newb1rdmom
Chirping
- Jul 16, 2020
- 56
- 51
- 81
I'm new to raising keets so I'm not entirely sure what to do but I've done my best to research as much as possible. I ended up with 19 keets when a mother guinea hatched her eggs and left one behind. I took in the lone keet to try and raise it well enough to return it to the mother but then got nervous it may be best to raise it until it's old enough to go out on it's own. I chose to go to a local store and pick up 9 more keets to house with the one so it wasn't left alone. The mother guinea had about 18 keets on her own and within the first 2 days she had already lost half of them. They're free range so I figured it was bound to happen eventually but I was shocked to see the numbers get split over night. I'm staying with my grandparents and the guineas actually happen to be theirs and we talked about the remaining keets under the mothers care and chose to remove them from her to house them inside to give them a better chance as she was slowly losing more and more. We picked up the stragglers as they got left behind until we eventually had the rest of her babies which ended up being 9 + the one I was already housing. Thus I now had 19 keets.
The keets from the local store were clearly at least a week or more older than the newly hatched keets we had collected from the mother so we seperated them as soon as we could. The store keets were very afraid of me whenever I would change their food or water or place crickets for them to chase they would all panic and squish into a corner. This was a bit of trouble at first because we had to house the smaller keets with them for a couple days until we had another box to place the smaller keets in. During the process one of the keets got injured (I assume). It looked like it had gotten splayed as one of it's legs were stretched behind them and they couldn't stand or walk at all. At the time I didn't understand how to treat it or what to do and I tried looking it up but by the time I had figured anything out it was already too late and the keet passed in my hands. (That was this morning 7.16.2020)
Today I had to leave for a few hours because I had some errands to run and I was gone for about 6 hours total and I was nervous leaving the keets because I normally check on them every 15 minutes to make sure they're all still running around and doing alright. By the time I came home I had lost another keet. It was cold and stiff. It passed while I was gone. My grandmother came over because I asked her what I might be doing wrong and she said she wasn't sure and that's just how it is sometimes but I'm still frustrated. I have another keet that looks like it might pass soon too and I'm extremely distraught over it as I'm fairly positive it is my original keet I collected from the nest.
I don't want to lose anymore keet because I adore them with everything in me and I brought them in to ensure they have a better chance at living but it seems they're just not doing very well. They seemed to be doing better all together with the larger keets than they are now separated.
I don't have a for sure way of regulating the temp in the box but I do have a heat lamp that covers a portion of the boxes and they have space to get away from the heat. I only give them lukewarm water because I read colder water can chill and kill them. I change it whenever they get food, poop or bedding inside it, or when it's low/in need of changing. I have them on a starter gamebird feed which is the same my grandparents used on their keets when they raised them. I have a towel down in the box for the smaller keets to help prevent them from splipping and getting splayed. I have bedding over the top and in both boxes. I'm honestly not sure what else I could be doing.
I did read some other threads of people saying to check the keets bottoms for pasty butt and on the two that passed already I'm not sure if they did or not but I don't recall seeing any feces on them. However, on the one that is currently still living but looking sickly I noticed it had a bit of poo stuck over it's bum area so I used a warm wet piece of tissue to try and wipe it away. I got most of it but it looked as if there may have been something actually in it's butt.. I'm not sure if that's more poo or feathers or what. I'm not sure if I should attempt to do anything about it or not but the keets are very small and I don't want to injure them or fluster them too much.
I'm not sure if maybe the box is somehow too small, too hot or not hot enough. I don't know if the bedding is the wrong kind and if I need to change it for something else or if maybe there is an issue with their food. I can't think of anything that has changed since I got the keets other than me separating them but the one keet was already injured before I seperated them and now the two have died after doing so. I'm really at a loss and I'm not sure what I need to be doing to keep these keets healthy. I'm not sure if the issue is the fact they were taken from their mother or what. I try not to handle them too much but I have picked them up a few times to make sure they're alive (when they're sleeping and seem dead) or when I've checked their butts to see how it looks and that's all I've handled them.
