Am I in good company here??

[TarheelBirdy]

Tomorrow is lockdown day for my first Guinea hatch ever, and I am totally into it. I couldn't be more geeked out over it if I packed a bag and put it in the trunk. Or boiled water and brought towels. And it's not like I can share with my friends.....there is something about the concerned look in their eyes - or maybe it's how they glass over when I talk about it. My husband is at least sympathetic, he used to raise chickens and sometimes game birds, back before I came along.....but I guess I have put a new spin on the whole process. OK, so maybe I'm a bit regimented about it. I hunted down that nest. I carefully grouped them, dated them, X'd and O'd them, and think of them first thing in the morning and last thing before I go to bed. I love those little eggs that I have been turning by hand every four hours for a month....I love the little black squirmy shadow-birdies that I see inside those eggs! Can't wait til they come out of there! Just glad I have some online Guinea-friends to share with!

 

[sben451]

Here's hoping you have a wonderful, very successful hatch. I think you'll love the keets. They do seem to be a little more active than chicks. They also seem to grow right before your eyes. And, they can move "fast". They are really cute little boogers though. I hatched out 17 last fall. I used my Brinsea, so I did not have to hand turn the eggs, but I understand when you say they're the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing at night. Happy hatching. Almost forgot to add--my guinea eggs started hatching a couple of days earlier than I expected.

 

[TarheelBirdy]

That's OK! Got my suitcase by the door and the water boiled and the towels ready! COME ON KEETS!

 

[mrsfarmchick1]

I'm right there with ya! I've got 36 guinea eggs in the incubator going into lock down on Tuesday and a broody chicken hen that I put 6 more guinea eggs under because there were no fertile chicken eggs at the time.
The guinea flock I have has 4 hens and 3 males and I hope the chicken hen can raise the 6 guinea keets (this is going to be an adventure)

 

[TarheelBirdy]

Good luck Mrs. FarmChick! Your adventure is WAY more daunting than mine....please post as it happens, can't wait to hear about how you keep it all going. I'm sure you'll do great!

 

[PeepsCA]

I've been hatching keets since Feb (check out my BYC page), it was weekly or every 10 days, now it's every 4 days... lol. I am just as anxious and excited with each new hatch as I was with my first hatch in Feb, lol. I have early 2 keets & 38 eggs in the hatcher now (not due to hatch 'til Friday night/Sat morning).

Best of luck with your hatch, keep us updated and we wanna see pics!

 

[terrilhb]

I just had 17 hatch last week. I so love them. They are so different from chicks. And they sure do move fast. I went to take them out of the incubator and they jumped out of it. They were running all over my kitchen counter. I never thought I would catch them. I can not believe how much they have changed and grown in just 1 week. Good luck. I know you will love them. I get the same look from people too when I talk about my chickens, guinea's and goats. I love them more than my family sometimes.

 

[mrsfarmchick1]

I would like some advice about selling guinea keets locally. I will be selling some organic vegetables/clay pots/and seeds this summer at local farmer's markets and I'd like to market the guineas along with it (for bug eating in the garden without scratching the plants). Can you bring the keets to the farmer's markets and sell them there or should I try to do it from my house (but I live out in the boondocks!)????

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote:
I'm not sure you can take keets to a farmer market or not, you would have to contact the people that run the farmers market about that. I too live in the boondocks... I advertise with flyers posted at all my local feed stores, craigslists ads and a local swap-shop ad and sometimes make arrangements to meet customers at my local post office parking lot or even tractor supply if I am making a trip there for supplies.