Duck Chappelle Joins the Flock; Clipping Guinea Wings; Farm Selfies

Chapelle in her temporary new digs

A few days ago, our friend Shea of Gentle Meadow Goat Farm sent us a message asking if we might have a home for a Muscovy hen who had lost her flock to a fox and was in need of some duck buddies. Lady Muscovy was currently living at Twin Rivers Farm, but was lonely and beginning to be picked on by their turkeys and chickens. She needed a place to live with more other ducks and less foxes. Could we help? Back when we first discussed getting ducks, Sean wanted to have Muscovy ducks, but to be honest, they kind of freaked me out a little. They have reddish "waddily" bits on their heads and instead of quacking, they hiss. Of course, that reaction was before I met guinea fowl and fell in love with turkeys. I thought that I was (maybe) ready for Muscovies. So, we talked about it together. Before any most animals come to the farm, we discuss the pros and cons with each other and together reach a decision that we feel is best for our homestead. ("Love Dove" came home with Sean from work one evening and "Lex" showed up on my watch. The system is not flawless, but by and large, it works.) We think about the size of the animal in question. The animal's age and health is a factor. Do we have the room to care for the animal? Do we have the ability to provide for the animal? Do they have any special needs to consider? How will they help to support themselves and their retirement?

The consensus this time was that we did have room on our homestead and in our heart for this Muscovy lady. Assuming she is accepted by our resident ducks, we have plenty of room to add two more Muscovies to our flock. "Two?" you ask. Well, that is part of our consideration process. Ducks stick together for sure, but in our experience, they stick together best in groups of their own breed. Our China Buff Geese, Mallards, Black Swedish, and the unknown tawny breed we have acquired all live in the same pen, but they seem to separate themselves by breed. The exception to this are the two Black Swedish hens who were brooder buddies with our geese and spend most of their time with them. Sean and I were happy to offer a home to Ms. Duck Chappelle, but we feel it is important for her to have a friend. So, we are looking for a good candidate for her. Anyone out there looking for a home for a young (1-2 year old hen or drake)?

In the meantime, we set up a temporary pen right next to the duck enclosure. We introduced her to the largest tawny duck as a pen-buddy to start. She and tawny duck will live together for about a week. This will give them some time to get to know each other more closely. All the ducks and geese are able to see each other to begin getting used to the new addition. And, when the week passes, we'll reintroduce both ducks into the main pen. It is my hope that we can find another friend for Chappelle this week, so we can introduce a trio. I find adding birds in larger numbers helps with the acceptance of them. Less chance of any one bird getting picked on too much while they establish their pecking order, though obviously we'll keep an eye out anyway.

The main chicken coop area bears watching over the next few days, too. We introduced the 14 teen-aged guineas growing out in the back yard into it last night just after feeding time. There were four adult guineas in the coop and they took an interest in the new arrivals, but were too busy scratching for corn to really pay them much mind. Miguel, our adult chocolate male, is the most dominant of the group, but he gave a couple half-hearted charges towards the group of teens and then gave up in search for more grain and Maria's attention. This morning, I have been watching them from my studio window and everyone seems content to get along. That is good news. Six of these teenagers are for sale. We have a pair of chocolates and 2 pair of pearls for sale. (I am keeping the lavenders this year.) We'll offer pairs for $30. As bad as tick season has been in our area, we have not pulled any off of the barn cats nor the dogs all season. And, we haven't seen any on the humans, either. Guineas are loud, but they are worth their weight in gold when it comes to eating ticks. For that reason alone, we'll have a dozen or so roaming the property. Security alarm and Lyme protection.

Aquila (left) and Lazarus (right) are looking very handsome as the weather turns colder. They are taking on their vibrant fall colors. Look that the bronze and red sheen to Aquila's feathers! Gorgeous! Lazarus's colors have taken on a light brown hue, changed from the blue-grey feathers he wore this past spring. These lads will be three years old this spring. They weigh about 35 pounds each.

I usually spend a few minutes at the end of the day with the turkey teens. They have become so friendly. They often run to greet me and suffer my attention. They really need names, but I am still not 100% certain of their sexes yet, so they are each called "Baby" for now. There is one that is especially dear to me.

I thought you might enjoy seeing some teen turkey selfies. ♥

Me and my baby. 

Almost asleep in the setting sun.

And, we have sleep.

The teens have been jumping the fence to where the Mother hens and their chicks are living. The mothers do not like this and gave a couple of the teens warning pecks on their beaks. This has been enough enticement for the teens to retreat back where they belong or at least to wander the back yard.

