Have my guinea keets and may have done something dumb.- Update on color and health.

[furbabymum]

Here they are. 2 lavendar and 3 royal purple.
So the stupid thing I did was this:
It's been really hot. When I went in yesterday they were panting and so were the chicks I had in with them. They were all as far from the brooder light as they could get. So, I turned it off. As I sit here I'm watching the wind blow and clouds decend. I did not, of course, turn the light back on. PLEASE PLEASE DONT DIE!

PS: It's ok that I have 10 chicks in with them right? They are all the same age at 3 weeks.

 

[PeepsCA]

I think that with the chicks in with them they would have had enough body heat to stay warm if they were all huddled together, they are 3 wks and have some feathers. If it's just the 5 keets by themselves they may have gotten chilled. How are they acting? If they are all huddled in a pile acting lethargic and peeping loud then they got chilled, just warm them up they should be ok. At 3 wks old you may want to switch out the bulb in the lamp to just a regular 60 watt bulb for their heat source, and if the days are really warm only use it at night (just be sure to remember to turn it back on, lol).

And yes, it's fine to keep them all together... keets/Guineas are happier in larger numbers (so even the chicks are a comfort to the keets). The keets need to be on high protein starter feed tho, not a lower protein chick starter. Some raise mixed flocks on 24% protein starter feed and they do ok, but my keets do much better on 27-28% protein game bird/turkey starter.

Your darker keets are Pearl Greys (they have a wide center head stripe) not Royal Purples... and I can't see the head stripes on the 2 lighter keets, but in that pic they kind of look thin and broken, without a big wide center stripe... which would make them Coral Blues. If they have the same type of head markings as the Pearl Greys do then they are Lavenders.

 

[jadenthechicken]

it should be ok because they have each other to warm themselves but even if they get hot it is better to leave the light on because they are still young. mybe wait till the keets are a couple months old and have ALL there feathers.

 

[chickenlover89]

They will be fine, with the fifteen of them, they will have enough body heat to keep warm. there are some people who raise their chicks without heatlamps (it's more natural) and the chicks are fine, even without a broody. at three weeks i stopped having my chicks on a heat lamp and there were 4 of them, and at 4 wks they moved out to the coop, they are fine using each other's body heat to get warm.

 

[PeepsCA]

Chicks may be ok raised without a heat source... but keets could not be raised that way, they would die the first night... or be so lethargic and stressed out from being cold they would start dropping like flies within a couple days. They are very fragile until they are about 2 wks old and starting from hatch they need a temp of around 95° F at one end of their brooder only (so they can get away from the heat of needed) until they are 1 wk old, then you can lower the temp 5° each week until the brooder temp is equal to ambient outside temps, (or until the keets are fully feathered at 6 weeks).

At 3 wks old keets should have a heated area of around 85° to use (at least at night) if they need it.

 

[furbabymum]

I think that with the chicks in with them they would have had enough body heat to stay warm if they were all huddled together, they are 3 wks and have some feathers. If it's just the 5 keets by themselves they may have gotten chilled. How are they acting? If they are all huddled in a pile acting lethargic and peeping loud then they got chilled, just warm them up they should be ok. At 3 wks old you may want to switch out the bulb in the lamp to just a regular 60 watt bulb for their heat source, and if the days are really warm only use it at night (just be sure to remember to turn it back on, lol).

And yes, it's fine to keep them all together... keets/Guineas are happier in larger numbers (so even the chicks are a comfort to the keets). The keets need to be on high protein starter feed tho, not a lower protein chick starter. Some raise mixed flocks on 24% protein starter feed and they do ok, but my keets do much better on 27-28% protein game bird/turkey starter.

Your darker keets are Pearl Greys (they have a wide center head stripe) not Royal Purples... and I can't see the head stripes on the 2 lighter keets, but in that pic they kind of look thin and broken, without a big wide center stripe... which would make them Coral Blues. If they have the same type of head markings as the Pearl Greys do then they are Lavenders.

Well I guess I'll see what colors I end up with. She told me they were royal purple and lav as those are the breeding pairs she got them from. Who knows. lol I'm just happy to have keets!!

As for food I'm using a special feed store brand for all my birds. It's higher protein than chick starter but not game bird level. I'd give you exact details but I'm at work (working hard ) and don't have it in front of me. Which is also why I have no idea how they're all doing. The sun did come out and it's expected to get into the 90's so I figure they'll be ok today but I was worried.

