What would we do without??

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
LOL.... welcome to the world of Guinea Fowl. They do settle down as adults. I used to go into the coop and sit and talk a bit till they calm down. rounding up doesnt work you have to coax them in with food. By the time the Keets are two weeks old they can fly a good six feet to get away from you. I have seen some handled quite a bit become tame enough to be able to pick them up... But it takes daily handling sometimes several times per day.

Have you put a mirror in the brooder yet? OMG they love love love their mirrors.

deb

 

[11squawkers]

I agree with Deb, they will calm down the older they get, and will calm down to you the more exposure they have to you. It took a long time to get my guineas used to me to be settled enough for me to handle them, but since I do have the time to spend with them and have handled them on a daily basis most of mine let me pick them up and with the help of my dog we can round them up and herd them back to the coop from across our 3 acre yard. Keep handling them as you are, they will just have to get used to it
Yes mine would sound like I was trying to slaughter them when they were young when I would try to pet them or pick them up and would dart across the brooder running into the wall trying to get away spooking everyone else and madness would ensue, so yep guineas are fun. It does get better! And as Deb mentioned mirrors are a must! Silly, silly birds

 

[Sylviaanne]

LOL.... welcome to the world of Guinea Fowl. They do settle down as adults. I used to go into the coop and sit and talk a bit till they calm down. rounding up doesnt work you have to coax them in with food. By the time the Keets are two weeks old they can fly a good six feet to get away from you. I have seen some handled quite a bit become tame enough to be able to pick them up... But it takes daily handling sometimes several times per day.

Have you put a mirror in the brooder yet? OMG they love love love their mirrors.

deb

No, but my daughter has a broken mirror in her room. I can tape up the edges and put it in with them. Hmm, they are pretty self centered? LOL

 

[Sylviaanne]

I agree with Deb, they will calm down the older they get, and will calm down to you the more exposure they have to you. It took a long time to get my guineas used to me to be settled enough for me to handle them, but since I do have the time to spend with them and have handled them on a daily basis most of mine let me pick them up and with the help of my dog we can round them up and herd them back to the coop from across our 3 acre yard. Keep handling them as you are, they will just have to get used to it

Yes mine would sound like I was trying to slaughter them when they were young when I would try to pet them or pick them up and would dart across the brooder running into the wall trying to get away spooking everyone else and madness would ensue, so yep guineas are fun. It does get better! And as Deb mentioned mirrors are a must! Silly, silly birds

I had an 8 week old chick out in the coop that wasn't acting right and I thought she might have been too hot. I brought her in and put her in with them. She has been VERY calm since I brought her in and the keets and chicks they are with have calmed down considerably. They are quiet until I put my hand in to get their feeders and water dish. The chicks have calmed down more than the keets and don't run like they used to before I put "Big Sis" in with them. I don't know for sure she's a she but I think so. LOL

 

[City farm]

Hi Peeples.... What would I do without?   Or rather what would I could not live without....  My neighbor Tom and Friends on BYC. 

I am deb and live in San diego County.   Right now I am displaced from my home because I am living with my 98 year old Grandmother.

My home is Sixty miles east in a nub of the Sonoran Desert and still in San Diego county.    Its 2 miles from the mexican border and 1.5 miles from paved road.  18 acres of heaven.  High desert at 3000 feet I get about 2-3 days of snow for the whole year.  WE got 3 inches of precipitation last year.  normally its around10.

Right now I have no livestock except my horse.  But up till last year I had about ten Guineas and about 30 chickens three goats and my horse. 

I just finished my new poultry house design and hope to build it up in the fall when it cools down.  I dont get the xtreme temps of Arizona places but its in the hundreds with spikes of 105 and 110 during the summer. 

My neighbor Tom keeps an eye on the place and calls the border patrol if needed. 

For what its worth I am planning on having Guineas be my main focus on the next go round.  Which is what was supposed to happen on the last....    Alot of ranches use them for bug patrol and they tend to drive off or kill rattlesnakes.  And OH MY GAWD funny to watch.  Some people keep gees for burglar patrol....  Mine did an excellent job on Peeple patrol.  I have seen my previous flock of seven escort a Coyote off the property screaming and charging at hijm...  He kept looking back as if to say.... "This ain't right"

 
The trick to keeping them home.   Get them conditioned to come INTO the coop at night.  They need at least a flock of five but the more the merrier.  Spring is the time that they might wander so be dilligent to not let them out to free range till everyone has laid their eggs.  If a Hen decides to go walk about to lay in the bush her Cock will stay with her or at least close to her to protect her.   If there are any bachelors in the flock you may find that one or two of them have taken up guard duty as well.

