BYC Guinea hen club

[R2elk]

Hello everyone. I was interested in getting guinea keets this summer and I have some questions.

Can I feed my keets chick starter?

Is it possible to buy them from a nearby hatchery and drive them home without losses? Are they that sensitive to cold?

Can I brood them just like I brood chicks?

Are there certain foods they cannot eat?

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it!

You can feed the keets chick starter but it is not good for them. Keets need a much higher protein content than is in chick starter. You should feed your keets a quality turkey/game bird starter that is a minimum of 26% protein. Higher is better.

Read the Raising Guinea Fowl 101 thread and pay particular attention to any posts by PeepsCA.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/312682/raising-guinea-fowl-101

 

[chickincrazy]

Okay thanks! I appreciate it!

 

[margaret8]

You can feed the keets chick starter but it is not good for them.  Keets need a much higher protein content than is in chick starter.  You should feed your keets a quality turkey/game bird starter that is a minimum of 26% protein.  Higher is better.

Read the Raising Guinea Fowl 101 thread and pay particular attention to any posts by PeepsCA.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/312682/raising-guinea-fowl-101

I use 28% protein Game Bird Starters. I raised a bunch of keets on it. It works wonders!

 

[ColesCreek]

That's a good % the most I seen is 30% per bag

 

[PeacocksAust]

Must be low protein down there in Coles Creek mate, up here in Grantham I get a pallet of feed delivered to the Commercial Hotel each week and the protein is 35%

 

[Bean789]

Hello everyone. I was interested in getting guinea keets this summer and I have some questions.

Can I feed my keets chick starter?

Is it possible to buy them from a nearby hatchery and drive them home without losses? Are they that sensitive to cold?

Can I brood them just like I brood chicks?

Are there certain foods they cannot eat?

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it!

When I got mine, I raised them with some baby chicks. I fed them all chick starter along with game bird feed in about a 3:1 ratio. They all survived and thrived. Once the chicks were old enough to get grower/layer feed and they all started free ranging, I no longer mixed the feed. The guineas got the layer feed and free ranged at will. They stopped going in the coop with the chickens at 5 months of age. Slept in the trees. As for treats, they liked scratch grains as well as some fruits I put out for all of them. They would get millet seed in their outdoor feeder daily as 'a little something extra".

 

[MelissaZeno]

Would a chicken hatch guinea eggs? And would that make the keets calmer and more likely to stay in my yard?

 

[Bean789]

Would a chicken hatch guinea eggs? And would that make the keets calmer and more likely to stay in my yard?

I have heard that is true. Guineas make bad parents. Chickens hatch them and teach them how to be a chicken. LOL

 

[margaret8]

Would a chicken hatch guinea eggs?  And would that make the keets calmer and more likely to stay in my yard?

Nope! For that to half way happen you have to hand raise them!

 

[ColesCreek]

Would a chicken hatch guinea eggs?  And would that make the keets calmer and more likely to stay in my yard?

Yep they can and yep they are heaps better when you do