All the babies are growing up.
The guinea keets have all been fully integrated into the chicken flock. The two mother chicken hens still look after them, but the keets are very independent and don't always listen to the mother hens anymore. The other chickens in the flock don't bother with the babies. The keets can fly very well. It's so cute to enter the chicken pen and see all the chickens running to me and all the keets flying to me.
At nighttime the two mama hens take their keets into the nest boxes to sleep - where the chickens lay eggs. We make sure to have all the eggs picked up before the nestboxes become a playpen for the keets. The mama hens start putting the keets to bed well before dark, like around 5 pm. The mothers and keets enter the chicken coop. Any other chicken gets chased out. Then the keets fly all over the chicken coop. The chickens hens can't fly, they just settle down into a nestbox. The keets fly up onto the chicken roosts, and fly over and finally settle down into the nest boxes. Some of the keets sleep in their own nestbox, some still sleep with their mama hen.
We have one chick (a chicken) who's half white leghorn, half amercauna. He has a large tail and is always strutting his stuff with his tail feathers straight up. However, he has no sign of a comb. He is the grandson of our lead rooster, Muffin. Maybe it's a girl, we'll see!
The Rhode Island Red chicks are by far the friendliest chicks we have. They are always underfoot and love to be held. They are very small still, although they eat well.
The Cuckoo Maran chicks are twice as big as the Red chicks. Sadly, I think we have a couple Cuckoo Maran roosters developing. At least 2 of them are getting little combs and often are bumping chests already. Time will tell...
I could watch the babies all day!
Our next goal is to get the (chicken) chicks and their 2 mother hens integrated into the entire chicken/guinea flock.
Happy Friday!
9 comments:
Wish i could come on down and see all the chicks and keets in person! They are all so neat looking! Keep us posted with pictures!
This is such a great post. Thanks for sharing this adventure with us. :)
HA! It's amazing all those little fat keets can fit in the box with momma hen.
They are all very cute but my favorites are the Cuckoo Marans, the way they are standing on their tippy toes to see something. My three are still as inquisitive.
How adorable to see Mama Hen snuggling up with her baby keets. Such a cute picture!
Awww your Keets look just like the ones I have now. I have to admit the Keets are way differant than the chickens. First time for me raising Keets. So far the Keets don't want anything to do with the chickens!
The babies are the cutest. Great shots!
Barb - I really don't take many pics of the chicks and keets. I'm too busy dealing with them, cleaning their coops, cleaning their waters, moving them outside, moving them inside, breaking up the fights, etc. This morning I was inside ironing my clothes for work and looked out and saw all the baby cuckoo marans out walking around the house - they all broke free out of their pen! I flew outside in my robe to get them put away before they got lost in the bushes. Too much to do!!!
~Lynn
That first pic is so cute!!! Just adorable - thanks for sharing!
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