A couple questions about my guineas

[Lothiriel]

First off, I have to say that I am completely in love with my guineas. They are almost 6 weeks old and doing great! I love their noises, their antics, their faces....

My family thinks they're hideous and calls them vultures though.

I have a couple questions though. One's semi-important, the other not so much.

1. The other day one of my Pearls was acting off -- he had his feathers puffed up and was sleeping a lot with his head behind his wing. He didn't wake up when I opened to door to their cage (they're in a wire dog cage inside my coop with a heat lamp and hay for bedding). He only woke up when I picked him up and then his reaction was typical - "Hey I don't wanna be held, lemme go!" After that he came to the feeder with everyone else, and ate and drank. He acted that way for most of the day. Next morning he was a little worse. He didn't fuss or struggle when I picked him up and kept his eyes closed a lot of the time. He didn't eat, only got a small drink of water. He seemed to get worse through the day, and the next morning he was dead. Any idea what could have caused it? He was in the same conditions as everyone else, ate the same food, drank the same water. (They're on Manna-Pro Gamebird feed, in case that helps.) Nobody has had runny poops since they were tiny keets, and both my Pearls were the biggest and strongest of all.
2. I've been looking at lots of pictures of guineas, and some have blue faces while others have white. Is this indicative of gender, or no? Are the 2 syllable calls the only sure way to tell males and females apart?

 

[PeepsCA]

If you have shavings on your coop floor... could he have been eating them thru the bars of the crate? If so... impaction may have been the issue. Could any of your chickens have pecked him in the head by any chance? One last guess... it's possible that he had a congenital heart )or other internal organ) defect and that was the end of the line for him, but if he was hearty that's really not that likely. Brooder deaths at 6 wks old are rare with my keets... so I'm at a loss on this one, sorry.

Both my Hens and males develop blue faces and also the throat latch area, during the Spring usually... so it's either a breeding season thing, or possibly due to their healthy spring diet, or maybe just a sign of maturity. Maybe others have input on this, but I have not narrowed it down to what/why/how it happens with my flocks.

Sorry I can't be more helpful

 

[Lothiriel]

No, my coop floor has hay, just like the dog cage where the guineas are. I do feed them grass -- short grass from our lawn. I know long grass can cause impaction. Would short grass do the same, since they're not as big?

It could be possible one of my girls pecked him... I haven't seen any of them get their heads through the bars of the cage though. There would have been a wound on his head if that happened, right?

Yeah, a heart defect doesn't seem likely with him. His name was Icarus on account of how high he liked to fly, and he flew A LOT. He got it when he hit the heat lamp as a baby (the lamp has a safety cage on it).

I had a thought myself... perhaps he was stepped on? Being guineas they still freak out a little at times, so maybe he got trampled in a corner and got an internal injury.

That's kind of what I was thinking -- a breeding season kind of thing for the blue faces. I think they are so cool.

 

[Wayne]

Is shavings on the floor a no-no ?

 

[PeepsCA]

Maybe he hit his head? Even a slight head injury can cause enough swelling to kill a keet, it really doesn't take much (cuz there's not much up there to begin with, lol).

The grass clippings may be an issue, even if they are short they can eventually cause an impaction, do they have access to grit? If not, I'd provide it just in case.

It's possible he got trampled, but at 6 wks, they are pretty tough... so i doubt that's what happened.

Nothing is ever for sure or definite with Guineas. So sorry for your loss

 

[PeepsCA]

Is shavings on the floor a no-no ?

Keets have a bad habit of ingesting the small shavings, so it's best to avoid them for the first few weeks. They can and will cause impaction.

 

[Lothiriel]

Maybe he hit his head? Even a slight head injury can cause enough swelling to kill a keet, it really doesn't take much (cuz there's not much up there to begin with, lol).

The grass clippings may be an issue, even if they are short they can eventually cause an impaction, do they have access to grit? If not, I'd provide it just in case.

It's possible he got trampled, but at 6 wks, they are pretty tough... so i doubt that's what happened.

Nothing is ever for sure or definite with Guineas. So sorry for your loss

Hmm.. Interesting point. Haha... Yeah... There surely isn't much up there.

I don't have grit in there. I think I have some around somewhere though, so I'll find it and provide it for them.