Guinea Keets Coming Soon...Have Arrived!

[DeAnzaJig]

Hello Group!

I am very excited! I have 18 Guinea Keets (and 12 various chicks) scheduled to arrive next week.

This is my first time raising any type of fowl, but I have done extensive reading on this wonderful website and other GF sources. I have had guineas in my head for many years and finally am in the right spot. My main reason for acquiring them is tick control.

This is a picture of my brooder. The base is a children's pool we don't use any more. My dad built the frame from scraps of wood he had laying around and some extra chicken wire. It is removeable so I can take everyone outside for grass and fresh air when they get a little bigger. I plan on keeping it in my parlor until I can move them to their as of yet still unfinished coop.

Today I am going to get the heat lamp set up and test the temps.

Do you just leave the thermometer in the brooder the whole time, even when the Keets arrive?

Thanks!

 

[DeAnzaJig]

I felt my Keets were sleeping better without it because they started sleeping through the night after I turned it off. Around 8 pm it would begin to turn to dusk and the Keets would all start to roost. In the morning, they would still be roosting around 8 am, and only start to get up when I went over to feed them. Prior to shutting the light off they would make noise all night long.

They were 5 weeks old when I turned it off, still living in the brooder in my house where we don't have AC or any type of fan in the room they were in, and the temps were high. They continued to eat, drink, and eliminate as before, made the same amount of noise, and weren't showing any signs of discomfort. So I figured they were doing fine.

Thank you for the coop compliment!

i think they are really happy in the coop. They are making a lot of buckwheat noise during the day and I see them moving around through the big front screen. I went out late (8 pm) to change their water, visit, drop off some treats, and top off their water, and they were all roosting on the highest bar! They didn't want to come down to eat, so I think I was disturbing their bedtime.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Today is the big day! The guineas' door was opened and they were free to explore their training yard!

I have to admit I opened the door last night, about 1.5 hrs before sunset and gave them a preview. After 15 minutes 8 of them and Big Fat Chick were in the yard. When it was getting dark, I went into the coop and got out the millet. BFC and 3 guineas came in the door and the other three stayed out. After about 10 minutes, I went into the yard and told them to go to bed. 1 GF jumped into the coop, but I had to pick up the other 2 and send them through the door before latching it for the night. Success!

So far the guineas have been in and out. Eating grass and hopefully bugs. Right now there is a group of 8 outside. They continue to make a lot of noise.

I plan to keep the training yard up for a week and then set them free on the rest of the property during the day.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

I was so excited last night!

The birds had been out in the training yard all day and we had to leave for a birthday party at 3 pm. I had been wondering if the birds would be in the coop when we got home at 8 pm....and they were! I went out to shut the bird door and everyone was roosting away.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Today was the day I have been looking forward to ever since I realized I was finally at the right place in my life to get guineas...about a year ago.

My guineas were going to begin free ranging!

This morning a little before 7 am I went down to open the guinea door and change the water. First out the door was the Big Fat Chick and then one by one each of the 13 guineas appeared. They formed their flock and immediately began exploring the yard. They buck-wheated, they picked at grass, they picked at bugs, and they had a grand time.

I was lucky enough to have 2 free hours this morning where I just sat in my lawn chair and watched them move around. It was very satisfying.

The kids and I went out and called them over to us and fed them some millet. They aren't jumping up on our shoulders or wanting to be petted, but they come around us, and that felt like a small success.

I was in and out all day, but saw them take a trip back in the coop for a little bit.

The sky was overcast and it began to rain in the late afternoon. I expected them to head back into the coop, but they stayed outside and hung around under the leafy bushes near the coop. As soon as the rain let up they were pecking away in the yard.

I was so curious to see what would happen when it got dark.

As I was putting the kids to bed, I heard them march around the house squawking and when I looked out they were heading towards the coop. Big Fat Chick led the way and one by one more than half hopped up inside. I watched for about 10 more minutes while the rest went around to the other side of the coop and hung out. Two even flew up and perched on the edge of the coop roof.

I decided to head down and break out the millet to get the rest inside. First I reached up and got the 2 perchers off their roost. In hind sight I wish I had just left them and tried to call them in with millet. Next I marched them around to the guinea door and told them to go to bed...and three of them jumped in! With only three left I went into the coop and broke out the millet. Pretty soon the last three stragglers hopped in! I fed them millet, left the coop, and shut the guinea door for the night!

 

[red horse ranch]

Have enjoyed reading all your posts on the guineas, I too am interested in getting some guineas, however not sure 15 is what I want "thats the minimum you can buy from hatcheries". I would love to have half a dozen, how do they do around predators such as birds of prey and coyotes. Will they roost in the trees at night if you let them? Thanks and keep up the great posts!

It's true that 15 to 30 is the minimum number of guineas you can buy from hatcheries. Guinea keets are very tiny and it takes that many for them to keep warm during shipment. Even then a few of them may not survive. A better option is to buy them locally. Most people who have guineas will soon have more than they need. Since I have 8 female guineas I usually have more than 100 babies a year to sell. I usually like to sell a minimum of 5 or 6. I also will sell them as fully feathered young birds which is a better option for those who don't want to fool with heat lamps. No, I am not saying this to advertise. But it should be fairly easy to find guineas in your area during the summer hatching months.

