CARE OF NEWBORN GUINEA KEETS

hyelaw said:

At what age can I start using pine shavings?  Mine are 4 weeks old tomorrow.  And I have been giving them grit, at first mixed with their food, then in a separate bowl.  I can't really tell if they are eating it.  Will they know when they need / want it?

Also, at what point can I let them out in the run?  Should I trim the 2 foot high grass first?  or will they manage okay?

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Honestly, I saw my most recent keet eating shavings in the big bird enclosure at 2 and 3 days old but after that never again. I only keep them away from the brooder for the first week tops. I mix my grit in with the feed and they're just fine, I give them lots of extras so I provide grit laced feed at all times. I would trim the grass, yes, long grass can lead to sour crop and I've seen keets and chicks swallow mighty long worms and clover no problem, but I hear long grass for some reason clogs the crop up.
Any trouble sexing your keets?

prepperchickens said:

Any trouble sexing your keets?

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I haven't even attempted!

One last question. I'm trying to give them hard boiled eggs as a protein source, but what is the best method to give it to them? Once again, can't tell if they are eating it or it's getting trampled or going to waste. I don't want to mix it in their food to prevent mold or going bad, is a separate bowl okay, or just scatter it on the coop floor?

Thanks so much for your help!

hyelaw said:

I haven't even attempted!

One last question.  I'm trying to give them hard boiled eggs as a protein source, but what is the best method to give it to them?  Once again, can't tell if they are eating it or it's getting trampled or going to waste.  I don't want to mix it in their food to prevent mold or going bad, is a separate bowl okay, or just scatter it on the coop floor?

Thanks so much for your help!

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Mealworms are the best way I've found to build trust and affection, they love them and know if you're giving them their favorite treats you must be a good thing. Mine worship me, and tame they make the sweetest pets I've ever had. But I make sure to give them treats directly, rather than putting it in the bowl, to make the association between me and treats more direct and concrete.
I scatter my scrambled eggs on the floor or put them on a plastic lid of some sort. As Lon as they eat them all up and none are left to mild it doesn't matter.
Keets are incredibly hardy, I find raising them much less stressful than raising chicks who due to domestic breeding for ages are not nearly as naturally equipped.
For me, sexing keets is easier than sexing most chicks. Your particularly wild and crazy keets who run to your hand the quickest and talk the most are your males. There are several other indicators that never fail me, have you noticed any of yours to have messy feathers?

prepperchickens said:

Mealworms are the best way I've found to build trust and affection, they love them and know if you're giving them their favorite treats you must be a good thing. Mine worship me, and tame they make the sweetest pets I've ever had. But I make sure to give them treats directly, rather than putting it in the bowl, to make the association between me and treats more direct and concrete.
I scatter my scrambled eggs on the floor or put them on a plastic lid of some sort. As Lon as they eat them all up and none are left to mild it doesn't matter.
Keets are incredibly hardy, I find raising them much less stressful than raising chicks who due to domestic breeding for ages are not nearly as naturally equipped.
For me, sexing keets is easier than sexing most chicks. Your particularly wild and crazy keets who run to your hand the quickest and talk the most are your males. There are several other indicators that never fail me, have you noticed any of yours to have messy feathers?

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I lost my password so couldn't reply, sorry

I let my boyfriend do the hand feeding of meal worms, I still can't get past the worms part... But they do eat them out of his palm.

Keets and poults are my first time raising any kind of poultry. Two of the keets started to have problems, we put them aside and I could only find the info in 1 article online. They stopped wanting to walk and would just lay down all the time. At first when they were forced to move, they would walk fine, but later on, they started walking on their haunches.

I determined it was a vitamin deficiency even though their food had the vitamins in it they needed, I don't think they were interested in eating it. They'd still go for the mealworms though. And I'm not sure if they would drink voluntarily either. The smallest one would at least drink off of a spoon for me. Easing that worry a bit. The larger one and last to have the condition wouldn't go near it though. They had vitamins in their drinking water too, but the article I found said to use Red Cell which is a horse supplement. Since we were at our wits end and on the verge of losing these babies we tried it. Voila! They perked right back up and the next morning were standing again. We waited a few more days until they were strong, but now they are back out in the coop with their buddies. I wanted to wait a bit longer, but Mr. Impatient said it would be okay. He still sets the small one aside and gives it a little extra food when he goes to visit. But so far so good. So if keets are considered easy, I'm not sure I want chickens!

And as far a sexing, I still haven't figured it out. But about half of them were out roosting in the run the other day and one kept reaching up his neck and making very loud noises. I think it was calling to the ones inside the coop still to come out and join them. I think he's a boy. The messy feathers, I've noticed, but I thought it was a growing pain. They all seemed to have the same messy feathers at the same time. I'll keep checking though. Thanks again for the info.

What did you deduce from the messy feathers? The only way i have found, is the female will make a 2 syllable sound.. Thanks

Our keets are a week old and are killing each other! We were sent 18 and 2 died in transit, 2 died a few hours later. Then they all seemed healthy and fine, eating & drinking. After a few days we found one dead, flattened except for the head. Thinking it was a fluke, we removed it and the keets seemed fine. Another few days and we found another one dead in the food. Thinking they may be over crowded, even though they are a week old and have a large area, we separated them further giving each much more room. This morning found another keet dead, trampled. They are fed game bird starter feed, water with stones in the bottom so they can not drown, heat lamps at 90-95 degrees, dried pasture grass as the bedding (same as for our chickens & ducks). What am I doing wrong???!!

We've kept chicks and ducklings from vendors and eggs and had no problem. I thought guineas would be about the same, but I am at my wits end here. Please help! I owuld like to keep them alive to reach 6 weeks of age!!

Give them warm water only, dip their bill into the water to make sure they are drinking and know how to drink, use a quail water as it has to be low enough for them to drink. they really have to be kept warm for about a week or two , I use paper towels as the cover for the first week, there may be a chemical in that grass. I put the food on the paper for the first few days. To me, they and quail are the easiest to raise, They are little fighters right from the start. I also use chick starter/grower instead of the gamebird, you may have to beat/pulverize some of the food to make it finer for them to eat. Hope things get better for you. you may have to find someone who lives in your area and buy week old, i think shipping takes a toil on small birds.

One other thing, if they are huddling together right under the light, they may not be warm enough.

So sorry, Sahararose, that sounds awful. Everything chickbird said sounds good. Make sure the food is not old or rancid either. Maybe trying giving them more protein or vitamins. I used chick feed, but upped the protein level of it to 28%.

It doesn't sound like they are attacking either other, the ones that die just get trampled. If your brooder is big enough, can you put more than one food tray in? I did sprinkle my food on the paper towels though, especially at their age.

Do they look sick or act listless at all beforehand? Are you using medicated feed vs. non-medicated? I used non medicated, but added natural coccidiosis preventatives like apple cider vinegar to the water, and granulated garlic to the feed.

Are you sure they are eating and drinking okay? I did dip mine's beaks, but the ones I was worried about I also got to drink from a spoon. I wanted to see it with my eyes they were actually drinking.

hi there , Mad Hatter Farm , were are you at...? any were near Bisbee...?