The guinea keets are now 17 days old!
Sadly, one died this past weekend. He was the smallest and weakest. Everyone else is doing fine. There are 8 left. They are getting their feathers in and their wings are developing. And they have learned how to fly! they are so small and light, they can fly very well!
They are still very small, but they have fully integrated into the chicken flock despite their small stature. The hens mostly accept them, the roosters want to take care of them as if they are hens by telling them when they find food. They look funny because they are so small compared to the chickens.
The keets go to any chicken if she clucks. They don't always listen to Mama Bella when they don't want to. They are not shy in the least bit. They've gotten pecked a few times by jealous hens, but they don't seem to mind because they are very fast and seem to get out of the way quickly if needed.
The keets spend their days outside with the chickens, and in the evening they put themselves to bed in the coop just like the chickens. The cutest thing about them is that at bedtime, Mama Bella calls them all into the nest box where Bella thinks they were born and they all sleep cuddled up together with her in the nest box.
Here Bella is calling them to the upper nest box, and the keets are all getting ready to jump and go to sleep. You can see Zoner and her little chicks in this picture!
Here's Bella's head in the nest box above. She's clucking for them to hurry up and get to bed!
13 comments:
They put THEMSELVES to bed?! Now, I have to have some chickens. My kids never did that.
How cute they are! We were going to have Guineas here but the eggs never arrived and my lady thought that she just didn't need any more birds to feed and house right now. We can enjoy Guineas through you! I think that's better. Fewer pets mean more attention for ME!
Wow! The keets are growing fast! They even look more like guineas now! You must be enjoying watching them! How are the other chicks?
They're so pretty! Remind me again what color they'll be as adults.
Will they be white? I don't know if I have ever seen that color of guinea before?
I love guineas so much, they do seem a bit fragile though, I wonder why that is?
Very nice pictures!
when these girls grow up there is going to be one unholy noise around your place
xx
Oh, I ♥ this post! This is absolutely amazing... those little babies are fully integrated into your flock and the roosters look out for them? This, in itself, is no small feat! Then, the evening bedtime ritual is something for a nature magazine. Sweet Bella.
p.s. In your last photo, your caption reads "Zoner's head in the next box", but that's still Bella, right?
Genny - Yes, they put themselves to bed! And they go to bed early!!
Isobelle - You & your lady are welcome to visit our blog anytime! And you are right, fewer pets means more attention for you!
Barb - The other chicks look very small compared to the guinea keets.
CeeCee - one white, the rest appear to be a light blue/white color. We will see how they turn out!
Farm Girl - I've never seen real guineas this color, either! But I've seen them online in this color. They are neat because they are unique, at least unique to us!
John Gray - You are right about the noise!!! I'll be hating life then! And I'll be asking myself why I wanted all these guineas!!!
Danni - Yes, I also was surprised how easy it was to integrate the keets into the flock. Last year when we got 5 guinea keets, we had a REAL hard time integrating them with the mama hen (Freckles) we had then and her chicks. It took MONTHS, and Freckles still didn't really accept the keets. But this time it was so easy, and only after 17 days!
And yes, Danni, you are right, in the blog I said "Zoner's head in the nest box" when referring to the last picture. I meant Bella, the keet mama. I am always calling them each other's names!!! I fixed the blog to be correct! Thanks for catching that!!
~Lynn
That has to be one of the sweetest things I have ever seen, momma Bella calling her babies to bed. I think most people underestimate the intelligence of chickens, myself included that is until I "raised me a flock". Isn't chicken love wonderful!
This is great information (especially for those of us without adult birds) to track our progress against. Thank you for the informational posts.
I had no idea that they could get integrated so fast. Something new to learn every day. It must be fun having all these new babies at your place. :)
Cute, cute, cute.
Julie - Yes, I think most people underestimate the intelligence of chickens, too!
Chai Chai - Your keets, chicks and ducklings are SOOO very cute!
Robin - I didn't know they could be integrated so quickly, either! But it wasn't that hard this time around!
Carolynn - Hello there! It's been a bit since I've visited your blog - I'm going to have to come by and say hello over there! Thanks for visiting me!
~Lynn
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