CARE OF NEWBORN GUINEA KEETS

[DeAnzaJig]

Your post was very concise and helpful. Thanks.

 

[prepperchickens]

I've found keets to be tons less stressful to raise than chicks. They are so hardy and vivacious. But they will do dumb things like eat their pine shavings more than chicks would, they're like little goofy puppy dogs. Don't use pine shavings at first and when you start, make sure they have grit. Make sure they have grit anyway, you never know what they might be eating (my keet tried to eat the stuffed animal I put in there). Do like you would for chicks except pay even closer attention to temps, guineas are even more sensitive to cold I hear. Dip their beaks to show them water, I find that helps. They need more protein than chicks, I feed mine medicated chick starter (mainly because the feed store sent us home with the wrong game bird food and it's too late to return it) because my keet is in with two sebright chicks but I supplement with lots of protein rich food like crushed up mealworms and egg occasionally, with grit of course.
Hold your keets if you want pets. Teach them you are the hookup for treats AND fun from a young age and they will be more like pet dogs than your chickens, my guineas fly into my shoulder and play tag with me, they worship me and we are very close. My little week old keet talks to me, I can make his little honk sound and he will make it back, he begs to be held. I love guineas so much!

 

[quietmaninwv]

Lots of great info our keets are a few weeks old now and we were going to switch them to a grower feed but we were not sure what type to get, we are already adding scratch grains to the chick starter

 

[bbelflower]

HELP!!!! Ok my guinea hens have FINALLY hatched 3 of her 30 eggs. Am I suppose to take them away from her now that they've hatched and are all fuzzy and dry OR does she keep them and feed them???

 

[MakeshiftAcre]

I have no experience with this, but have read that guineas are poor mothers. If they were mine, I would take them away from her and brood them myself.

 

[bbelflower]

I just 'rescued' them and put the watered with the pebbles to prevent drowning and dipped their beaks into it for a 'taste' of warm water. Moma was MAD!!! Severe attack mode the entire time!!!

 

[MakeshiftAcre]

I imagine! Good luck with the keets!

 

[bbelflower]

Thank you! We are up to 7! They are doing well eating and drinking.

 

[prepperchickens]

I have no experience with this, but have read that guineas are poor mothers. If they were mine, I would take them away from her and brood them myself.

Oddly, my guinea hen is the only one of my still juvenille females who seems to have any motherly instinct. My chickens peck the chicks I've recently added to our flock, and other than that largely ignore them. My guinea, Ducky, seems very aware that they are babies and need to be protected/treated gently with love. She let's them have her worms, she never steals treats from them, she stays close to them and sleeps right up against the little hardware cloth pen I made them for daytime to be among the older birds. Guineas are naive and curious so imagine they don't do a great job avoiding risks with their chicks, I think they're probably great moms in their natural habitat but in among chickens and an unnatural terrain maybe not but it's not for any shortage of love or nurturing from what I see from Ducky. She's a wonderful babysitter.

 

[hyelaw]

Don't use pine shavings at first and when you start, make sure they have grit. Make sure they have grit anyway, you never know what they might be eating

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?