What I once thought was just slow growing of feathers is actually a feature -- their necks will not be covered in feathers as I originally thought. Instead, their necks will be just bare skin that turns white over time. Their legs are also darkening, right on schedule. Some are growing a nice set of long, black eyelashes. And it's time again for some new leg bands, as they are growing out of the second set already.
The drama from the new perch and feeder setup is over. They are eating normally again (only took 2+ days) and have learned new tricks jumping off the feeder platform. Tonight when I brought new food in they were jumping off my shoulder and back. They're comfortable alright.
Today is/was day 22 of the new hatching eggs. I am taking them off the egg turner a day ahead of time, because last time I was too late (they hatched just two days after moving, when they really should have 3). For some reason I can't get the humidity high enough; I have already filled all of the troughs full with water. It'll have to do I suppose.
I'm looking for a bell so I can train the keets with millet (favorite food). When I ring the bell, I want that to be the "come home and have a delicious snack" sound. But I can't find a bell anywhere! Not for under $20 at least. Anybody know where I can find one, cheap?
2004/09/29
2004/09/26
Week 7
Not a lot to report this week. No pictures at least. They seem to have slowed their growth rate, so there are no significant changes. There is a small change in the head shape though -- the helmet which grows out the top of the head seems to be coming now, and the wattles (like a comb on a chicken) are appearing as well.
Kerrie and I made a new perch today -- three levels now instead of one. They flew all over the koop as we put it in, and were panting after it was all over. They still sit at the top perch and face towards the wall as I write this, as though they are being punished. Sensitive birds they are. Also put in a box underneath the food container to catch everything they scratch out of the feeder. It's like they enjoy scratching it out more than actually eating it.
The hatching eggs are down one more to ten. One I candled last week was questionable, and so this weekend I checked it and it was bad. So out it went.
Send me comments or questions. Anybody out there?
Kerrie and I made a new perch today -- three levels now instead of one. They flew all over the koop as we put it in, and were panting after it was all over. They still sit at the top perch and face towards the wall as I write this, as though they are being punished. Sensitive birds they are. Also put in a box underneath the food container to catch everything they scratch out of the feeder. It's like they enjoy scratching it out more than actually eating it.
The hatching eggs are down one more to ten. One I candled last week was questionable, and so this weekend I checked it and it was bad. So out it went.
Send me comments or questions. Anybody out there?
2004/09/19
Sunday Late Edition
I installed a small 14" fluorescent light and timer later tonight (so I don't need to have two large shop lights on all day and night). After turning off the shop lights, the keets were, as usual, very curious and uncertain about the change in their environment -- they went quiet all of the sudden, and craned their necks towards the light to get a better look.
As we were feeding them a late snack, we were speculating which was male, which was female. Kerrie thinks she can tell by the face. I was not so sure.
Just as we were about to leave the koop, we heard the distinctive "buck-wheat, buck-wheat" call that only the female makes! I grabbed her, and found it is 0001 (as yet unnamed by her sponsor, Betsy). Not a moment later and another called out "buck-wheat"! This time it was 0010 (Kittywhee, sponsored by my neice Sarah).
The guesses for male (more "vulture-like" according to Kerrie): 0011 (Zoe, sponsor: Joan) and 0101 (Ptitsa, sponsor: Alex), and lastly, 0111 (Y.T., sponsor: Kerrie). Time will tell which will be male or female, as we hear more calls and capture them in the act.
On the new hatch front (now day 12), we candled them to determine which are not growing. Eleven looked different from the others -- either clear throughout, or with no distinct dark areas. We found 7 of those 11 with scrambled yolks; the remainder were intact but not growing -- infertile we presume. We did not accidentally mis-read any eggs (those that had a healthy embryo growing), thankfully. We also saw the tell-tale signs of spiderweb-like veins throughout one egg. Eleven eggs now remain in the incubator. There will be no more candling after this point; if any are bad, we will find out after the hatch is over. Hopefully there will be no explosions (due to rotting) if there are any bad ones. If all goes well, we'll have 11 new keets beginning hatching two weeks from today.
As we were feeding them a late snack, we were speculating which was male, which was female. Kerrie thinks she can tell by the face. I was not so sure.
Just as we were about to leave the koop, we heard the distinctive "buck-wheat, buck-wheat" call that only the female makes! I grabbed her, and found it is 0001 (as yet unnamed by her sponsor, Betsy). Not a moment later and another called out "buck-wheat"! This time it was 0010 (Kittywhee, sponsored by my neice Sarah).
The guesses for male (more "vulture-like" according to Kerrie): 0011 (Zoe, sponsor: Joan) and 0101 (Ptitsa, sponsor: Alex), and lastly, 0111 (Y.T., sponsor: Kerrie). Time will tell which will be male or female, as we hear more calls and capture them in the act.
