Keets reunited.

Friday 31st August 2012

Chickens lay chocolate eggs
Today something really amazing happened. We have had family staying for a while and the children have been collecting the chicken eggs for us. Well, today the chickens only went and laid a couple of Kinder Eggs for them! In all our time keeping chickens they have never laid even one of these for us!

Keets reunited
The seven keets already outside with their parents have flourished. It has been fascinating to watch how their mother and father look after them. Every evening Lady Guinea disappears into a deep tussock of grass and G'nea G'nea goes off on his own to roost with the chickens. In the morning they call to each other and he rushes out to join his family, foraging through the grass in the orchard and soft fruit patch. The little ones have learned to keep up with the parents, all staying together by constantly calling to each other. They are finding plenty of food for themselves, even leaping up into the air to catch insects disturbed from the grass. It is also notable that Lady Guinea has started to bring her family back in with the chickens, though she only trusts the older chcikens, with whom she grew up. In fact, Cocky often stands over the keets to protect them.
Fortunately the weather has been a bit fresher of late, so the grass has been a lot drier, particularly in the early morning.

So, having said that we'd decided not to place all our baby guineafowl in the one basket, today we decided that was exactly what we would do! Rearing the chicks inside pretty much guarantees their survival, but it is another job and they need plenty of cleaning out as they sure do produce a lot of odorous waste for such little fluffballs.


Today we carried the eight keets from inside down to the chicken pen and placed them on the ground. Lady Guinea quickly responded to their little calls so Sue released a couple of the keets into the midst of the others. This was the moment of truth. Would they be accepted or rejected and possibly even attacked?

Lady Guinea went straight over to the calling keets.

Well, it was as if they'd never been away. They mixed straight in and were welcomed back into the family. Pleased by this outcome, we reunited the rest of the keets and it was a true delight to watch all fifteen feeding under the feet of their parents, then slowly head off back into the orchard.

All fifteen keets. Confident little critters now.

Legbar chicks cast outside
That wasn't all the fowl action for the day though. We decided that the two Cream Legbar henlets could also go out, but into the protected environment of an enclosed run. We put them in with the Polands, who have been proving slightly shy of the other much larger chickens since I accidently let them out a few days ago.
I reckon they get picked on because of their ridiculous hairstyles. Apologies to any readers with similar hairstyles!

Way Hey! A new home.
Sue releases the Cream Legbar chicks.



The two Cream Legbar chicks in their new home with the Polands.