Uh oh... found an egg today! ... - A journal of sorts, from finding eggs to hatching them... Update

[PeepsCA]

Oh and keet #2 hatched a couple hours ago while I was outside, so I missed it. This one's a grouchy one, (maybe because it didn't imprint on me/my voice right away?) and it wasn't willing to let me take any good pics, lol. It's either a Pied Brown or Pied Cinnamon. Not sure yet, it's still not dried and fluffed enough.

Looks ticked off doesn't it? LOL. Not my fault it decided to hatch a day early!!! The other early bird's already kickin' back all comfy cozy in the brooder with a couple mirrors for company. This one has to wait until it's more fluffed and dried before I move it over tho.

I see one more pipped egg, with lots of other eggs showing internal pips and movement in them... tomorrow will be the usual/common hatchday, so maybe I'll wake up to hatcher full of peepin' keets in the morning.

 

[GuineaLady93]

Aww, how cute! How many do you expect to hatch?

 

[PeepsCA]

Aww, how cute! How many do you expect to hatch?

There are/were 19 eggs (17 left now)... But sometimes not all the eggs that look good actually hatch, and with as early in the season as it is some may have hatching issues. I'll be happy with 12 healthy keets. Probably end up with closer to 14-16 keets tho.

I moved the other lil guy to the brooder, and the first keet it MAD now, yapping away non-stop. He gets quiet when I go talk to them, but man he's not happy about his new brooder mate. What the heck, lol. The new keet is perfectly happy pecking at crumbles and checkin' out the mirrors etc.

 

[GuineaLady93]

Aw, that's funny!
So is that a Powder Blue Pied or just a heavily Pied Lavender? He kinda looks like a Powder Blue??

 

[PeepsCA]

I think the 1st keet is going to turn out to be a Pied Powder Blue, due to the lack of striping, but he looks kind of dark, but not dark enough to be a Pied Sky Blue. I'll see what the feathers look like in the next wk or 2. If it turns uit to be non-pearled it'll be a keeper.

All is quiet in the brooder this AM both keets are content. Looks like they scarfed the GroGel I gave them. The hatcher is a little noisy tho... Only woke up to 1 newly hatched keet this AM, a normally striped Brown keet (not Pied). Kinda light, so possibly a male. Unless it's a Cinnamon, but I'm thinking Brown. That one's a keeper too. (Here I go again keepers keepers keepers, geeeze! Like I need any more Guineas, lol). The Brown keet is still wet. I'll get a pic later, batteries are recharging.

I see another pipped egg that's missin' a chunk of shell, so I may have another keet out in a little while. Weird hatch... usually the AM of day 26 is when IT'S ON. Oh well at least the brooder is fairly easy to clean up at this point, lol.

 

[PeepsCA]

 

[StevenW.]

Peeps, I'm very very jealous! Cute cute cute keets!

 

[critters]

I too am jealous!!! Adorable keets! Can't wait for mine to hatch...

 

[PeepsCA]

Got 10 more cuties drying in the hatcher, the last one hatched a little while ago, he needed a little help and he's slowly starting to move around in the hatcher so hopefully in a while he'll be up and bulldozing with the others. I keep hearing random keet screams coming from the hatcher so they are probably grabbin' each other's toes wanting something to eat already, lol. I will move them all over to the brooder this evening and post new pics.

Looks like the rest of the eggs were early quitters like I had thought... so 13 keets out of the 19 eggs. Not so great of a hatch, but not too bad for the first hatch of the year... It's still Winter! Next hatch is due to go into lockdown Sunday, and I'll probably set a few more eggs tomorrow evening... I'm rying to maintain a little control and just have 1 hatch going on each week... lol. Last season I had hatches going on every 3-4 days and sometimes they'd run over and I'd be juggling eggs around so I could use another of the 'bators as the 2nd hatcher, or I'd have to disinfect/scrub down a hatcher really quick and get it set back up cuz eggs were pipping and ready for lockdown right after the last keet had hatched in the batch before, lol. It was hectic!

 

[GuineaLady93]

Nice! What colors are they?