Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax


lol

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

"gonna keetbomb dis photo"

e: also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXfEEf8B5j8

Lutha Mahtin fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Apr 2, 2017

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
i wasn't going to do an update because there's only so many functionally identical photos of gangly teenage birds you can look at but dammit these are my keets and i love them and you are going to behold them







here they are five minutes ago! after an eagle attack claimed two keets the brood is down to eleven, but i expected that to happen at some point - losses to predators always seem to spike in late summer and early autumn, i'm not entirely sure why but i suspect it's because the young birds of prey are almost the size of their parents (so require an adult-size amount of food) while still not old enough to go out and find their own territory. anyway the two lavenders are still around so i'm counting my blessings, and compared to brooder-raised clutches the death rate for this lot has been very small. all in all it's been a huge success



the adult guinea fowl are starting to take interest in the keets and hang around them (and their mums) a lot, usually peacefully except when there's food involved - pecking happens then but that's pretty standard for poultry. it'll be fun to see whether the keets end up going with the guinea fowl, integrate into the chicken flock, or stay together and make their own flock.



that's one of my previous trio bending down there, caught in the butterfly-like transmogrification stage between stripy-headed cherub and blue-headed sea monster

petra and zeborah are still devoted mothers, although petra is more likely to wander off by herself now the keets are older. she's only raised one brood (of chickens) before this and didn't exactly do a great job, she was very committed until they were about three weeks old but as soon as they had their adult feathers she basically left them to fend for themselves and eight out of the ten fell victim to predators before they reached maturity. i like to think she's learning mothering skills from zebby, who is a ridiculously good hen and my hero





the next batch of keets (ten of them!) are due to hatch soonish, probably in 10-12 days. they're just big enough now that when i candle the eggs i can make out distinct beaks and feet and see them kicking their little legs :3:

LITERALLY A BIRD
Sep 27, 2008

I knew you were trouble
when you flew in

Avshalom posted:

i wasn't going to do an update because there's only so many functionally identical photos of gangly teenage birds you can look at but dammit these are my keets and i love them and you are going to behold them

i will behold all of the keets

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax


~four days til new keets!

CROWS EVERYWHERE
Dec 17, 2012

CAW CAW CAW

Dinosaur Gum

Avshalom posted:



~four days til new keets!

Animorphs cover of a guinea turning into another guinea

WrenP-Complete
Jul 27, 2012

I love them so much.

FactsAreUseless
Feb 16, 2011

CROWS EVERYWHERE posted:

Animorphs cover of a guinea turning into another guinea
lmao

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

Avshalom posted:

when i candle the eggs i can make out distinct beaks and feet and see them kicking their little legs :3:

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

CROWS EVERYWHERE
Dec 17, 2012

CAW CAW CAW

Dinosaur Gum
They get grumpy and start wiggling because when you candle them you wake them up from their restful sleep :kimchi:

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax

CROWS EVERYWHERE posted:

They get grumpy and start wiggling because when you candle them you wake them up from their restful sleep :kimchi:
a few months back i hatched some plymouth-leghorn crosses, which were very black chicks in very white eggs so when the shell was lit up you could see basically everything, and while candling them near hatch i got to see one extend and flap its tiny wings and it was so beautiful i legit almost cried

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
tell your friends and family: the time has come for live action keets

https://vimeo.com/213311042

https://vimeo.com/213311271

WrenP-Complete
Jul 27, 2012

Avshalom posted:

tell your friends and family: the time has come for live action keets

https://vimeo.com/213311042

https://vimeo.com/213311271

I made a vimeo so I could follow you and your flock!

Edit: and have commented :3:

mandatory lesbian
Dec 18, 2012
there's a whole thread of keets you've been keeping from us, what the hey

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax

mandatory lesbian posted:

there's a whole thread of keets you've been keeping from us, what the hey
i've linked it in dadchat like 30 times, it's not my fault you don't religiously follow my posts!

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax

WrenP-Complete posted:

I made a vimeo so I could follow you and your flock!

Edit: and have commented :3:
the keets thank you for your kind words

mandatory lesbian
Dec 18, 2012

Avshalom posted:

i've linked it in dadchat like 30 times, it's not my fault you don't religiously follow my posts!

sorry, i'll go to the confession box and give my 30 hail sharon's and praise cohen's

quite stretched out
Feb 17, 2011

the chillest

CROWS EVERYWHERE posted:

Animorphs cover of a guinea turning into another guinea

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax


:siren:

seven heads with feet have hatched so far, one more is almost unzipped and the other two are kicking around inside their shells so this may be my first 100% hatched lot of eggs :toot: (they're the first lot of eggs totally out my own stock not purchased from elsewhere so it'll be good news for me because it means the adult guineas are healthy and performing well). they're very tired when they're born so i'll give them an opportunity to rest before i take more photos

treasured8elief
Jul 25, 2011

Salad Prong

Oh my god

CROWS EVERYWHERE
Dec 17, 2012

CAW CAW CAW

Dinosaur Gum

Avshalom posted:



:siren:

seven heads with feet have hatched so far, one more is almost unzipped and the other two are kicking around inside their shells so this may be my first 100% hatched lot of eggs :toot: (they're the first lot of eggs totally out my own stock not purchased from elsewhere so it'll be good news for me because it means the adult guineas are healthy and performing well). they're very tired when they're born so i'll give them an opportunity to rest before i take more photos

tiger keets with orange feets

LITERALLY A BIRD
Sep 27, 2008

I knew you were trouble
when you flew in

Avshalom posted:



:siren:

seven heads with feet have hatched so far, one more is almost unzipped and the other two are kicking around inside their shells so this may be my first 100% hatched lot of eggs :toot: (they're the first lot of eggs totally out my own stock not purchased from elsewhere so it'll be good news for me because it means the adult guineas are healthy and performing well). they're very tired when they're born so i'll give them an opportunity to rest before i take more photos

KEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeets

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
here is a fluff huddle



i'm leaving them alone for a while now because i just changed their brooder box so they're overstimulated and grumpy. there are nine, the tenth egg doesn't look like it'll go but it's very rare not to lose one or two around hatch time, and the others are extremely active and loud and bouncy :3: a few of them have already achieved an important keet developmental milestone, which is finding their way on top of the brooder and standing there screaming uncontrollably until i help them back off again (it's about two inches high and that's scary :ohdear:)

mandatory lesbian
Dec 18, 2012


LITERALLY A BIRD posted:

KEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeets

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
i bought two young japanese quail yesterday. turns out that the person i bought them from had been carrying them around in a box all day long so when i got them home they were very stressed out and having trouble adjusting to the new environment in the cage with the other quail, so i instead put them in the brooder box with the keets. usually it's not a good idea to mix babies with older birds, especially of different species, but i seem to live in a magical parallel universe where it's never a problem. luckily that continues to be the case - the quails have calmed right down and seem content with the keets' company, and the keets have been following them around the (fairly large) brooder box learning how to do useful things like scratch and forage and drink









Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

you and your fuckin twisted birb experiments!!!

(:3:)

Lima
Jun 17, 2012

Quails are awesome!

My uncle raised quails for eating but he was far too softhearted to butcher them so they got to live long and happy quail lives :3:

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
so these dudes





took the keets



out for their first adventure in the sun yesterday













a good time was had by all, especially me

Avshalom fucked around with this message at 09:26 on Apr 26, 2017

LITERALLY A BIRD
Sep 27, 2008

I knew you were trouble
when you flew in

adorable :3:

F hole
May 13, 2008

I grew up in South Africa and those awesome birds were in most parks there. Thanks for the nostalgia.

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
i've uploaded three more action-packed videos of the newest keets with their new surrogate quail, sesame, who is unfortunately my only remaining quail thanks to a pre-dawn raid by an owl. click through for queepy cheeps, keet feet, and a dust bath!

https://vimeo.com/216095794

https://vimeo.com/216096321

https://vimeo.com/216096696

a thrilling preview:

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
PLAY CEREMONIAL MUSIC APPROPRIATE FOR THE CROWNING OF A QUEEN MOTHER FOR 20 SECONDS, THEN FADE UNDER NARRATOR



narrator: keet keet keet keet keet



narrator: KEET KEET KEET KEET KEET



narrator: KEET KEET KEEEEEET

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax


for the first time i've managed to raise a brood to a month old with zero deaths. zero! not a single death! all nine keets are incredibly healthy and strong and noisy. i'm being careful with them because they are my precious children, but yesterday they had their first unaccompanied jaunt into the wilderness - i left them alone for about an hour and they did great, but then they got tired and decided to go to sleep in a big huddle out in the open where they would have been a ridiculously easy meal for anything that wanted them, so i scooped them up and put them back in the hutch. luckily they move around in a blob of solid keet and maintain a constant stream of little trills and whistles so tracking them is pretty simple.









they also got their first live meal yesterday, some earthworms i dug out of the garden. the earthworms kept thrashing around and then all the keets would get scared and buzz at them, it was great. luckily the quails (there are two now, i got a new hen as company for sesame) stepped up and showed them that the worms were edible, and it was quite simple after that



the new quail is named white pepper and she is good

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug
need a quail named salt

i rate this thread KEET/keet

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
the keets are learning to perch!











when i let them out of their hutch they go berserk and jump up and down and flap their wings and run around in circles

Avshalom
Feb 14, 2012

by Lowtax
i have no idea at what age keets become independent in the wild but zebby's brood are still inseparable from her long past the age when her chicken chicks went off to make their own way in life. petra split off from the family about two weeks ago and went broody again (that's the third time this season!! and she's incubating another clutch of guinea fowl eggs :pram:) and zebby's parade of adorable little puffballs is now an entourage of honking demon birds that are all as big as her and still treat her with complete devotion. today they all gathered right outside my back door for a dust bath











Facebook Aunt
Oct 4, 2008

wiggle wiggle




Avshalom posted:

i have no idea at what age keets become independent in the wild but zebby's brood are still inseparable from her long past the age when her chicken chicks went off to make their own way in life. petra split off from the family about two weeks ago and went broody again (that's the third time this season!! and she's incubating another clutch of guinea fowl eggs :pram:) and zebby's parade of adorable little puffballs is now an entourage of honking demon birds that are all as big as her and still treat her with complete devotion. today they all gathered right outside my back door for a dust bath



Zebby looks to be reevaluating her life choices. How did it come to this?

Facebook Aunt
Oct 4, 2008

wiggle wiggle




Too beautiful for this world. RIP.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
How are we supposed to get wonderful keet news now? :ohdear:

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

LITERALLY A BIRD
Sep 27, 2008

I knew you were trouble
when you flew in

keets :negative:

  • Locked thread