On the new hatch front (now day 12), we candled them to determine which are not growing. Eleven looked different from the others -- either clear throughout, or with no distinct dark areas. We found 7 of those 11 with scrambled yolks; the remainder were intact but not growing -- infertile we presume. We did not accidentally mis-read any eggs (those that had a healthy embryo growing), thankfully. We also saw the tell-tale signs of spiderweb-like veins throughout one egg. Eleven eggs now remain in the incubator. There will be no more candling after this point; if any are bad, we will find out after the hatch is over. Hopefully there will be no explosions (due to rotting) if there are any bad ones. If all goes well, we'll have 11 new keets beginning hatching two weeks from today.
Week 6
Judging by how much food the keets eat, they are loving the new keet koop. Seems that the usual one scoop a day of feed (about 2 lbs) isn't enough anymore -- it's all gone the next time I feed them. And they act like they haven't eaten in forever when I hand over the food. They will jump onto me and into the feeder before I even have a chance to put it down.
I've gotten them hooked on mealworms, and have begun feeding with millet as well (supposedly their favorite food). I think they like the mealworms better, but I only just introduced millet today, so we'll see. Kerrie and I snapped about a dozen photos trying to get them in action jumping for the mealworms, but didn't get a good shot. Trust me when I say they leap two feet into the air to get this tasty morsel.
Here's their Grade A Choice food:
Feeding frenzy over the millet:
And lastly, our benchmark bird, Y.T., and a shot of his/her wing:
There is some speculation that Y.T. might be male. As we understand it, the males are more agressive with being first to eat and such. Y.T. has been the first with just about everything -- sitting on the new perch, exploring outside the old box, trying mealworms, etc. I think Y.T. gets at least half of the mealworms when I hand them out.
They are calling a bit now -- the alarm call that is. One who I didn't identify hopped up onto the perch and screamed the alarm that guinneas are famous for. No doubt the others will learn this within the next week or two. I sure hope the keet koop is far enough away from my bedroom!
I've gotten them hooked on mealworms, and have begun feeding with millet as well (supposedly their favorite food). I think they like the mealworms better, but I only just introduced millet today, so we'll see. Kerrie and I snapped about a dozen photos trying to get them in action jumping for the mealworms, but didn't get a good shot. Trust me when I say they leap two feet into the air to get this tasty morsel.
Here's their Grade A Choice food:
Feeding frenzy over the millet:
And lastly, our benchmark bird, Y.T., and a shot of his/her wing:
There is some speculation that Y.T. might be male. As we understand it, the males are more agressive with being first to eat and such. Y.T. has been the first with just about everything -- sitting on the new perch, exploring outside the old box, trying mealworms, etc. I think Y.T. gets at least half of the mealworms when I hand them out.
They are calling a bit now -- the alarm call that is. One who I didn't identify hopped up onto the perch and screamed the alarm that guinneas are famous for. No doubt the others will learn this within the next week or two. I sure hope the keet koop is far enough away from my bedroom!
2004/09/11
5 weeks old, new coop, relocation
Lots happening these last two days. First, the keets are 5 weeks old. As always, here's a picture of y.t. with his/her wing. Had to pull back a bit to get it all in.
Kerrie and I also made up a new set of leg bands, as the first set was getting too tight on the keets' legs.
Here's the whole group, standing on the edge of the indoor nursery.
And now, here is the transformation of my storage area into a keet koop.
Nothing:
Framing:
The finished product:
The move was mostly uneventful, other than some attempts to jump out of the covered box on the way to the koop. They huddled into the corner after being released. Might take them a day or two to get accustomed to the new house.
Kerrie and I also made up a new set of leg bands, as the first set was getting too tight on the keets' legs.
Here's the whole group, standing on the edge of the indoor nursery.
And now, here is the transformation of my storage area into a keet koop.
Nothing:
Framing:
The finished product:
The move was mostly uneventful, other than some attempts to jump out of the covered box on the way to the koop. They huddled into the corner after being released. Might take them a day or two to get accustomed to the new house.
2004/09/08
Stuff 'n' Junk
Just a few miscellaneous updates here...
I caught 0100 and 1000 fighting yesterday. Gone were their cute little chirps -- they were screaming at each other. Fighting on occasion is normal, or so I hear.
The coop is nearly ready; I hope it'll be fully enclosed tonight, and a door made tomorrow. I'm about a week late getting the keets out of the too-small nursery they are in now.
Yesterday marked day 0 of incubation for a new batch of eggs. Two were broken, leaving 22 Jumbo Guinea eggs to incubate. Expected hatch date will be somewhere starting October 3rd -- put it on your calendar!
I caught 0100 and 1000 fighting yesterday. Gone were their cute little chirps -- they were screaming at each other. Fighting on occasion is normal, or so I hear.
The coop is nearly ready; I hope it'll be fully enclosed tonight, and a door made tomorrow. I'm about a week late getting the keets out of the too-small nursery they are in now.
