Keet, Keet, Keet
It’s been a busy weekend as far as baby animals are concerned. First the ducklings hatched out late last week, then the guinea eggs started hatching too. Because of the location of the guinea nest we started taking the keets when we noticed them wandering around outside of the safe zone. A few we had to detangle from the chicken wire fence around the run.
The first one was found late one night when we arrived home. I heard it squeaking up by the coop. Upon further investigation I found it outside the run away from it’s nest. We grabbed it and put it in a brooder we had just in case. We’ve heard rumors about how terrible guineas are when it comes to mothering their young. The next day we noticed a few more and kept our eyes on them. One was found stuck inside a cinderblock and yet another one was found stuck in the fence. After this we took all the keets as we found them.
Yesterday, when the guineas were off the nest I checked and found two smothered keets in it and a few others milling around. We grabbed those and put them in the brooder. Then the guineas abandoned their nest, so I grabbed a few of the remaining eggs that I could tell were close to hatching. I put them under a heat lamp and covered them with a damp towel. Amazingly, as of writing this, two hatched out and a few more are starting to crack the shells.
These little guys are fighters that’s for sure. So far we have 12 keets, two of which are injured from being stuck in the fence. We think one has a broken leg and the other one we’re not sure. We’ll give them time and space to heal and see what happens.
Did anything exciting happen at your place this weekend?
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We Have Ducklings
You probably remember me mentioning that our lady duck went broody about a month ago and starting sitting on a nest of eggs. I’ve been trying to check on the nest when she takes her foray out for some grass each day. Yesterday we peeked in the nest and spotted this:
DUCKLINGS! There were 5 that had hatched and a few other eggs that were pipped (update: this morning when I checked there were 8 ducklings). In total there were 12 eggs in the nest, it will be interesting to see how many ducklings we end up with.
I can hardly wait to watch these little guys grow up, they’re so stinking cute! Ducks are definitely my favorite fowl.
What would you consider your favorite bird?
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Making Do
When we arrived in Maine last Saturday, I wanted to put the ducklings outside but I needed a fence to keep them contained. At first I was going to use my compost bin, but the holes were too big. Then I remember we had some shelves in the garage that we haven’t put up yet.
With a little bit of wire it became a duck tractor. The ducks are loving spending the days outside basking in the sun and the rain. We put a little heat lamp out there for them to warm up under if they get chilly. Every day we move the fence to a new spot so they can eat the dandelions, violets and other greens they enjoy.
At night we’ve been putting them in the office in a container. Thankfully, it looks like they’ll be getting their feathers soon so they can stay outside. I also think I’m finally starting to see the gender of a few of them by their size. There’s one dominant male for sure and two small females. A few of the others could go either way, I’ll be watching.
Mr Chiots will be building them a little house soon, probably about the time they’ll be able to stay outside all day/night.
I also get so much satisfaction when I can make do with something I already have instead of having to buy something!
Have you made do with something recently and saved yourself some money?
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Duck, Duck, Duck….
A few weeks ago a friend posted a photo of her Muscovy duck that hatched a bunch of sweet little ducklings. I commented on her photo that I’d trade her some maple syrup for a few and she took me up on the offer. She said that she was actually going to send some from another clutch on my previous trip up to Maine but decided it might be too much.
On Sunday evening, the Chiot’s Run family grew by another 8 members. We picked up the ducklings and are keeping them in my mom’s garage (did I mention we were back in Ohio for a week for work?).
What type of ducklings did we get? Muscovies. I’ve been reading about this variety of duck for quite a while and had planned on adding a few. Getting some this early is a bonus. They’re champion pest controllers and their meat is supposed to be the best for eating as far as duck is concerned.
We’ll see how many of them end up being males and how many females. We’ll keep all the females and a male or two for breeding and most likely the other males will grace our table. It’s fun to finally be able to start realizing some of the dreams I’ve been dreaming for so long.
So, what new feathered or furred friend should we add to Chiot’s Run next?
