Adding Keets to Broody Hen with Chicks...?

[BlueShadow]

Also true, so it would have to be closely supervised for a long time

You would not necessarily have to supervise them very long at all. The only time I tried introducing keets to a broody hen (she didn’t have any chicks yet), it was PECK-PECK-PECK and I had 3 dead keets before I had a chance to do anything about it. It is difficult to get a broody hen to adopt chicks under the best of circumstances (maybe 50/50 chances of working). By mixing ages and species you are giving that hen even more reasons to reject the new keets. Your idea is most likely to end up with dead keets before you have a chance to fix the situation.

And all of that merely addresses the broody hen side of the equation. R2elk gave you excellent advice on guineas. Buy at least 20, they are not happy in small groups. And do not raise them with chicks, they tend to become aggressive towards chickens when raised with them as babies.

 

[St1ckyBum]

You would not necessarily have to supervise them very long at all. The only time I tried introducing keets to a broody hen (she didn’t have any chicks yet), it was PECK-PECK-PECK and I had 3 dead keets before I had a chance to do anything about it. It is difficult to get a broody hen to adopt chicks under the best of circumstances (maybe 50/50 chances of working). By mixing ages and species you are giving that hen even more reasons to reject the new keets. Your idea is most likely to end up with dead keets before you have a chance to fix the situation.

And all of that merely addresses the broody hen side of the equation. R2elk gave you excellent advice on guineas. Buy at least 20, they are not happy in small groups. And do not raise them with chicks, they tend to become aggressive towards chickens when raised with them as babies.

Seems like 1) its a bad idea to add keets to a hen 2) I need more than 3 guineas

It’s always challenging when someone has little to no experience on an issue and gets polar opposite suggestions. Mostly because there isn’t a one-size-fits all solution. But I think this answered my question. Thank you all

 

[R2elk]

Seems like 1) its a bad idea to add keets to a hen 2) I need more than 3 guineas

It’s always challenging when someone had little to no experience on an issue and gets polar opposite suggestions. Mostly because there isn’t a one-size-fits all solution. But I think this answered my question. Thank you all

A good source for guinea fowl information is to read the Guinea Fowl 101 thread. Pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA as she is the guinea fowl expert.

 

[BlueShadow]

Seems like 1) its a bad idea to add keets to a hen 2) I need more than 3 guineas

It’s always challenging when someone has little to no experience on an issue and gets polar opposite suggestions. Mostly because there isn’t a one-size-fits all solution. But I think this answered my question. Thank you all

I did qualify my answer with the fact that I only tried putting keets under a hen one time. Maybe under another hen it would have worked. However, I also can tell you that the older the babies are when you introduce them to their new mama, the more difficult it is to get them to imprint on her. One day old is best, 3 days is getting pretty old for them to imprint.

Also, I suspect that the advice that said "I raised keets and chicks together and they did fine" was based on raising them in a brooder, not under a broody hen. I also have raised keets and chicks (of the SAME AGE) together in a brooder, and they did fine... while they were babies. When they grew up, the guineas turned into bullies and fought with my chickens, and I have had plenty of time to regret that decision. So there are a lot of different things that may happen to lead to the varied opinions you will get here. To be certain, chickens and guineas can be raised together successfully, and a few BYC members have done it. However, based on my own experience and the number of questions I read on BYC each year, "Why are my guineas picking on my chickens?", the majority of people have problems when the guineas are adults, and I know that most experienced guinea keepers will say the same.

 

[St1ckyBum]

Thanks for the clarification. My experience in other livestock and matters is you gotta pick where to start using the best info you can get and make adjustments from there based on your unique circumstances. All info is good info