Making introductions

[My2butterflies]

View attachment 2280514 Night, caught him roosting. Got too close and he hissed, then stabbed his beak at me. Or he may have objected to me being so close to the keets - they were all pretty close together. Don't know why he's so bumpy there, or if that's normal...

View attachment 2280527
Keets have nice eye coloring. Their heads are bluer than they look here with my headlight shining in their faces.

I like the blue on their necks!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

View attachment 2280514 Night, caught him roosting. Got too close and he hissed, then stabbed his beak at me. Or he may have objected to me being so close to the keets - they were all pretty close together. Don't know why he's so bumpy there, or if that's normal...

View attachment 2280527
Keets have nice eye coloring. Their heads are bluer than they look here with my headlight shining in their faces.

Yes, some definite blue, plus blue or grey eyes! Now that we are studying head shots of guineas, do they normally have those warty looking bumps around their nostrils?

 

[My2butterflies]

Yes, some definite blue, plus blue or grey eyes! Now that we are studying head shots of guineas, do they normally have those warty looking bumps around their nostrils?

I don’t know But I’m curious too. Maybe it’s something they get with age?

 

[R2elk]

Yes, some definite blue, plus blue or grey eyes! Now that we are studying head shots of guineas, do they normally have those warty looking bumps around their nostrils?

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

View attachment 2280753
View attachment 2280752

Looks like your birds have smooth skin there...

 

[R2elk]

Looks like your birds have smooth skin there...

That is what it looks like to me too.

 

[EarlJ]

A few of the pearl grey keets were doing some sparring yesterday morning. They can be nasty. I couldn't tell if the one was grabbing the last few feathers on the other's head, or the budding casque. Then it looked like it was going for the wattles. A couple chickens came upon them and got all puffed up... one even flapped and kicked at the keets (who are about the same size as an adult chicken now), but they utterly ignored her. Eventually they realized the other guineas had gotten bored and ditched them, and they just sat down together until they heard their fellows calling.

The lavenders are going to be six weeks tomorrow, and they're starting to make some calls. At least one is buckwheating. Wonder if they'll be as interesting now that the adults have some juveniles to look after already... they'd push the flock from 8 to 13 though, crossing that double digit threshold.

 

[EarlJ]

Lavenders will be 8 weeks Monday, so I tried introductions...

The Pearls just want to chase them. Well, not chase like the mating season chase, where they dash around the yard like lunatics. Just short charges to make the lavs run away. For their part, it seems like the lavs are very much interested in being part of the group - they hang around, circle back, follow at distance, etc. The ones that were still confined stayed near the walls, and the pearls would peck at the hardware cloth.

Doesn't seem like that went well. The lavs are still pretty small comparatively, and the pearl keets are nearly adult sized. Guessing it's because the group is so heavily juvenile...

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Lavenders will be 8 weeks Monday, so I tried introductions...

The Pearls just want to chase them. Well, not chase like the mating season chase, where they dash around the yard like lunatics. Just short charges to make the lavs run away. For their part, it seems like the lavs are very much interested in being part of the group - they hang around, circle back, follow at distance, etc. The ones that were still confined stayed near the walls, and the pearls would peck at the hardware cloth.

Doesn't seem like that went well. The lavs are still pretty small comparatively, and the pearl keets are nearly adult sized. Guessing it's because the group is so heavily juvenile...

I don’t envy you making these introductions! Integrating poultry stresses me and the poultry out! Best of luck. I hope your next attempt goes a little smoother.

 

[EarlJ]

Lol, it's not so bad.

A barred rock decided to go broody in the Guinea coop, and hatched a chick in there. That's 5 weeks old now, and mama has had enough. She's gone back to roosting with the other chickens, but the chick keeps hanging around the Guinea coop. Tonight, the guineas were roosting on top of the coop again... and the chick was roosting on one of their backs! Ridiculous. I just keep carrying it back with the other adult hens at night.