Guineas pair off in the spring.  You will notice before hand that this is going on.  The boys will form silly chasing behaviors....  Wings held up higher heads low and if they catch who ever they are chasing feathers get pulled.  Some times you will see two three chasing in a line.... Serpentining throughout the "demonstration" area.    With first year Guineas this will be an exceptional display.  Once they pair off egg laying will commence in ernest.  here we start getting Guinea eggs in February.  Places with cooler climates may not get eggs till April or May. 

Condition your whole flock to a call like a bell or a horn or a whistle or eve you hollering....  At bed time Everyone gets a treat.  This will also get your chickens in at night....  I holler Treat TReat Treat and scatter some chicken Crak ....  um er Scratch.... once everyone is in the run I shut the gate.  With the guineas I use White millet.... (same stuff you feed Parakeets).

If you keep them all in the same coop make a place that only the Guineas can roost....  at least six feet up is good higher is better.  There may be one or two chickens that can join them but usually they get chased off before everyone settles to roost.

For those living in the City....  sorry to say Guineas will not be for you....  With my last ten The Decibal level would reach super sonic proportions to the point where I would not be able to have a conversation with someone. 

But this time around I hope to Raise up jumbos and cross them with the fancier colors so that I can have hatching eggs to sell as well as meat for the table.  Jumbos run around 30 percent larger than regulars. 

Anyhoo... Hi everyone

deb

Great information..
Do you have photos of your coop?... Please keep us posted on you breeding

 

[City farm]

 


But this time around I hope to Raise up jumbos and cross them with the fancier colors so that I can have hatching eggs to sell as well as meat for the table.  Jumbos run around 30 percent larger than regulars. 

Anyhoo... Hi everyone

deb

Where do you get jumbos? I didn't know to watch for mating behaviors in guineas and I had 9 hatch out of 12 that went into lockdown. I don't know if I should try to incubate more or not, especially this year.

When it's time to go in, we have a Pekin duck that quacks very loudly and we go out of the house and call her and start quacking. I yell for them, Come on! Come on! Some times I call them kids, Come on kids! LOL That's what I call my dogs when I want all of them to come. Anyways, all the adult ducks and chickens come and if they are already roosted on the porch, my husband pushes them off and they follow to the run. Usually, I will put food out and they don't want to miss their share so come running.

It is funny to think of what our neighbors think, when I am talking to the chickens & duck.. "let's go for a swim" or, stop don't do that" funny..

I don't know what's would do with out our incubator.. Mostly we let the girls hatch.. But now it is not the right season to be on eggs.. This girl decided to follow her sisters late in the year..

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
current coop is semi disassembled.... here is the layout of the reassembly which also has it moved to a new location. The water line I want to put in to serve the horse will go right by or through this new coop/poultry house location.

floorplan The guinea portion is ELL shaped but can be divided if needed. And YES I am dreaming that I will ever get guineas to lay in a nest. Thank goodness those eggs stand up to soccer practice....

The east wall is along the short guinea portion and the counter and feed bins will be a solid wall. The South wall is along the full length of the guineas will be either solid or a half wall.

Kind of a 3D version.


deb

 

[Sylviaanne]

Oh, I have an anecdote worse than that. One time we got an adult dog from rescue. About 5-6 minutes ago if someone had asked me his name I could have told you but it's gone now. Anyways, it was a kind of embarrassing name like, Honeyboy or Handsome Hunk some dumb name like that. We hadn't had him long and we lived in a trailer park. Can you see where I am going with this? LOL

Anyways, he got out and we went searching for him. We had new neighbors that we didn't know and the dog ran under their trailer. I can just imagine what the woman in there though as I kept calling out the dogs name. LOL The man came out and I explained what was going on and he asked that we be quiet cause they were trying to sleep. I was glad it was dark so he couldn't see how red my face was.