I just feel very incompetent and it's frustrating me. I've tried doing my research and I feel it wasn't enough as the keets are dying anyways and my grandparents just keep saying that's the way nature works but I refuse to believe it. Especially with the one keet I raised from day 1. It had been doing so well and for it to now suddenly fall ill is very heartbreaking and frustrating for me. I want to make them well and I don't want to lose anymore keets. Any advice or answers I will listen and appreciate them so much. I apologize this post is quite long.
The keets from the local store were clearly at least a week or more older than the newly hatched keets we had collected from the mother so we seperated them as soon as we could. The store keets were very afraid of me whenever I would change their food or water or place crickets for them to chase they would all panic and squish into a corner. This was a bit of trouble at first because we had to house the smaller keets with them for a couple days until we had another box to place the smaller keets in. During the process one of the keets got injured (I assume). It looked like it had gotten splayed as one of it's legs were stretched behind them and they couldn't stand or walk at all. At the time I didn't understand how to treat it or what to do and I tried looking it up but by the time I had figured anything out it was already too late and the keet passed in my hands. (That was this morning 7.16.2020)
Today I had to leave for a few hours because I had some errands to run and I was gone for about 6 hours total and I was nervous leaving the keets because I normally check on them every 15 minutes to make sure they're all still running around and doing alright. By the time I came home I had lost another keet. It was cold and stiff. It passed while I was gone. My grandmother came over because I asked her what I might be doing wrong and she said she wasn't sure and that's just how it is sometimes but I'm still frustrated. I have another keet that looks like it might pass soon too and I'm extremely distraught over it as I'm fairly positive it is my original keet I collected from the nest.
I don't want to lose anymore keet because I adore them with everything in me and I brought them in to ensure they have a better chance at living but it seems they're just not doing very well. They seemed to be doing better all together with the larger keets than they are now separated.
I don't have a for sure way of regulating the temp in the box but I do have a heat lamp that covers a portion of the boxes and they have space to get away from the heat. I only give them lukewarm water because I read colder water can chill and kill them. I change it whenever they get food, poop or bedding inside it, or when it's low/in need of changing. I have them on a starter gamebird feed which is the same my grandparents used on their keets when they raised them. I have a towel down in the box for the smaller keets to help prevent them from splipping and getting splayed. I have bedding over the top and in both boxes. I'm honestly not sure what else I could be doing.
I did read some other threads of people saying to check the keets bottoms for pasty butt and on the two that passed already I'm not sure if they did or not but I don't recall seeing any feces on them. However, on the one that is currently still living but looking sickly I noticed it had a bit of poo stuck over it's bum area so I used a warm wet piece of tissue to try and wipe it away. I got most of it but it looked as if there may have been something actually in it's butt.. I'm not sure if that's more poo or feathers or what. I'm not sure if I should attempt to do anything about it or not but the keets are very small and I don't want to injure them or fluster them too much.
I'm not sure if maybe the box is somehow too small, too hot or not hot enough. I don't know if the bedding is the wrong kind and if I need to change it for something else or if maybe there is an issue with their food. I can't think of anything that has changed since I got the keets other than me separating them but the one keet was already injured before I seperated them and now the two have died after doing so. I'm really at a loss and I'm not sure what I need to be doing to keep these keets healthy. I'm not sure if the issue is the fact they were taken from their mother or what. I try not to handle them too much but I have picked them up a few times to make sure they're alive (when they're sleeping and seem dead) or when I've checked their butts to see how it looks and that's all I've handled them.
I just feel very incompetent and it's frustrating me. I've tried doing my research and I feel it wasn't enough as the keets are dying anyways and my grandparents just keep saying that's the way nature works but I refuse to believe it. Especially with the one keet I raised from day 1. It had been doing so well and for it to now suddenly fall ill is very heartbreaking and frustrating for me. I want to make them well and I don't want to lose anymore keets. Any advice or answers I will listen and appreciate them so much. I apologize this post is quite long.
It’s always heartbreaking losing keets.
They had cotton concrete on their feet when I got home!
