New babies hatching

[wskline]

Mom guineas having been laying on eggs and they are now hatching. My dilemma, do I leave them in there or do I take out and put in brooder? If I leave them with mom, do I need to put chick food in for them?

 

[wskline]

Decided to just take babies from mommas. There is still pile of eggs moms are laying on so I'm sure there will be lots more.

 

[red horse ranch]

I have found that the guineas will keep setting even when the keets need to get out and eat and drink. I found a dead keet next to my brood hens last week and I think it just hatched long before the others and starved to death. I left the two hens with one keet that had hatched and put the remaining eggs in the incubator. The two moms are doing a very good job with their shared keet. I will let them keep the keet for another week or so and then it will join the others that have hatched in the incubator. They will all go to the big brooder together.

I think you did the right thing by taking the keets.

 

[wskline]

Thank you red horse ranch. I took 2 more keets yesterday. They are under the Moms and not even walking around. I told my husband, they need to eat and drink so think best to get out of there and in brooder. Plus, I was afraid of Moms suffocating them. There is 3 Moms laying on eggs right up against each other. I'm amazed how healthy and strong these keets are from the ones I incubator earlier in year.

 

[wskline]

Red horse ranch, you were so right about taking them out. I had 6 in brooder and when I got home and checked on mommas I saw shells so I was trying to decide if I should just let them with mommas. Until I found one suffocated. That broke my heart so I decided all babies come out. So now I have 14 babies in brooder.

 

[red horse ranch]

Congratulations on your 14! No matter how many keets we get it's still hard to lose even one.

The eggs I removed from my hens are still hatching in the incubator. And the 1st ones are a week old. So I know they would never had survived if waiting for the hens to leave the nest. I can't help but feel bad for the hens when I take their babies. But sometimes you just have to use tough love!

 

[MTerry]

I just found my female who has been sitting for close to 4 weeks. I hated to do it but I took her eggs, now I have 17 eggs in the incubator. I am concerned about it being later in the year, and the fact that it's been 2 years since I hatched my first and last batches

I did candle the eggs, they are dark with air cells, so we'll see. We do have coyotes around here and I have been very worried about her.

 

[wskline]

I have 25 keets now that I took from Mommas and are in house in brooder. Lost 2nd one to Mommas suffocating. There is still maybe 15 eggs Mommas are laying on. I hate taking these babies from them but already seen 2 die from being suffocated.