Almost time for hatch!

[Unicornlife3316]

@R2elk

I’ve removed the keets from her.. she’s refusing to leave the coop Where they were... should I show her where they are in the barn? She seems devastated.
The babies have food, water and heat. How long until they stop crying for mom?
We had a total of 9 hatch

 

[R2elk]

@R2elk

I’ve removed the keets from her.. she’s refusing to leave the coop Where they were... should I show her where they are in the barn? She seems devastated.
The babies have food, water and heat. How long until they stop crying for mom?
We had a total of 9 hatch

Some people have had success letting the hen raise them by penning the hen and keets where they are safe and she can't take them out through the wet grass. Some guinea hens can be excellent mothers under the right conditions.

I am sure she is very upset about losing her keets. It will take her awhile to get over it. If you had older keets to give her to replace the newly hatched ones, she might even adopt them.

The keets should stop crying for her in a few days especially if you spend a lot of time with them.

Unless you are planning on trying to pen her with the keets, I would not show them to her. She will just want to stay there with them.

Good luck with whatever you try.

 

[Unicornlife3316]

Some people have had success letting the hen raise them by penning the hen and keets where they are safe and she can't take them out through the wet grass. Some guinea hens can be excellent mothers under the right conditions.

I am sure she is very upset about losing her keets. It will take her awhile to get over it. If you had older keets to give her to replace the newly hatched ones, she might even adopt them.

The keets should stop crying for her in a few days especially if you spend a lot of time with them.

Unless you are planning on trying to pen her with the keets, I would not show them to her. She will just want to stay there with them.

Good luck with whatever you try.

I do have a pen she could stay with them in, in the barn. Completely protected... but this morning she wanted to leave with them.. and she was in the chicken coop, not as protected and I have to open the door to let chickens out in the morning and let them in in the evening. I could and would absolutely let her keep them if she’d stay in the barn with them... maybe I can relocate her to them. I do think she’d be an excellent mother, she’s very protective, showing them feed and water but was definitely ready to run this morning.

thanks for your help as always!

 

[R2elk]

I do have a pen she could stay with them in, in the barn. Completely protected... but this morning she wanted to leave with them.. and she was in the chicken coop, not as protected and I have to open the door to let chickens out in the morning and let them in in the evening. I could and would absolutely let her keep them if she’d stay in the barn with them... maybe I can relocate her to them. I do think she’d be an excellent mother, she’s very protective, showing them feed and water but was definitely ready to run this morning.

thanks for your help as always!

By far, the best option is to relocate her to the keets. If you can pull this off, she will raise them and in a month she can return to the flock with them without having any trouble integrating the keets into the flock.

Good luck.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Best of luck Unicornlife! I expect will be dealing with this in a month. I’d love to see any pictures of your setup.

 

[Unicornlife3316]

By far, the best option is to relocate her to the keets. If you can pull this off, she will raise them and in a month she can return to the flock with them without having any trouble integrating the keets into the flock.

Good luck.

Ok I managed to get her to follow me to the barn where she could hear them chirping. I got her in the pen and moved them from the brooder to her. She was so excited. Now they’re curled up under her and everyone is very happy.

This is a safe pen where I raised my chicks prior to moving them to their coop. It is mostly predator proof, inside a covered barn, not too much wind, no wetness at all and I have electric if I need to plug in a heat lamp (which I’m guess I don’t since they will be with her) — should I put some hay down for her to make another nest?

@mixed flock —Pictures attached — so this is how I had it set when I was raising this last batch of chicks (purchased not hatched) - so it’s the goat barn, the pen inside the goat barn and then the trough inside the pen. I had planned on raising the keets in the trough but they are with mom in the pen now. We will see how it goes!