Our Keets are Growing

Roosters watch their guinea keet neighbors.

Now that the keets are safely housed in the dog kennel beside the roosters, they are beginning to resemble their adult selves. No longer little brown fluff-balls, they're showing the lovely spotted plumage of adult lavender guineas. Their necks and beaks are showing greater resemblance to turkeys, too. As beautiful as the multi-colored roosters are, their individual feathers do not compare to the guinea's patterned feathers.

Adolescent guinea keet.

I wish I could tell the males from the females by sight, but alas I cannot. Since being caught and relocated to the kennel, I have not heard any of the keets make the female's "Buckwheat!" call. Before the move, when all eight keets were together, that call could be heard on occasion. After the move into the trailer, one keet got out and I heard one in the trailer call "Buckwheat!" Unfortunately, I simply "mended" the hole through which the keet had escaped, then allowed the cold weather or late hour to convince me to postpone moving them all into the secure kennel. The next day they had reopened the hole and we were down to two keets in the trailer. I moved them to the kennel, and the day after that netted two more.

Now that we only have four keets in captivity--the others have likely succumbed to the hazards posed (and faced) by wildlife--and while we're hoping that at least one of those we have is female, our hope dwindles with each passing day.