We are waiting for the poults to completely feather out before we complete the expansion of the enclosure and attempt to have all the turkeys live together this winter. We've been successful in years past with keeping up to 10 turkeys in one pen. Their initial enclosure will be approximately 900 square feet to hold 14 turkeys to start, giving each bird approximately 64 square feet of room. Our building plan calls for their area to eventually grow to encompass 3200 square feet with the ability to separate out private 800 square foot sections, as needed, for breeding. Our overall design is to keep up to 4 toms (We'll see how that works in terms of them getting on and if it is necessary to have that many for breeding.) and 16 hens when our flock is complete. Some of these poults may be for sale in the spring, depending on gender, breed, and personality. Tom or hen, my baby will be staying on with us permanently.

That is what is going on in our world. Thanks for popping in for a visit. It is nice to have the company.

~Sonja ♥

Sounds Around the Homestead: Guinea Fowl

When we added Guinea Fowl to our homestead, we knew what we were getting... sort of. We read up on the creatures, of course. We talked, in depth, to people who kept some themselves. We visited them in person before we committed to purchasing them.

We decided to add guinea fowl to our homestead for a few reasons. We liked that guinea fowl have a reputation for eating ticks and other external parasites from their flock mates. They make great little "watch dogs" for their flock. They are lovely; some breeds have polka dotted feathers. And, they lay pretty speckled eggs, of particular interest for a homestead that creates jewelry from our eggs. Additionally, we intend to hatch chicks and sell hatching eggs locally for folks.

We were aware of their loud call and it's reputation to be annoying to some folk. We did not find it annoying. We still don't. Before you decide to add guinea fowl to your flock, we encourage you to read up on them, talk with others who have them, visit their farm or homestead for yourself and consider whether being greeted with this sound through the day will fray your nerves.


If you are prepared for their very loud and raucous greetings, guineas can add much joy and beauty to your flock. They have to ours. With winter waning, we are anxiously awaiting our first speckled eggs laid by them this spring. And, then, our first hatching clutches. So much to look forward to!

Thanks for visiting today, friends. I am so thankful you came.

~Sonja ♥

Guinea Fowl Update

Chocolate Guinea Fowl                   Pearl Guinea Fowl

Sean captured some fantastic images of our maturing guinea fowl population this week. It seems like such a short a time ago I was carrying them home in a cardboard box secure on my lap, worried about maintaining the proper temperature in the car lest they catch a chill and become ill. Now, only 4 months later, our raucous teenagers have graduated from their brooder and live outside in the coop with the rest of our poultry populace.

Neicy (black chicken on the left) and one of our Rhode Island Reds joined the guineas in taunting the dogs this day.

The 6 foot fencing is a joke in terms of keeping any of our birds inside it's safe confines- except for the geese (who have no idea that they can fly) and the ducks when their feathers are properly trimmed. The fencing is supposed to serve the purpose of creating a safe yard for our birds, away from dangerous predators. And, it works for those birds who choose to remain inside it. Mostly, they don't. They do use it as a convenient perch on sunny days. This drives the dogs mad, especially Fenn and Klaus who are convinced that the chickens would make the tastiest squeaky toys and are eager to test out their theory. For the safety of everyone, Klaus and Fenn roam free inside their dog play yard or remain on a leash when they are in the yard otherwise.

We are very happy with the decision to add guinea fowl to the farm. We are eagerly looking forward to their first eggs and molting. Why? I am glad you asked.

There are many uses for eggs and feathers. We'll hatch some eggs to sell guinea fowl to our neighbors who want to raise them.We'll sell some eggs to folks who want to eat them, use them for crafting, or hatching their own guineas. The rest of the eggs will be used here for eating, jewelry, and I have an idea to offer blown out guinea eggs for decoration purposes. Our guinea feathers are strikingly beautiful; black with white polka dots or tan with white polka dots. I think these will make fetching mixed media earrings. This is just a rough idea, but maybe I'll create a cool and funky line of earrings similar to the image on the right. Or perhaps, I'll make them more simple and use just the feathers themselves. Either way, I can't wait to get my hands on enough eggs and feathers to play!

Speaking of playing... Our family is leaving for Florida to visit with Sean's parents on Sunday. We'll be gone for a week or so. Caitlin and Justin will be here, holding down the fort or at least keeping the hungry masses from committing a full-blown mutiny in our absence. As much as we are all looking forward to seeing family and basking in some 80* weather instead of freezing ourselves in Maine, it is always with mixed feelings that we take these much needed (and appreciated) breaks from our work schedule. Florida won't be a complete vacation for us. Sean and I mailed a collection of 30 pieces ahead of ourselves in the hopes that we'll find the perfect venue to display and sell our jewelry while we are there. So, it will be part work, part play, and part worry.

We'll take lots of pictures of our trip and I hope we'll be able to report a new retail outlet in another state where you'll be able to purchase Lally Broch Farm Egg Shell Jewelry. How cool would THAT be?

Thanks for stopping in to visit with us today, friends. We're glad you did.

Sonja ♥

Guineas and Goats

I love to barter with other artisans and crafters at shows and fairs. There it is. Now you know another of my secrets. Often, bartering is the only way I could afford to treat myself to some "want" I have and couldn't purchase... yet.