 

[PeepsCA]

Well I guess I'll see what colors I end up with. She told me they were royal purple and lav as those are the breeding pairs she got them from. Who knows. lol I'm just happy to have keets!!

As for food I'm using a special feed store brand for all my birds. It's higher protein than chick starter but not game bird level. I'd give you exact details but I'm at work (working hard ) and don't have it in front of me. Which is also why I have no idea how they're all doing. The sun did come out and it's expected to get into the 90's so I figure they'll be ok today but I was worried.

LOL, don't work too hard!

Hope your starter feed is at least 24%...

Not to be argumentative, but I'm 100% positive the 3 dark keets are Pearl Greys not Royal Purples, (I have hatched at least 1000 of those 2 colors and I'm very familiar with what their markings look like as keets). The lady you got your keets from is either wrong about her breeding stock's colors or she just does not know how to ID keets.

If the breeding stock are without a doubt Royal Purples then the Hen could have hatched out Pearl Grey keets because both parents are carrying the fully pearled gene... but if one of her Lavenders bred with one of her Royal Purples that could also result in Pearl Grey keets (the keets would have gotten the dark color gene from the Royal Purple and the fully pearled gene from the Lavender).

And Coral Blue keets can sometimes result from Lavenders and Royal Purples breeding (If the breeding stock are actually Lavenders to begin with). Plus factor in that any of her birds could be carrying hidden recessive genes and that could explain why different colored keets hatch out of 2 birds that are the same color, (or 2 that are different colors).

Here's a pic of a Royal Purple keet in top pictured with a Coral Blue below it (they are about 1 1/2 weeks old)... see the thin broken head stripes on both of them? That always equates to keets being partially pearled birds. Do your Lavenders have a wide center head stripe, or thin broken head stripes? A wide center head stripe always equates to a fully pearled bird.



This is a Lavender on the left and a Coral Blue on the right (under a week old), you can see the difference in the head markings between the 2.



Head markings (and down color) are key to IDing keets... and believe me, I've had lots of practice, lol.

 

[furbabymum]

LOL, don't work too hard!

Hope your starter feed is at least 24%...

Not to be argumentative, but I'm 100% positive the 3 dark keets are Pearl Greys not Royal Purples, (I have hatched at least 1000 of those 2 colors and I'm very familiar with what their markings look like as keets). The lady you got your keets from is either wrong about her breeding stock's colors or she just does not know how to ID keets.

If the breeding stock are without a doubt Royal Purples then the Hen could have hatched out Pearl Grey keets because both parents are carrying the fully pearled gene... but if one of her Lavenders bred with one of her Royal Purples that could also result in Pearl Grey keets (the keets would have gotten the dark color gene from the Royal Purple and the fully pearled gene from the Lavender).

And Coral Blue keets can sometimes result from Lavenders and Royal Purples breeding (If the breeding stock are actually Lavenders to begin with). Plus factor in that any of her birds could be carrying hidden recessive genes and that could explain why different colored keets hatch out of 2 birds that are the same color, (or 2 that are different colors).

Here's a pic of a Royal Purple keet in top pictured with a Coral Blue below it (they are about 1 1/2 weeks old)... see the thin broken head stripes on both of them? That always equates to keets being partially pearled birds. Do your Lavenders have a wide center head stripe, or thin broken head stripes? A wide center head stripe always equates to a fully pearled bird.



This is a Lavender on the left and a Coral Blue on the right (under a week old), you can see the difference in the head markings between the 2.



Head markings (and down color) are key to IDing keets... and believe me, I've had lots of practice, lol.

I went and looked through the rest of my pictures but they aren't that great. My camera didn't appreciate the red brooder light and the dark barn with sunlight streaming in. Hard to focus. I'll take a look at them when I get home tonight. They really are just functional for me. Bug and alarm system for my other birds. So I'll be happy with whatever they turn out to be. I did like the idea of having all shades of purple though.

 

[furbabymum]

So they survived just fine. I turned the light on for the night but turned it off this moring as it'll be in the 90s again.

I took a picture of my guinea but it turned out like crap. I'm not sure if it's the guinea moving around so much or if my camera is just terrible. Anyhow. I won't even post it as it doesn't help anything. However, I did look and I believe they are going to be lavendar. It was a very thing unbroken stripe down the middle of it's head.

 

[furbabymum]

PS. I find it fascinating that you can tell from head stripes. Very interesting.