Yesterday marked day 0 of incubation for a new batch of eggs. Two were broken, leaving 22 Jumbo Guinea eggs to incubate. Expected hatch date will be somewhere starting October 3rd -- put it on your calendar!
2004/09/07
When the cat's away... (a guest blog entry by Kerrie)
I was away this Labor Day weekend, so Kerrie took over keet parenting duty. Here's her report!
--
Daddy's away for the weekend, and I'm keetsitting. Woo-hoo - I've been
looking forward to this all week! Food, water, play - no problem, right?
When I arrived, the keets were up to their usual tricks - chirping
pleasantly, and sticking their necks up as far as they could go, and even
standing on their tip-toes to see who was visiting. I'm still amazed at how
long their necks are when they want them to be. Having read the last blog
entry, I was assured that the keets know their "safe zone". Indeed, I had
seen it with my own eyes, so I removed the cover on the brooder, and sat
down for a little relaxing. There was the usual fuss over getting to the
perch, each keet cleverly calculating the maximum possible disruption to the
others while trying to find the best place to sit.
So far, so good, huh? Well, Y.T. showed a certain amount of autonomy.
He/she started poking his/her head over the side of the box - eying what was
on the other side, and even did a few high-speed runs along the ledge that
Daddy had the foresight to install on the top of their box (complete with
duct tape for traction!). Then it happened... In a moment of sheer abandon,
Y.T. took off flying! 'That's ok', I thought, and went to retrieve the
wayward bird, but in the meantime, three others followed the cue! I chased
them around a bit - they didn't run away in terror, but scooted just out of
my reach, as if playing some sort of game. Then two more came to join in
the fun, one landing on my head, and one on my shoulder. At least they are
not afraid of people! I have to add that their chirping was of the happy
kind.
What was I to do? I now had six out of eight birds roaming the house, and
the remaining two were still unconstrained. Luckily it was not as hard as I
thought. I was able to catch two birds at a time and put them back in their
box (although lots of screeching ensued). Once all were inside, I replaced
the cover. Phew! The rest of the weekend has been uneventful - the keets
sit on their perch without flying away, and it's cute to see them napping
with their heads hanging down. Somehow I think that's not too comfortable,
but they seem to like it.
Oh - I almost forgot - the weekly wing picture... This is Y.T. (the
benchmark) - it's the best I could do holding the bird with one hand and the
camera with the other. It's getting hard to capture the whole wing in one
picture!
Another thing I've noticed is that Y.T.'s markings are different than the
others (BTW, I sponsor Y.T. - that's my bird!). Y.T. has spots while the
others have distinctive stripes. This is a picture of Kittywhee for
comparison.
--
Daddy's away for the weekend, and I'm keetsitting. Woo-hoo - I've been
looking forward to this all week! Food, water, play - no problem, right?
When I arrived, the keets were up to their usual tricks - chirping
pleasantly, and sticking their necks up as far as they could go, and even
standing on their tip-toes to see who was visiting. I'm still amazed at how
long their necks are when they want them to be. Having read the last blog
entry, I was assured that the keets know their "safe zone". Indeed, I had
seen it with my own eyes, so I removed the cover on the brooder, and sat
down for a little relaxing. There was the usual fuss over getting to the
perch, each keet cleverly calculating the maximum possible disruption to the
others while trying to find the best place to sit.
So far, so good, huh? Well, Y.T. showed a certain amount of autonomy.
He/she started poking his/her head over the side of the box - eying what was
on the other side, and even did a few high-speed runs along the ledge that
Daddy had the foresight to install on the top of their box (complete with
duct tape for traction!). Then it happened... In a moment of sheer abandon,
Y.T. took off flying! 'That's ok', I thought, and went to retrieve the
wayward bird, but in the meantime, three others followed the cue! I chased
them around a bit - they didn't run away in terror, but scooted just out of
my reach, as if playing some sort of game. Then two more came to join in
the fun, one landing on my head, and one on my shoulder. At least they are
not afraid of people! I have to add that their chirping was of the happy
kind.
What was I to do? I now had six out of eight birds roaming the house, and
the remaining two were still unconstrained. Luckily it was not as hard as I
thought. I was able to catch two birds at a time and put them back in their
box (although lots of screeching ensued). Once all were inside, I replaced
the cover. Phew! The rest of the weekend has been uneventful - the keets
sit on their perch without flying away, and it's cute to see them napping
with their heads hanging down. Somehow I think that's not too comfortable,
but they seem to like it.
Oh - I almost forgot - the weekly wing picture... This is Y.T. (the
benchmark) - it's the best I could do holding the bird with one hand and the
camera with the other. It's getting hard to capture the whole wing in one
picture!
Another thing I've noticed is that Y.T.'s markings are different than the
others (BTW, I sponsor Y.T. - that's my bird!). Y.T. has spots while the
others have distinctive stripes. This is a picture of Kittywhee for
comparison.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)