The peeping armpit peeps...

Two little chicks

The peeping armpit peeps, and having peeped, peeps on…

Our zoologist friend said one of the best things we could do to calm Bo was to put her inside a shirt so that she could absorb body warmth. D has thusly become designated Guinea Mother… And Bo once under the shirt has shown an inclination to head towards an armpit – from whence she peeps and peeps and peeps. Mind you, this only happens in the morning when she is desperate to be OUT!!! At night, she preens and falls asleep.

It’s been an interesting couple of days… and not without drama. I’m also wondering how it is that my blog has turned into a chronicle of guinea fowl tales and not much else. This is going to have to be rectified. But what with life revolving around a single guinea chick, article writing and manuscript editing it’s not like I have a lot to say anyway.

The guinea pig pen now lives permanently in the garden and is Bo’s “dayroom”, at night, she sleeps in the dog traveling cage. On Sunday, her family turned up again and so sweetly spent the day with her – first in the sunroom (!!!) and then out on the lawn, the chicks perching on top of the pen and mum hanging around nearby. It soothed Bo no end, but set her off something horrible each time they wandered off.

Guineas in the sunroom...

Bo's siblings are double her size...

A family visit - mum and siblings

Additionally, Stroppy Old Fart and his missus turned up – and what a miserable pair they are. They harassed Bo something rotten and Mrs SOF insisted on trying to peck Bo through the bars of the pen. And so started the Great Guinea Fowl Chase as I proceeded to shoo the SOF’s away. First of all herding them around the pool and then running at them until they took off in a flurry of wings and screeches. Not that it stopped them; they just came back for more. Mr SOF had shoes flung at him and Mrs SOF was inspired to do a very impressive vertical take off when cornered at the edge of the pool by D and me. I suspect it might have been worthy of an Animal Capers award…

The Stroppy's harass Bo

Mrs Stroppy

Yesterday Bo made a bid to escape - and succeeded. She’d woken up in a feisty mood and full of “views” and as D was putting her into the pen, she gave a mighty wriggle, fluttered from his hand and disappeared into the depths of the shrubbery, muttering “Ha!” and intent on not being caught. So we left her to it, wondering if her family would return (they didn’t), or whether the sparrowhawk would fly in for a quick snack (he didn’t). She spent the day pootling around the garden and periodically pretending to be a dove. The two guineas that appeared in the garden studiously ignored her. Come evening, we decided to try and catch her again to get her inside and finally cornered her amongst the mother in law’s tongues. I swear I heard her mutter “oh #@%$ it!” as I nabbed her. But it had clearly been a busy day because as soon as I put her under my shirt she went to sleep and once on top of Gilbert, aside from another “&%$#@ off!” she didn’t emerge until this morning.

Bo finds her wings
(developmentally, she seems to be about three weeks behind her siblings, but what she lacks in size, she makes up for in spirit)

As I type this she is peeping in her indoor cage while the garden service tidy up the mess that has become the garden. Given that she still can’t fly properly, on the weekend D will make a bigger addition to slot alongside the guinea pig pen and Bo will have more room of her own. Tonight he plans to get her to fly - don't ask, I'm not. Let it not be said that we’re neglecting our guinea duties… I’m wondering, quite honestly, if any semblance of normality will ever return or whether I too will soon start ba-kaaking…

All together