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I gotta tell ya, it's really really exciting, when you find your first eggs. These eggs are even more exciting- all but one of these are guinea eggs!
Guinea eggs are pullet sized (those are Spice's hands); they run about 3 guinea to 2 hen eggs, size-wise. They're a bit pointed, usually; and likely to have faint spots on the pointed end.
We haven't actually eaten any yet- it's too exciting just to look at them! :-)
But we will; and we'll let you know how they cook and all.
The info available says a guinea hen can lay 100 eggs a year. We've got 7 or 8 hens (we think- they're tricky to sex, and even trickier to keep track of). So- if we could keep them collected- that's a mess of eggs.
And- no kidding- they feed themselves to a great extent. A month ago, with snow cover still in place, we were feeding our whole batch of birds about 1 and a half scoops of feed a day. Now that the birds are out, finding seeds, grass, and early bugs- we're down to half a scoop a day.
The guineas, alas, tend to lay all over the farm- not in the coop. Finding the nests can be really time consuming. But- these eggs were all laid in the coop. Hm. Maybe we could breed a strain that lays eggs at home?
It's been done, many times, folks- but not with guineas yet. We'll have to see what we can do.
Oh, yeah- and the ticks. Our tick season has started- and so far, they seem to be down. But it's early. Instead of 20 ticks per dog per day- we're down to 1; and ticks on us- once in 3 days or so. Instead of 5 a day. Is it the guineas? Of course we have no control- so- can't say.
But we've got less ticks- and eggs.
So; that's my little bit of cheer for an otherwise rather gloomy Earth Day. All that lousy news is getting to be a bummer.
If you're looking for a little cheer; dig out a copy of The Land Remembers, and read the chapters on eggs, and Easter.
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