The New Residents

I grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of town. We had horses, cows, ducks, geese, cats, dogs, goats, chickens, and even a pig at one point. As the animals aged and/or died, and my dad grew older, the number of animals dwindled. The cows were not replaced because they are very difficult to care for and jump fences quite frequently. We even had one jump the fence, run in the road, and get hit by a Kleinpeter dairy truck. Neither the cow nor the dairy truck survived. We got rid of the pig after she had babies that we weren't expecting. The goats eventually died and were not replaced. One of the dogs got in the chicken coop and killed...every...single...chicken. The ducks flew to the Country Club of Louisiana...I guess they thought the water was bluer on the other side. Sorry for my corny humor, but I couldn't resist. The last big horse we had was my Appaloosa, Gina's Jack, who died two years ago. Around that time, my dad discovered miniature horses, so we now have three female ones. So now we have three minis, my brother's Rottie, three barn cats (one of which decided a while ago he didn't want to sleep in the barn), my brother's cat, two cranky geese, and now some new family members. One day a couple months ago, a turkey and seven strange looking birds just appeared in the front yard. My dad discovered the strange birds are actually guineas. After a couple days, the neighbor down the street came to the house to claim them. We were a little sad to see them go, but glad they were back with their owner. But apparently, the birds liked us better. Within a week they were back minus four guineas. We assume a wild critter ate them for dinner. So, now they are a permanent fixture on the little farm. Jacob and Brennan love them. We can't get close enough to pet them, but they will come within three feet of us. The turkey is very protective of the guineas and quite territorial. He chases my car on occasion and, as you can see below, blocks the driveway. My dad feeds them twice a day, and they just make themselves at home. They have pretty much taken over the place.

Brennan and my mom (Nana) watching the turkey and guineas eat.

Here's a bit of trivia for you. Turkeys and guineas apparently like to sleep in trees. The guineas usually sleep in a tree by the back patio, and the turkey sleeps on the roof not far away from them. This pic is from the other morning right before I got in my car to go to work. The birds had just woken up.

This is how they greeted me the other day.