At our final show of the year last weekend, I met Felecia Bowen whose boyfriend, Joe, creates the coolest deer, snowmen, and owl sculptures from tree log and branch segments. (If you are reading this and have a webpage where people can see images of your creations, please let me know, so I can link it for you.) I had to have a goat made for us. When Felecia came over to browse, I asked if Joe might create a goat for us- "Jedidiah" style. And, we negotiated a mutually beneficial trade.

What do you think?

I can just picture him on our display table with baskets of our goat's milk soap surrounding him for the 2014 shows. Perhaps a small, tasteful chalkboard tag with our price hanging from an ear or displayed between his horns? When I look for items to decorate our displays, I want items that draw attention and also make me smile. He sure does both!

In true goat fashion, he has already been caught thinking up mischief. This requires just a little back story...

Last night, we had to bring one of the chocolate guineas inside because it was limping on its left foot a bit. There were no signs of injury, but we prefer to be safe than sorry. As soon as little guinea is walking normally, he [(she?) We still can't tell them apart... ] will be returned to the coop with the rest of his/her family. For now, he/she is staying inside in a kennel, warm and protected from Fenn to rest up and mend. And, if it also gives me a little additional time to handle and keep him/her tame, all the better...

About an hour into "The Sound of Music" with Sean and the girls I dramatically declared, "The only thing that could make this evening any better would be a guinea to snuggle and pet while I watch this." Taking my cue, Sean retrieved our guinea from his/her safe kennel and deposited it on my lap. Guinea settled nicely into my wrap and allowed me a little cuddle time until, bored with my affection and attention, he/she decided that hanging out on the goat's back was preferable. And, this is what we got:

Which only goes to show if you have goats, even wooden ones, be prepared for the mischief that follows them. And, if you are blessed enough to have both goats and guineas? Forget about it.

Thanks for popping in for a visit. I'm glad you came. 
Sonja ♥

Goaties, Keets, & Ducks... Oh My!

I never thought I would feel this way, but I kind of miss the winter. Not the mounds of snow that have to be removed, certainly, but the "down" time. The quiet. Days snuggled in with a warm fire in the woodstove and the snippets of the sounds of my family around me in various rooms going about their days. I am certain that when winter comes to Maine, I will have forgotten wanting its quiet. But, right now, when we are so busy preparing for it and finishing all the last details of farming this year, it doesn't sound so bad.

When you are busy time seems to fly by.  At the same time, there never seems to be enough of it. Summer has ended. The Twomblys of North Carolina have returned home. We enjoyed a final showing at the Belfast Art Market. The barn is mostly complete save the doors, filling the hay loft, building larger pens for the bunnies to spend their winter, and building the kidding stalls. Oh, and there is the repair work that now needs to be done thanks to our randy buck, Asher.

This is what happens when an 18 month old goes into his first true "rut" and is desperate to get to some does- any does. That used to be a solid wall sheathed in 1/2 inch OSB.

In addition to these necessary Autumn chores, we also need to get our wood split and stacked and spend some time preparing for our first ever "Open Farm Day". We are tentatively planning to host it on October 26, 2013 from 9am-5pm. I will finalize the date and post a schedule of activities early next week, so be sure to check back.

In the meantime, I polled our farm's Facebook friends about what they would like to see posted. Unfortunately, somehow, I lost the footage of the hen laying an egg. So, for those of you that voted for that option, you'll have to wait a little longer to see that up close and personal. For you others that wanted guinea fowl, ducks, and goats, here you go.

First, a visit with our wayward goat does:


And, then video and footage of the growing Guineas:



We purchased our Guinea Fowl locally in Montville, Maine from Shelagh Delphyne . She has great, healthy stock and I can't recommend her highly enough. Shelagh breeds several varieties of Guinea Fowl. She is very knowledgeable and is quick to share her experience with new Guinea Fowl keepers.  Shelagh, after seeing some pictures we posted on our Facebook page, was also kind enough to point out that wood shavings as bedding can be a problem for Guinea keets. Since I use pine shavings for almost all our littles, I wanted to look into that. Sure enough, I found several sites, such as this- Maguire Farm- warning against using wood shavings since the keets might get confused and attempt to eat them. The information I found at Guinea Fowl International suggested not using wood shavings on keets less than a week old.

Here at Lally Broch Farm, we used shelf liner paper for the keets for the first week or so. Then, we switched over to the pine shavings. We had no issues with our keets using the pine shavings, but I think it is important that new keepers (such as us) are informed of potential hazards. I have seen our keets scratch and peck around in the shavings, but thankfully, ours did not seem inclined to eat any of it.

So, that is what has been happening around here. We are very excited to host an official "Open Farm" Day and hope that we will entertain many friends and new friends that day. If you are interested in coming out for a visit, be sure to check back for a detailed schedule and information.

Thanks for visiting today, Friends. ♥
Sonja ♥

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