australorp hatches guineas!

[wren]

Hi again! Your keet babies look great!

Have you had to cover the top of your brooder yet? I'm wondering how quickly they fly/hop over a foot high. BTW, keep the faith with taming them, they aren't huddling in fear when you take their picture so I'm sure what you are doing is working!

great pics!

 

[ozark hen]

Ha, oh, but they do huddle in fear until I put my hand slowly in there and they scatter and I quickly take the picture! I have kept a baby gate over the top of the Rubbermaid tub the entire time plus keep the guest room door shut due to the fact that we have three cats in the house. Didn't want the cats to think they Had KFC delivered!

 

[JackieK318]

I haven't taken any pics- bad mom, I know! I let mine out in a makeshift run. It's made out of the metal cube shelves that have 12"x12" panels that you can clip together to make shelves, but I clipped mine together to make a box without a top. Tada! Keet run so they can't fly away.

 

[ozark hen]

Jackie, I would sure love to see the run you fixed up for your keets. I am about to put mine outside fulltime now. I thought ducks were smelly!! LOL Mine are three weeks old now and still wilder than mad hatters.

 

[JackieK318]

Mine are nuts too! They're about 6 weeks now and starting to go bald. They flap around the brooder like nothing else.

I'll take a pic of the "run" tonight. I'm STILL working on the official coop/run. It rained so much in STL last weekend I couldn't even get outside! I hope to have it finished for them by August. The final one will have a portion of the top on a hinge so the guineas can come and go as they please, then be shut in at night, but also keep the chickens in.

I can't wait to find out if I have boys or girls - I want more keets!!!!

 

[ozark hen]

Well, I finally was able to move the thirteen keets outside to their pen. I try to take photos but they still run and pack up in a huddle. Maybe when they realize I am outside the second pen they will relax and let me take their pictures while on the roost, etc.

There is fine netting all around the cage they are in so they, hopefully, can't escape. Wire on the bottom of the cage also but covered with straw so nothing can dig in there.

 

[ozark hen]

Jackie, please keep posting pics of their progress. I would think the "baldness" is because they are getting their "helmets"? This is the first time for me raising keets and I was just asking my DH when they would get their helmets. he had no idea, first time for both of us with keets. should be interesting. This would be a good thread as we could show others what to expect each week from keets. We need a moderator to put this under a new heading...like pics of growing keets or something like that and we should post pics under it of just keets.
Maybe Rob will see this and change it???

 

[JackieK318]

I'll snap some pics tonight. They look like little old men right now! No pink in their cheeks yet (I was told that's how you can tell the boys from the girls - redder cheeks on the boys).

 

[ozark hen]

can't wait to see the pics. thanks for sharing with us.

 

[JackieK318]

Okay, finally.....I'm posting pictures!

Here are pics of all of the chicks and guineas:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26333768@N00/

Guineas are about 5-6 weeks old. They started 'balding' last week.