Buckwheat--Buckwheat!!

Guineas are a type of wild fowl brought to us from Africa. There are various colors with pearl being the most common. Pearl is dark gray with white spots and some white edge feathers on the wings. They have what is called a helmet on the top of their head wattles that hand down from their cheeks. Google it if you want to see one. Some people think they are one of the ugliest birds on the planet. I think they are as beautiful as any of my special chickies.

Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki! This is the warning call of guineas, the “watch dogs” of the fowl population. Another word the females make is “buckwheat-buckwheat-buckwheat”. Buckwheat means we are on patrole and all is well. The males can only make the ki-ki-ki sound while the females can say both buckwheat and ki-ki-ki.

Aren't you glad I am teaching you the language of guineas. If you have never had guineas and hear the racket that they make, you might just think that they are just a bunch of noisy buggers. But there is a method to their madness.

For instance, a few weeks back, when I was home on medical leave, I was walking outside talking and cooing with the chickens. When all of a sudden the guineas broke out with the ki-ki-ki-ki warning. Now up unto this point, it had really not meant anything because they will also break out with the warning when my DH comes out with a different hat on! But on this particular day, the warning was very intense and did not let up.

Curious about what they were concerned with, I went looking. My girls were in the field about 4 feet from the edge of the woods, staring into the brush, and shouting their warning with all their might. As I watched, the bush they were watching began to shake. What evil alien or would it be Jason, was about to jump out and claim another victim. This is the thought that ran through my head in those few seconds before the real monster jumped out. Coyotes!!! Oh no they were back! My girls didn’t flinch or run. They are sooo very brave, but I thought they were going to become the main course for a coyote brunch. It was mid day for heavens sake. Coyotes are suppose to only hunt at night. I started yelling and the coyotes retreated back into the dark of the woods but the girls continued the warning call for several minutes more.

They were gone for now. But would return a short time later with much more devastating results. That is another story to be told on another day.

Needless to say, whenever we hear the ki-ki-ki-ki-ki warning from our security team, we grab the gun and go looking. Their noise is not taken for granted anymore.