Free As A Bird!!

We took the plunge yesterday and released all the birds after about 6 days of confinement. It was mid-afternoon before the guineas had ventured more than 20 feet from the pen. They move as a cluster, so close you can hardly tell where one bird ends and another one starts. At least a couple of times an hour they would get spooked by something, undetectable to human eyes, and then proceed into a flurry of squawking and running which seemed only to further spook them. All together, though, they seemed to be greatly enjoying their new found freedom. The moment of truth came at dusk when I went to close the chicken pen for the night. Peering through the window with the head lamp on, I saw eight little guineas lined up like sardines on one roost!! Looks like a success.

This morning when I was serving up some scrambled eggs for breakfast, Joe commented on how pale they were. I had noticed the same thing, but it was only then that I realized these eggs were collected at the end of the chickens' confinement. I had heard that the goodies chickens find while free ranging give eggs that rich orangey color, and this was our first real proof of that. After only six days of being restricted to a commercial diet, their eggs were starting to look like any old grocery store egg. And our wallets are also happy to see the chickens free ranging again because they went through a LOT of feed while penned up, way more than they do when they are foraging for themselves.

Lily is doing great, so great she's convinced she should be allowed to go on adventures again. We've held strong though and been limiting her exercise to leash only. She returns to the vet tomorrow to have the tube removed from her face. I've been tempted to take pictures, but don't worry, I still haven't. :)