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this is a termite-infested piece of firewood or as i like to call it, a keet kong
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# ¿ Mar 24, 2017 13:01 |
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# ¿ May 8, 2024 13:23 |
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well it depends on if you want to keep them in adulthood or sell them as soon as they reach maturity. they make a lot of noise and i really wouldn't recommend a flock of more than three or four adult guineas unless you were in a rural area on acreage - not only because of the noise but because they're avid wanderers, i'd say you need five acres to keep a decent-sized flock happy. however if you only want to keep a few adults at a time for eggs and sell the keets once they're old enough not to need heat (4-8 weeks old depending on the weather where you are) a large backyard would be fine. you'll need to make sure they have a fully enclosed run if you're in town, they're good fliers and will be all over your neighbours' backyards otherwise, and you'd be surprised how quickly they go from waddling puffballs to soaring like albatrosses
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# ¿ Mar 24, 2017 13:56 |
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this was going to be my final batch of keets but paula the blue guinette is pumping out eggs like a maniac so i have at least one brood left to go before i go back to the city
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# ¿ Mar 26, 2017 02:20 |
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sun's out! time to dust it up!
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# ¿ Mar 26, 2017 04:22 |
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it rained! check out my grass! and my chickens what's going on in australia's favourite family?
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# ¿ Mar 27, 2017 02:27 |
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lol
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# ¿ Mar 28, 2017 10:40 |
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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
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# ¿ Apr 11, 2017 07:11 |
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~four days til new keets!
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# ¿ Apr 14, 2017 09:58 |
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CROWS EVERYWHERE posted:They get grumpy and start wiggling because when you candle them you wake them up from their restful sleep
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# ¿ Apr 15, 2017 04:21 |
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tell your friends and family: the time has come for live action keets https://vimeo.com/213311042 https://vimeo.com/213311271
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# ¿ Apr 15, 2017 06:57 |
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mandatory lesbian posted:there's a whole thread of keets you've been keeping from us, what the hey
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# ¿ Apr 16, 2017 05:12 |
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WrenP-Complete posted:I made a vimeo so I could follow you and your flock!
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# ¿ Apr 16, 2017 05:12 |
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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 (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
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# ¿ Apr 20, 2017 06:08 |
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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 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 )
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# ¿ Apr 21, 2017 05:58 |
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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
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# ¿ Apr 22, 2017 12:15 |
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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 |
# ¿ Apr 26, 2017 09:23 |
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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:
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# ¿ May 5, 2017 01:47 |
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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
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# ¿ May 14, 2017 00:39 |
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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
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# ¿ May 14, 2017 00:46 |
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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
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# ¿ May 16, 2017 04:30 |
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# ¿ May 8, 2024 13:23 |
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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 ) 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
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# ¿ May 20, 2017 02:40 |