As for predators, we have a lot of them in our area including eagles and coyotes. I have only lost one male over the years that I assume a predator has gotten. My birds are ALWAYS enclosed in their coop at night. They should never be allowed to roost in trees at night. It's just an invitation to owls and coons to come get an easy supper. Guineas are pretty much blind at night. Thru the day the guineas are always watching for predators and will sound very loud warnings when something unusual is in the area. That's one reason that larger groups are better. I have watched as a group of my guineas have chased off a fox. Two or three birds by themselves may not be as lucky.

I hope you are able to find some guineas. They are such interesting characters to have around.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Thank you for the inquiry, SunHwaKwon ! I know I have been remiss in updating, but non-guinea fowl life has been busy and the guineas have, but for two incidents, been well-behaved. In fact, I even took some pics of the guineas on Christmas Eve Day to post on here, but never got around to it.

Lucky for the guineas, we had a very green Christmas this year, and unseasonably mild winter so far. I found them outside our house pecking through the flower borders that I had torn up earlier in the year on Christmas Eve Day.





The guineas are now 7 months old. I have twelve and think that 3-4 are males and the rest are females based on observations of how they carry themselves.

I am feeding them Game Bird pellets, which leave less crumbs than the crumbles did.

Since the weather has been so mild, the guineas continue to free range. They have expanded their range territory to include the yards of neighbors several houses down our street. I live in a semi-rural area, so the houses are fairly spread out. Knock on wood, no one has come to complain. I even saw them joining a neighbor's free range chicken flock! I usually find them when I go out for my afternoon walk, and then we form a parade as we head back to my house, where they get treated to millet.

Despite hitting freezing temps at night, my heat taped water bucket has kept their water free from ice. The bucket has a top on it that keeps out all the dust, etc., so the water stays clean. I top it off every 4-5 days when I top off their feed bucket. The only other winterizing I did was to close the two windows in the co-op.

When there is snow on the ground, the guineas don't seem fazed by it. Initially, when it first arrived, they were hesitant to come out of the coop for a few minutes, but once outside seemed fine. It's funny seeing all the guinea prints around the yard!

The first incident happened at the beginning of December. I went to lock up the guineas for the night and noticed that one was missing. Being winter, it was pitch dark at 6 pm, so I got a flashlight and looked in the trees and around the property and called for the guinea, but nothing. The next day I drove down the roads to see if someone had hit it, but didn't find any body. I was also concerned that possibly some animal had snuck into the coop between the time the sun went down and I got outside to shut the door, but that didn't seem possible, since we have a motion light.

The next day, I went into the coop to do something while the flock of guineas was out in the yard, and was shocked to see my missing guinea in the coop! I was relieved to find it, but noticed it was acting funny. It just seemed to be a little off. To this day, it still trails behind the flock, several guinea steps behind and just seems kind of slow. The other guineas don't pick on it, but it just seems a little off. I have wondered if some kind of animal had gotten a hold of it, or if someone had hit it with a car and stunned it.

The second incident was worse. It was the middle of December. The day started off normally, but in the afternoon snow flurries began. The snow was swirling around and started to accumulate. This was the most snow we had gotten to that point, and it had continued into the evening. When I went out to shut the coop door, there were no guineas! It was cold, lightly snowing, and I was worried! I checked the trees around the coop and the property and no birds. So I changed into more heavy duty clothing, got a flashlight, and started walking down the road past all the neighbors houses. I found them next door, roosting in a few pine trees! The house next door is pending sale, so no one lives there yet. I flashed my light at the birds, tried calling them, tried bribing them with millet...nothing! I turned to go, and noticed that Slow (my guinea from the first incident) was sitting on the ground near the porch lattice. So I picked Slow up, and brought her back to the coop. I figured she had a better chance in there than as a tasty treat for some animal.

I felt so bad that night. All I could picture was an owl feasting on the birds. The next day, the silly birds were back and I was happy. I am convinced they got confused by the snow flurries and couldn't find their way home.

Since the ground is covered with snow, the guineas seem to fly more often. Twice I have observed the flock fly across the yard to get to the coop. It's really neat to be able to see them when they are flying.

 

[red horse ranch]

It looks like you will have a pretty good set up. I'm glad to see that you have cardboard around the edges since guinea keets can easily get thru chicken wire the first week or two. What type of bedding have you planned on? Pine chips will work okay once they are a few weeks old but you should have it covered in the beginning to keep the newborns from eating it instead of their food. I use old towels since they need to be on a surface that is not slick. Another suggestion is to have half of the circle covered (top and sides) to hold in the heat and prevent any drafts from the window above them.
Some people use a brooder thermometer to constantly monitor the temperature but I don't. Once the brooder is warmed up I use the babies themselves to let me know if they are too hot or too cold. They will huddle together if chilled and get away from the light if it is too hot.
I hope your little ones arrive safely and healthy. And that you have many years of enjoyment from them. Keep us posted and feel free to ask questions. There's usually someone on the forum here that can help.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Thank you for the nice post, red horse!

I got the call this morning to pick them up at the post office. When we got home, I dipped their beaks in the water and spread some additional crumbles around. I lined the floor with paper towels and will wait on the pine chips.

They are so cute! The majority are pearls, but we have one white keet ( my daughter named it Snow White), and a brown/white one. They are so soft and their peeps are sweet. I love how they sleep in a pile with their legs stretched out.

Can you pick them up too much? My daughter has me picking them up for her to pet one at a time. She really likes their toes.

They are hard to take pictures of in the brooder.

 

[red horse ranch]

Congratulations on your new babies!

I'm so glad they arrived safely for you. They are adorable.

I don't think you can pick them up too much. If you want them to be tamed that's what you need to do. Enjoy!