this and that

There have been a few losses and near losses lately. Spring seems to be feeding time for predators' young.

A lavender guinea disappeared; a pile of feathers were found in the field below, body nowhere in sight. A jumbo guinea disappeared, but no feathers were found. Maybe it is sitting on a pile of eggs?

Yesterday I noticed "Lucky" the white guinea is missing. Haven't had the chance to look for feathers yet. She might be on eggs too, hard to know.

A few weeks ago I saw and heard guineas burst into the air, shortly followed by a coyote running out into the open. I immediately ran outside, in pajamas and bare feet, just in time to see the coyote carrying off Cocoa the Runner duck into the brush. I gave chase. I must've surprised the coyote, because a moment later I heard a pathetic quack from Cocoa. She was on the ground, trying to stabilize herself with her wings. I scooped her up, put her into the recuperation ward along with Paris, and she was 100% fine when I got home that evening.

This past weekend one of the Michelle's died. She had been losing strength over time, and finally gave up the ghost. I put her in with Paris the Muscovy on her last day to keep her away from the drakes. I swear I am not anthropomorphising, but Paris immediately took up the role as nurse. She began taking water from the bowl and dripped it on Michelle's wings, then preened for her. There is no doubt in my mind this was the intent. Then Paris played in the water. Michelle responded by drinking. Good Paris! Alas, the postmortem showed that she died from "hardware disease". This is good and bad news. Good because it's not an infectious agent or anything which would require me to try various antibiotics, which is usually hit or miss. The exact cause is known. This is bad because I have a lot of this "hardware" floating about. "Hardware disease" is ingesting metal (a nail in this case), which punctured her gizzard. The abdominal cavity was colored green, probably from bile leakage.

To end on a good note, recall the picture earlier of a goose egg. I have been collecting them as they are laid so that I can return them to have them hatched naturally. When I brought them to Foie two days ago, I think she said something like, "OH MY GAWD LOOK AT THOSE LOVELY EGGS GIVE THEM TO ME NOW NOW NOW!!!" And so I did put them down into the nest. Today she seems to have taken to them as though they are her own (which they are of course), protecting them, hissing and biting me, drawing blood even. I think she'll be a great mother.

Next Generation

Foie and Gras the Embden Geese have started laying eggs!



On the right is a Runner egg, in the center is a Pekin egg, and on the left an Embden egg. It'll make a nice omelette. (The first eggs will not be hatched until the girls get the hang of laying.)

Put in your Christmas Goose order!