JUNE - JULY HATCH-ALONG!!!!!!!

[jolenesdad]

Two keets hatched yesterday so we have ONE egg left!!!

So exciting, and such an impressive hatch for the memory books.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

That is awesome! But, I guess it also disproves the theory of hatching more females with cooler temps. I'm hoping ours is a pullet, but I'm not holding my breath. Our 2 Polish, and NN, have all started crowing over the past few weeks. At least one of my 7 week old silkies is most assuredly also a cockerel. I will soon need to build a coop for wayward boys.

DD fell in love with our cockerels and also has a breeding project, so we have a rooster bachelor pad! Now we have a new set of cockerels that we are supposed to butcher in a few weeks, but DD has been making friends with them... Apparently these new cockerels are “very good boys who just hang out near their tractor and don’t cause trouble”. Sigh.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Looks fine to me! It was probably just in the shell a bit longer and left behind more waste than you're accustomed to seeing.



Finally down to the last egg! So exciting!!!!

The keet seems fine, was very active when hatched then settled down to rest. I’m glad the next hatched soon after so he has a little buddy; these newly hatched keets are so TINY next to our older hatched keets, though we’ve been making an effort to sell the oldest and kept the youngest. Fortunately, constantly adding new keets seems to have trained our crew to expect that. They hear the cheeping of the new keets in the brooder box and go check it out. They aren’t gentle with the new keets, who think they are mom and try to run under the older keets’ legs, but the older keets aren’t deliberately harsh either. One of the new keets looks like it might be our highly sought after coral blue!!!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

So exciting, and such an impressive hatch for the memory books.

Memory books indeed!!! My hope is that we never replicate this particular hatching experience! I have a study going on and need to be at work early, and keets keep hatching in wee hours of the night! At 1 AM last night I was like, “Okay little guy, you’ve zipped enough! Let’s get you out so I can go to bed.” And that one was (possibly) the hoped for coral blue!!!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The keet seems fine, was very active when hatched then settled down to rest. I’m glad the next hatched soon after so he has a little buddy; these newly hatched keets are so TINY next to our older hatched keets, though we’ve been making an effort to sell the oldest and kept the youngest. Fortunately, constantly adding new keets seems to have trained our crew to expect that. They hear the cheeping of the new keets in the brooder box and go check it out. They aren’t gentle with the new keets, who think they are mom and try to run under the older keets’ legs, but the older keets aren’t deliberately harsh either. One of the new keets looks like it might be our highly sought after coral blue!!!

I can't wait to see pictures of the hopefully coral blue keet! I've learned so much about all the lovely colors available in guineas since you've had this long hatch! lol, I hope you can get back to a normal sleep pattern easily after this. lol, It's been so long I wouldn't be surprised if you wake up thinking you need to check the incubator.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I can't wait to see pictures of the hopefully coral blue keet! I've learned so much about all the lovely colors available in guineas since you've had this long hatch! lol, I hope you can get back to a normal sleep pattern easily after this. lol, It's been so long I wouldn't be surprised if you wake up thinking you need to check the incubator.

Seriously! I’ve been waking up all night and checking my phone for humiditiy spikes, then going downstairs to check the incubator... I won’t know what to do with myself when I don’t have something about to hatch at any time!!!

I’ll try to get some decent keet pics, but here’s a picture of Mouse, the pale guinea on the lowest branch. There is a lavender guinea in the tree too. Coral blue and lavender share the same lavender base color, but the blues have a decrease in pearling or spotting, which is a subtle difference and hard to see in this picture. The two guineas together are again Mouse, the coral blue, with Concord, the purple pied. Concord is still sitting on the nest in the coop, with the old eggs that I gave her! Concord or our other purple, Welch, would be the mom if we do indeed have a coral blue keet, as purple is the wild type base color with the decreased pearling gene. Mouse was our only coral blue and was sadly eaten by a bobcat at the beginning of the summer, before these eggs were set. The pic of the guinea alone is my only male so the dad to all of these keets. Ghost is a lavender with normal pearling or spots.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Seriously! I’ve been waking up all night and checking my phone for humiditiy spikes, then going downstairs to check the incubator... I won’t know what to do with myself when I don’t have something about to hatch at any time!!!