 

[City farm]

Oh, I have an anecdote worse than that. One time we got an adult dog from rescue. About 5-6 minutes ago if someone had asked me his name I could have told you but it's gone now. Anyways, it was a kind of embarrassing name like, Honeyboy or Handsome Hunk some dumb name like that. We hadn't had him long and we lived in a trailer park. Can you see where I am going with this? LOL

Anyways, he got out and we went searching for him. We had new neighbors that we didn't know and the dog ran under their trailer. I can just imagine what the woman in there though as I kept calling out the dogs name. LOL The man came out and I explained what was going on and he asked that we be quiet cause they were trying to sleep. I was glad it was dark so he couldn't see how red my face was.

We had the same thing happen to us.. We rescued a mangy tiny German Shepard.. She looked like a coyote.. So I was like " let's name her coyote" DH said, "what if she gets loose and we have to go out looking for her opin the neighborhood?" yeah that would be great the neighbors would be out grabbing all their cats..

 

[City farm]

Hi Peeples.... What would I do without? Or rather what would I could not live without.... My neighbor Tom and Friends on BYC. I am deb and live in San diego County. Right now I am displaced from my home because I am living with my 98 year old Grandmother. My home is Sixty miles east in a nub of the Sonoran Desert and still in San Diego county. Its 2 miles from the mexican border and 1.5 miles from paved road. 18 acres of heaven. High desert at 3000 feet I get about 2-3 days of snow for the whole year. WE got 3 inches of precipitation last year. normally its around10. Right now I have no livestock except my horse. But up till last year I had about ten Guineas and about 30 chickens three goats and my horse. I just finished my new poultry house design and hope to build it up in the fall when it cools down. I dont get the xtreme temps of Arizona places but its in the hundreds with spikes of 105 and 110 during the summer. My neighbor Tom keeps an eye on the place and calls the border patrol if needed. For what its worth I am planning on having Guineas be my main focus on the next go round. Which is what was supposed to happen on the last.... Alot of ranches use them for bug patrol and they tend to drive off or kill rattlesnakes. And OH MY GAWD funny to watch. Some people keep gees for burglar patrol.... Mine did an excellent job on Peeple patrol. I have seen my previous flock of seven escort a Coyote off the property screaming and charging at hijm... He kept looking back as if to say.... "This ain't right" The trick to keeping them home. Get them conditioned to come INTO the coop at night. They need at least a flock of five but the more the merrier. Spring is the time that they might wander so be dilligent to not let them out to free range till everyone has laid their eggs. If a Hen decides to go walk about to lay in the bush her Cock will stay with her or at least close to her to protect her. If there are any bachelors in the flock you may find that one or two of them have taken up guard duty as well. Guineas pair off in the spring. You will notice before hand that this is going on. The boys will form silly chasing behaviors.... Wings held up higher heads low and if they catch who ever they are chasing feathers get pulled. Some times you will see two three chasing in a line.... Serpentining throughout the "demonstration" area. With first year Guineas this will be an exceptional display. Once they pair off egg laying will commence in ernest. here we start getting Guinea eggs in February. Places with cooler climates may not get eggs till April or May. Condition your whole flock to a call like a bell or a horn or a whistle or eve you hollering.... At bed time Everyone gets a treat. This will also get your chickens in at night.... I holler Treat TReat Treat and scatter some chicken Crak .... um er Scratch.... once everyone is in the run I shut the gate. With the guineas I use White millet.... (same stuff you feed Parakeets). If you keep them all in the same coop make a place that only the Guineas can roost.... at least six feet up is good higher is better. There may be one or two chickens that can join them but usually they get chased off before everyone settles to roost. For those living in the City.... sorry to say Guineas will not be for you.... With my last ten The Decibal level would reach super sonic proportions to the point where I would not be able to have a conversation with someone. But this time around I hope to Raise up jumbos and cross them with the fancier colors so that I can have hatching eggs to sell as well as meat for the table. Jumbos run around 30 percent larger than regulars. Anyhoo... Hi everyone deb

Great information.. Do you have photos of your coop?... Please keep us posted on you breeding

current coop is semi disassembled.... here is the layout of the reassembly which also has it moved to a new location. The water line I want to put in to serve the horse will go right by or through this new coop/poultry house location. floorplan The guinea portion is ELL shaped but can be divided if needed. And YES I am dreaming that I will ever get guineas to lay in a nest. Thank goodness those eggs stand up to soccer practice.... The east wall is along the short guinea portion and the counter and feed bins will be a solid wall. The South wall is along the full length of the guineas will be either solid or a half wall. Kind of a 3D version. deb

How cool..