The five baby bluebirds are still alive and busy outgrowing their nesting box. I have to open the box very slowly so they don’t tumble out. Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird have begun divebombing me as I check the nest—so I do it really fast. I am glad they are upping the security as their babies get closer to fledging.

Sneaking a stretch out the open door.

Look at that cute little tail! Had to tuck this little foot back inside before shutting the box.

Mama bluebird appears to have found the time, while raising this brood, to also lay a single egg in the nest.

In less joyful bird news, I lost a guinea hen today. For the past week she’d been looking off, and had been getting picked on by her coopmates. I set her up in her own crate in the garage with medicated electrolyte water, and she just kind of sat around, crying herself hoarse for her flock. Today I let her loose with her buddies as they free-ranged, thinking the sun and fresh food and companionship would do her good.

Well, in a couple of hours I found her dead right by the coop. I picked her up and chucked her in the woods for the foxes and their kits.

It stinks to lose a charge, but in some ways I am grateful to not have to mess with a sick animal, particularly a guinea as I am on the fence about whether they are earning their keep and I’m devising potential exit strategies for the flock. The only thing that really makes me sad is my mom says she likes the guinea eggs, and now I have only one hen left. The era of the guinea may be coming to an end at Bonafide Farm.