I’ll try to get some decent keet pics, but here’s a picture of Mouse, the pale guinea on the lowest branch. There is a lavender guinea in the tree too. Coral blue and lavender share the same lavender base color, but the blues have a decrease in pearling or spotting, which is a subtle difference and hard to see in this picture. The two guineas together are again Mouse, the coral blue, with Concord, the purple pied. Concord is still sitting on the nest in the coop, with the old eggs that I gave her! Concord or our other purple, Welch, would be the mom if we do indeed have a coral blue keet, as purple is the wild type base color with the decreased pearling gene. Mouse was our only coral blue and was sadly eaten by a bobcat at the beginning of the summer, before these eggs were set. The pic of the guinea alone is my only male so the dad to all of these keets. Ghost is a lavender with normal pearling or spots.

Love the colors!! That's one busy daddy. Lol, He sure does make his rounds to fertilize all those eggs you've hatched!

 

[jolenesdad]

DD fell in love with our cockerels and also has a breeding project, so we have a rooster bachelor pad! Now we have a new set of cockerels that we are supposed to butcher in a few weeks, but DD has been making friends with them... Apparently these new cockerels are “very good boys who just hang out near their tractor and don’t cause trouble”. Sigh.

Omg I love your bachelor pad. What a gorgeous setup, and so secure!!!!

I have more cockerels right now than I have ever had. I think there’s six or seven crowing at least. Including a 7 week old Cornish that walked right up to me and crowed in my face this morning. I just rolled my eyes. 7. Weeks.

No mature crows, they’re all meat birds or 12-14 weeks old heritage. Ugh I need to put out some ads.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Love the colors!! That's one busy daddy. Lol, He sure does make his rounds to fertilize all those eggs you've hatched!

Yeah he’s really quite impressive! It would be no big deal for a rooster to take care of his 7 ladies, but guineas naturally pair bond, so forming a larger harem like this for non-confined birds is a little unusual, I think!

It’s really funny to watch their breeding behavior, which is pretty different from roosters. When Ghost is “in the mood”, he lets the ladies know by sitting on the ground in what looks to me like a sleepy, droopy headed posture. The guineas are normally so energetic and active, so this is an unusual position for them. The first time he did this, I thought he was sick, and I was quite concerned about my only male! If there are no takers, he gets up and follows the hens to their next foraging location and tries again. He sits like this until a hen suddenly runs full speed at him, veering away from him at the last instant. If he’s interested, he will immediately spring up and chase her for 6-12 feet, then breed, very quickly. Sometimes he gives chase but stops short, for no reason that I can see. It’s really very funny, and I like that there are no aggressive rooster antics since it seems that both need to be in agreement. I haven’t seen missing feathers either, overall much more pleasant! Many people report that they’ve never seen their guineas breed, so I count myself fortunate that they trust me enough not to alter their behavior so much when I’m around.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Omg I love your bachelor pad. What a gorgeous setup, and so secure!!!!

I have more cockerels right now than I have ever had. I think there’s six or seven crowing at least. Including a 7 week old Cornish that walked right up to me and crowed in my face this morning. I just rolled my eyes. 7. Weeks.

No mature crows, they’re all meat birds or 12-14 weeks old heritage. Ugh I need to put out some ads.

Thanks! There were things that I wish I’d done differently but was mostly pretty happy with the bachelor pad. That was DD’s present for last Christmas! You are trying to rehome the heritage birds but slaughter (I’m assuming) your meat cockerels? Our cockerels have just started crowing - they are so funny with that pitiful, strangled sound that they make!!!