Keets in the Mail

[PeepsCA]

perchie.girl :

OK here are the PIX
First documentation of today's activity.... news alert

the strange hands came in and pulled the ground out from underneath.... Oh the Horror the Inhumanity. Then the hands put in new ground and all was well..... Whew time for a nap.
first one end of the carnage
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/72852_all_tuckerd_out_from_bedding_change.jpg
second the other end of the carnage
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/72852_the_other_end_of_the_tub.jpg
Whew.... nap over. Ooo look at that.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/72852_wakin_up_from_a_ten_minute_nap.jpg

Now following our news broadcast a short video of the Manna from heaven that appeared out of the dark dark sky.

Life is back to normal now... whew.

I bought a new feeder today along with another fifty pound bag of Startena..... I can see where this is going big time.....

I figured it would give them more elbow room for feeding.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/72852_new_feeder.jpg

I didnt get to the PVC. but I did go and buy thermometers for the brooders. I was afraid that our high temps during the day in combination with the brooder light that it was getting too hot in their tub. No worries. Right in the middle of the tub it was 90 degrees everyone seems to mill around back and forth through the hotter end.

LOL at the lil one in the corner laid FLAT OUT, wing propped up, feet straight out the back - BWAHAHAHA

Love it!!!

The video made me all teary dangit, lol. HAPPY KEETS, YAY!!!

Those feeders work great too, escpecially for big batches, good choice

My lil brats still scratch it out tho and spread it everywhere, lol. Yup, another bag of starter feed, and now it begins... I'm not even gonna comment on how many I buy a month, lol.

They all look/sound SO happy, I KNEW they were going to the right person

Thanks for postin' pics and video, you rock Deb

 

[PeepsCA]

perchie.girl :

And as promised pix of my teenagers.

OMG! Since when is it legal to raise pterodactyls in So Cal? They got HUGE fast, seems like you just got them a week ago, lol.​

 

[chimneyrock]

LOVE the pic and video! So cute,you have so many... I'm jealous!

 

[cracking up]

It looks like the ones I thought were going to feather out pearl did! I don't get it because I only have one adult pearl guinea. I have two white and two lavender - don't know how you got pearl.

Lately I'm hatching mostly lavender lately.

I have one setting behind the garage that will be the first of last years babies hatch. Looking forward to seeing what they hatch out like.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
LOL... I wanted thirty to begin with but Cracking Up gave me ten and Ttigerrrrrrrlilly gave me one...... I haven't even tried to count the mob in the bin.... but the grand total is pushing 45 at least. I have eighteen acres of terrain much like the area of Africa they originated. Lots of bush and bugs and crawlie critters. The good part about all this is PeepsCA's hatch came from two flocks with different bloodlines and coupled with the ones I got down here I will be able to close my flock an not worry about inbreeding.

I have decided to wait on Chickens till I can be in a situation where I can hatch the eggs myself. I think the adjustment to keeping almost fifty guineas will be enough of a learning curve for the time being.... LOL My next poultry addition will be Sumatras.... probably next year some time. Sumatras have a wild nature as well and I suspect they will be a good choice environment wise for up here.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
LOL Pearl is probably the recessive gene between two of your light colored keets. Even though you may have a lavender there may be pearl recessive in there get two together and odds are you will go back to Pearl. PeepsCA was going for an all dark hatch for me I wanted Royal Purples Browns Pearls. But her hens went walk about in the Poison oak....LOL.

I seem to remember you had problems with that as well.

After Ttigerrrrrrrlilly gave me that one lavender keet. One she hatched with some quails. I fell in love. So when PeepsCA had trouble getting an all dark order filled I opted to have her fill in the gaps with some lavenders and pieds. I am still going to have to keep a very strict eye on them and be diligent about making them come in at night. The predator load up at my house is very heavy. I am afraid the light birds will be quicker to fall prey.

 

[PeepsCA]

perchie.girl :

The good part about all this is PeepsCA's hatch came from two flocks with different bloodlines and coupled with the ones I got down here I will be able to close my flock an not worry about inbreeding.

