old, I still can't tell if they are hens or roosters. I've tried all the suggested ways( short of sticking my finger up their butts to feel for a "bump". Aggression- they all seem to be the same.
Body shape-they all, except for maybe one, look like miniature hens
Roosters have stockier legs-who can tell?
I guess I just have to wait til the crowing starts, then try to figure out who's doing it!

Ducks

Tonight we took all the big white ducks to the farm auction and sold them. I;ll kind of miss them- I had never been around ducks before. It was fun to observe their behavior and thier general appearance up close.
someday I'll get more ducks and tame them, as I understand lots of people keep them as pets. As it was these ducks were afraid of people, afraid of the pond, afraid even to be out of their pen, so they were just big quacking, eating machines. Someones going to have a big duck dinner soon....hope they enjoy it!

The guineas

This evening the guineas finally figured out how to get outside. They have been testing their flyung skills for a couple of weeks, and their precision is remarkable. Always together, where one manages to fly to, the others soon follow, often up into very small spaces at the top of their pen.
This is encouraging since now that they have figured out how to get out, the big black menaces (Roxy and Sebastian) will chalenging thier flying skill, as well as their reaction times!
I'm happy that they can now experience the out of doors, eating grass and bugs. I'll leave the top half of the barn door open for them in the hopes that they will be smart enough to retreat to the safety of their pen when the inevitable occurs....also to eat and drink...time will tell.

Welcome to the farm

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