Just hatched some Royal Purples, Have color and care questions

[Joe.G]

Hi, So far 5 of the 10 Eggs I have put into the incubator have hatched, The Parents are Royal Purple, these guys all are very light in color with some black lines on there head and black though out the feathers on the body. Is this normal color for them?

Also Do I raise them just like baby chicks? Do I feed them the same? Is there anything speical to do for them? Thanks

 

[PeepsCA]

Keets need to be fed a high protein Turkey/Pheasant/Game Bird starter crumble. If you use medicated feed make sure it's medicated with Amprolium only.

Royal Purple keets should look like the keet on the left in this pic (the keet on the right is a Chocolate).

 

[Joe.G]

Thanks They are much smaller then the chicks that hatched with them.

 

[PeepsCA]

Yep keets are itty bitty when they first hatch, but if you feed them Game Bird starter they grow like weeds that have a miracle grow mainline LOL

 

[Joe.G]

They are real fast I put one down on the ground for a second and it took off, there real cute, not sure how they end up looking like a crazy clown when they get older.

 

[esavvymom]

Yep keets are itty bitty when they first hatch, but if you feed them Game Bird starter they grow like weeds that have a miracle grow mainline LOL

Isn't that the truth!! We have keets that are just 3 weeks old, but I swear they have tripled in size from when we got them! The farm store we bought them from sold us 10 lbs worth of starter feed (game bird variety) and we've almost used it up! They are pigs too.
We have an extra large plastic tote that we used for a brooder, and they have pretty much outgrown it already. I do think it's funny to watch them sleep. But now they seem to be "growing up" in that instead of laying flat and sprawled out with legs behind them, they are "roosting" in the feeder trough! We tried giving them a thick branch, but it freaked them out too much. But I caught them last night all lined up on the feeder trough hunkered down and asleep. Only one was trying to find a spot to get a quick snack, and it was having a hard time doing so with all of his brothers/sisters squatting all over it.