How do you feed your guineas when they are part of a mixed flock?

[Kilsharion]

Kilsharion, I have never been to Montopolis Supply but I'll have to check it out! I recently broke down and bought some poultry wire at the Home Depot because I didn't know where else to get it. I build almost entirely out of salvaged material that I've scavenged out of the trash. (Heavy trash pick-up is a great way to find lumber and plywood.) I have some info about my salvaged coops on my blog here and here. I find lots of other cool stuff in the trash, too! But wire mesh is hard to come by in the trash. When I find it it is usually in terrible shape and not worth the trouble. I'm keeping your rabbit hutch design in mind for the future...

My guineas are two weeks old now and doing great! They are such nervous, tricky little birds. This week one of them started hopping out of the guinea brooder and jumping into the duck/chick brooder! I covered the top of the brooder to prevent this but it still managed to escape from the little corner I had left uncovered because that is where the heat lamp is positioned. I can already see that the guineas really feel a need to perch. I'm going to have to scramble to finish their permanent, outdoor coop because I think they're going to need it here in 2-4 weeks. At what age have y'all moved your guineas outside? The temperatures will be quite mild here at that time.

I <3 reclaiming and recycling. Great job, IMO. And, yeah - Montopolis was a total find for us because, like you, we haven't been able to find decent wire and it's hella expensive at the hardware and feed stores.

Ok - so...don't yell at me, Peeps....

I moved my mixed brooder crew outside last week. We do have the big coop wired for being able to put in a heat light when necessary, so it wasn't that bad....but, um...my 'big' keets were five (?) weeks old....but, my new ones were only one week old **runs and hides behind something**

The 'big' keets have been playing "broody" to the little guys. Letting the crawl under their wings, teaching them how to roost, etc. My chicks were roosting long before I have ever had them roost before, and I'm guessing it's because of the keets. Anyway - if you have two more weeks before the outside coop is ready, they should be fine. I put my chicks out at four weeks, and keets feather in faster and are more hardy (it seems) after the initial "oh my gawd, don't sneeze and kill it" phase. Or, I could just get numb to the paranoia and figure they are more hardy

 

[makingshift]

Quote:

Yes, we are out of that phase EXCEPT for the two baby mallards I picked up at Ideal yesterday!! I don't know if I mentioned that our bird order from two weeks ago included a dead mallard, which was to be my daughter's special pet. So I had to drive all the way to Cameron in the rain and pick up two mallards yesterday. I must be crazy. But the ducklings are so, so cute.

I better get moving on that guinea coop! Ack!

 

[Kilsharion]

Yes, we are out of that phase EXCEPT for the two baby mallards I picked up at Ideal yesterday!! I don't know if I mentioned that our bird order from two weeks ago included a dead mallard, which was to be my daughter's special pet. So I had to drive all the way to Cameron in the rain and pick up two mallards yesterday. I must be crazy. But the ducklings are so, so cute.

I better get moving on that guinea coop! Ack!

I've made that drive.

 

[makingshift]

I've made that drive.

I'm glad I'm not alone. I didn't mention I had my 5-year old and 3-year old in the car with me. Whew. Glad that is over!

 

[Kilsharion]

I'm glad I'm not alone. I didn't mention I had my 5-year old and 3-year old in the car with me. Whew. Glad that is over!

Yeah, I've left those days far behind....my youngest is 22.

 

[chickensrcool2]

Only because of availability at the time, we got our chicks and keets about 2 months apart so each had their recommended starter feed. But once they were all together, we opted for chicken lay mash. We were told that while guineas ideally need higher protein feed, they can do OK with less protein, while chickens, should not get high protein feed as it presents nutrition/health problems. So all birds get chicken feed. But all get lots of greens, millet, sunflower seeds during the winter from us, and in season, the they get lots of grass and bugs, too.

 

[PeepsCA]

Only because of availability at the time, we got our chicks and keets about 2 months apart so each had their recommended starter feed. But once they were all together, we opted for chicken lay mash. We were told that while guineas ideally need higher protein feed, they can do OK with less protein, while chickens, should not get high protein feed as it presents nutrition/health problems. So all birds get chicken feed. But all get lots of greens, millet, sunflower seeds during the winter from us, and in season, the they get lots of grass and bugs, too.

How old were your keets when you put them on the layer mash?

 

[Kilsharion]

Only because of availability at the time, we got our chicks and keets about 2 months apart so each had their recommended starter feed. But once they were all together, we opted for chicken lay mash. We were told that while guineas ideally need higher protein feed, they can do OK with less protein, while chickens, should not get high protein feed as it presents nutrition/health problems. So all birds get chicken feed. But all get lots of greens, millet, sunflower seeds during the winter from us, and in season, the they get lots of grass and bugs, too.

Chickens can do fine for a short term period of higher protein. It is only when it's a significantly high percentage that the short term excess proteins would cause long term problems. Realistically, what feeding higher proteins to chickens will do is shorten their life, it will not kill them immediately. And, that shortening of life will only occur if the excess proteins are present for a significant period of time. Four - six months while they grow enough (both sets of birds) to be put on a lower protein ration is not enough to cause a significantly early death unless you unknowingly have a poor health bird already.

Putting them on a "meet in the middle" protein amount of ~25-27% during the duration of their "starter/grower" cycle is not detrimental to their health. Unless they are meaties and you're experiencing too fast a growth - which can happen. For "regular" birds, though, high proteins are not necessarily a bad thing so long as they are properly balanced with the correct amino acids and other nutrients (like niacin, manganese, biotin, etc).

It's lower than the 30% that Peeps recommends; but, it's higher than the 19-20% of most starter/growers. And, if you add in probiotics (brewer's yeast, yogurt, ferment the feed, whatever), it helps pull every last bit of the nutrients out and into their systems.

And, layer feed....I looked at some the other day that was (not kidding) only 14% protein. That's too low, even for your full grown, egg laying chicken. And, significantly low for chicks...Their nutrient requirements are quite a bit higher than is necessary for full grown birds (except for the calcium).

When you say "lots of greens" what do you mean? If you are talking raw greens, be sure to check the phytic and oxalic acid levels and adjust your feeding accordingly. There are many greens that block calcium and iron absorption so you want to feed them in moderation (or ferment them).

 

[chickensrcool2]

Keets were approximately 2 months old. It occurred simultaneously with putting them together with the pullets who were 8 weeks older. We also mixed some of the layer mash in with the keet's starter to get them accustomed to it prior to giving them 100% layer mash.

 

[chickensrcool2]

Didn't know anything about greens and the phytic and oxalic acid. Will have to search that. I bring out leaves of leaf lettuce mostly, also some kale or chard. In winter some broccoli or cabbage sometimes. I do this first thing in the morning and a little in the evening. When they free range they eat all the grass and weeds they want for greens. (chickens haven't free-ranged since last fall when a dog killed 7/12 of them. We will do it again once our new pullets are a little older and we let them all out together).