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!