I have decided to wait on Chickens till I can be in a situation where I can hatch the eggs myself. I think the adjustment to keeping almost fifty guineas will be enough of a learning curve for the time being.... LOL My next poultry addition will be Sumatras.... probably next year some time. Sumatras have a wild nature as well and I suspect they will be a good choice environment wise for up here.

Actually you have keets from 4 different gene pools, just from me.. my 3 separate breeding flocks, plus the keets that hatched from the eggs I got from my friend

Yer good to go for a llllllllong time!

I figured you'd be overwhelmed with that many keets, lol (hehe) and believe me, it will get WAY worse as they all reach pterodactyl size, lol (evil evil evil laugh goin' on up here, lol). I think I sent you at least 32, if not 33 keets total, lol, then add in your 1st batch from cracking up and the Lav from Ttigerrrrrrrlilly... yep yer KeetLoaded for dang sure, lol. I love it, someone as nuts as I am, and IN THE SAME STATE!!! Hahaha

OK, clue me in... what are Sumatras, and do I want some of those TOO?

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote:
Pearl Grey is the dominant color (and pearling/markings) over all the Guinea colors, so most of the keets that hatched from who ever paired up with your Pearl will be Pearls, and a few of whatever recessive genes the pair are carrying will show up in the hatches from THAT pair... but not all Hens are monogamous and everybody seems to always carry lots of hidden recessive genes, which results in random/assorted hatches, lol.

If you are hatching mostly Lavs now, that probably means the Pearl Guinea has left the building... or the breeding mix anyway, lol (my flocks all tend to change mates frequently, cuz they can I guess, lol). The few Pearl keets that have shown up in your recent hatches (if any) could just be the result of some stray Pearl genes the breeding pair are carrying, matching up making some random Pearl keets. But IF the Pearl IS still in the breeding mix, then it's possible it carries some pretty strong Lavender recessive genes and is breeding with a Lavender... resulting in lots of Lavender keets.

Does that make any sense? It doesn't to me unless I read it backwards LOL

I sold all my Pied Pearl Greys from my main breeding flock to suzettex5 at least 2 months ago and I still get a few Pied Pearl Grey keets and regular Pearl Grey keets from their eggs, several in each hatch

 

[PeepsCA]

perchie.girl :

I am still going to have to keep a very strict eye on them and be diligent about making them come in at night. The predator load up at my house is very heavy. I am afraid the light birds will be quicker to fall prey.

Oh dear, there went my stress level!!! I think I sent you 6 light birds, yikies!

Maybe you could have a "breeding flock" of all your light birds that you could keep cooped/penned up and only let them out to free range while you are there to watch them...

You can always come get this BLM Burro, he'll watch your birds for ya, lol.​

 

[cracking up]

My poison oak hatch was the most stressful yet. I could hear a couple peeping and see them running around in there but when she hadn't come out with them for a couple of days I knew those two wouldn't make it. When she finally did come out she had six keets. Some were way too young and couldn't keep up. When I could get to them I took them away. If they weren't so cute I'd be tempted to just walk away and let them go. I'd go in the house for a few minutes and when I got back there was one dead with a bloody top of the head and as I watched another got tired and laid on its side and the adults started pecking its head It had a bloody spot so I just took it away. Later she only had one and my husband took it away when he said they were being mean to it.

I got a long handled shovel and got the rest of the eggs and put them in the incubator. It was the most staggered hatch I've ever had. They hatched out at the rate of one or two a day over a week and a half. One day I looked in the incubator and said what the heck? Did I put in a chicken egg? When I got a good look it was a little white guinea.

I thought about keeping the white and a couple of lavenders but when people saw them they wanted them and I have enough!!

Perchie - I have fifteen adults now on four acres and it's not at all crowded and later they come home to roost (if you train them right) before dusk so they really are no trouble. And not nearly as noisy as geese!

As they wander and eat bugs the food bill will go down too.

Enjoy!