Flock o Dinos
Chirping
Hi all! I’m new to bird ownership, and brand spanking new to this forum. I’ve been able to find a ton of information, but I still have some questions that I would love, if possible, to get answered by people with lots of experience.
Sorry, this is going to be a long post. I just want to explain everything that’s happened and where I’m at with my birds.
I purchased 15 fancy guinea fowl keets who hatched on July 19. I put them on a game bird starter crumble, put them in a brooder at 95°, put down footing that they could not eat and was not slippery, had water they could not fall into, and sincerely thought I had an excellent start for them. Starting when they were eight days old, they began to die. Long story short, I only have three left.
I think they may have caught some sort of disease. I’ve never raised foul before, so I don’t know what is normal. There were lots of pasty butts, and I would clean them every day. I thought it was just a combination of stress from shipping and simply being kind of gross little creatures Lol. When it didn’t clear up and they started to die, that obviously changed.
The first two birds that died were really failing to thrive, so I was disappointed but not surprised to find them dead. Then it started happening to other birds that seemed fine. They would start to act subdued and not quite right and usually die within six hours, but sometimes stayed alive for several days.
I unfortunately was unable to find an antibiotic that could be given in small enough dosages for these guys, and nothing avian specific. I added probiotics and electrolytes to their water. I tried to give extra support to any that I noticed were off, but I don’t know how to force feed and didn’t want to aspirate them.
I was so looking forward to starting a flock, and that was absolutely miserable to go through and I feel like a horrible person.
The remaining three are doing excellent, but now I’m not sure where to go from here.
I have them in a 110 gallon water trough as their step up Bruder to give them a bit more space. Once they are old enough, they’re going to go in a stall in the barn. We’ve put up a ton of chicken wire to hopefully keep the birds in and predators out.
So, my questions:
• at what age can I start letting them out to free range? 12 weeks? And with just three birds, how would you recommend I go about it? I was probably going to start by letting just one out, letting it explore for a bit, and then hurting it back inside. How long can I do that before letting two or all three of them out?
• if it turns out I have two cocks and one hen, am I going to have aggression issues? Are they like chickens in that respect? If it’s all cocks or all hens, will they still stick together?
• at what age can I start feeding treats? I gave these guys cucumber that I chopped into super tiny pieces about a week ago, and I recently started bringing them handfuls of grass. If it’s warm enough, I stick them outside in a dog crate with no bottom while I clean out their Bruder so they can experience the outdoors and nibble on the grass. Since I would like to train them to come back to their stall in the barn at night, I want to reinforce them with lots of treats to make me and their stall a good thing.
Can I start giving small amounts of treats at an earlier age? I want to pick dandelions for them, do they only eat certain parts? Should I tear them up, or just drop the whole plant in?
• what could I do differently next time? I was initially using puppy training pads for footing, but switched to large kiln dried pine shavings when I moved these three into the bigger been at about four weeks of age. I would have had to do this much sooner with a bunch more birds though. Should I have change the bedding sooner? Later?
• how much space do growing keets need? I kind of hate to keep these three in a small space, I can’t imagine having a dozen. How large of a space do you generally have for your very young birds?
• if I do get more (I want to, three doesn’t seem like enough and I worry about what would happen if a single bird was left on its own), how could I go about integrating them? At what age would that be appropriate?
• what suggestions do you have for making the stall as enriching and species appropriate as possible? I’m going to put actual branches up at various heights for roosting. What would you suggest I put on the floor? I imagine it will get quite stinky and gross in there if it’s not reasonably easy to clean. What might they like for laying once they’re old enough?
I’m sorry this is so long. I did a ton of research to try to do best by the birds, and I’m really devastated with how things have gone. If there is anyone willing to answer even some of these questions, I would be extremely appreciative.
Sorry, this is going to be a long post. I just want to explain everything that’s happened and where I’m at with my birds.
I purchased 15 fancy guinea fowl keets who hatched on July 19. I put them on a game bird starter crumble, put them in a brooder at 95°, put down footing that they could not eat and was not slippery, had water they could not fall into, and sincerely thought I had an excellent start for them. Starting when they were eight days old, they began to die. Long story short, I only have three left.
I think they may have caught some sort of disease. I’ve never raised foul before, so I don’t know what is normal. There were lots of pasty butts, and I would clean them every day. I thought it was just a combination of stress from shipping and simply being kind of gross little creatures Lol. When it didn’t clear up and they started to die, that obviously changed.
The first two birds that died were really failing to thrive, so I was disappointed but not surprised to find them dead. Then it started happening to other birds that seemed fine. They would start to act subdued and not quite right and usually die within six hours, but sometimes stayed alive for several days.
I unfortunately was unable to find an antibiotic that could be given in small enough dosages for these guys, and nothing avian specific. I added probiotics and electrolytes to their water. I tried to give extra support to any that I noticed were off, but I don’t know how to force feed and didn’t want to aspirate them.
I was so looking forward to starting a flock, and that was absolutely miserable to go through and I feel like a horrible person.
The remaining three are doing excellent, but now I’m not sure where to go from here.
I have them in a 110 gallon water trough as their step up Bruder to give them a bit more space. Once they are old enough, they’re going to go in a stall in the barn. We’ve put up a ton of chicken wire to hopefully keep the birds in and predators out.
So, my questions:
• at what age can I start letting them out to free range? 12 weeks? And with just three birds, how would you recommend I go about it? I was probably going to start by letting just one out, letting it explore for a bit, and then hurting it back inside. How long can I do that before letting two or all three of them out?
• if it turns out I have two cocks and one hen, am I going to have aggression issues? Are they like chickens in that respect? If it’s all cocks or all hens, will they still stick together?
• at what age can I start feeding treats? I gave these guys cucumber that I chopped into super tiny pieces about a week ago, and I recently started bringing them handfuls of grass. If it’s warm enough, I stick them outside in a dog crate with no bottom while I clean out their Bruder so they can experience the outdoors and nibble on the grass. Since I would like to train them to come back to their stall in the barn at night, I want to reinforce them with lots of treats to make me and their stall a good thing.
Can I start giving small amounts of treats at an earlier age? I want to pick dandelions for them, do they only eat certain parts? Should I tear them up, or just drop the whole plant in?
• what could I do differently next time? I was initially using puppy training pads for footing, but switched to large kiln dried pine shavings when I moved these three into the bigger been at about four weeks of age. I would have had to do this much sooner with a bunch more birds though. Should I have change the bedding sooner? Later?
• how much space do growing keets need? I kind of hate to keep these three in a small space, I can’t imagine having a dozen. How large of a space do you generally have for your very young birds?
• if I do get more (I want to, three doesn’t seem like enough and I worry about what would happen if a single bird was left on its own), how could I go about integrating them? At what age would that be appropriate?
• what suggestions do you have for making the stall as enriching and species appropriate as possible? I’m going to put actual branches up at various heights for roosting. What would you suggest I put on the floor? I imagine it will get quite stinky and gross in there if it’s not reasonably easy to clean. What might they like for laying once they’re old enough?
I’m sorry this is so long. I did a ton of research to try to do best by the birds, and I’m really devastated with how things have gone. If there is anyone willing to answer even some of these questions, I would be extremely appreciative.
