brand new to guineas. Hatching 15 today

[Ariesmom]

I am locking down 15 guinea eggs that I bought from a man last month. I am super excited about adding some to my existing flock of chickens, geese and ducks. Can anyone give me general info about these awesome birds. I plan on keeping some and selling the rest but I've had people tell me to let them know how many make it and they'd be interested. Do they die easily or something after hatching? What's the best feed? Medicated or not ( I know medicated for water fowl is a no ) and what's a good number to keep and do males fight like roosters and should I only have one ultimately? Any useful info about guineas would be great...we live on 15 acres of land, mostly woods with clearing in the middle for the house. I plan on coop training them to return home for safety at nite which is an enclosure shared with some pullets and 2 female ducklings. Are they hard to integrate? The babies they will live with are about 4 weeks right now so hopefully when the guineas are ready they'll will not have a hard time getting along. I have 4 month olds too that at this point can't be with the babies...one got out into the other pen and got pecked relentlessly. Hopefully the 4 week old pullets and these guineas will be close enough in age to not fight when introduced.

 

[JLeigh]

A good place to start is reading the online, free book, "Gardening with Guineas". It's very informative - gave me some great info starting out. It's only 200 pages with lots of pictures and it's organized so you can read pertinent sections at a time. After I read it, I felt much more confident of what I was doing.

Then I found this forum and realized how much more I needed to know. This is a great place to get answers and moral support. Good luck with your hatch!

 

[prairie]

I'm going to read the book too -- sounds interesting! I had guineas for years and then gave them up but bought some more last year! Gotta love em!

 

[JLeigh]

Prairie, I've fallen head-over-heels for guineas. I've known since I was a child that I was drawn to them, and got them not long ago just based on my childhood memory - the rest is history. Now I'm working on my first hatching. These guys get under your skin and stay there. My chickens, too....

 

[perchie.girl]

I am locking down 15 guinea eggs that I bought from a man last month. I am super excited about adding some to my existing flock of chickens, geese and ducks. Can anyone give me general info about these awesome birds. I plan on keeping some and selling the rest but I've had people tell me to let them know how many make it and they'd be interested. Do they die easily or something after hatching? What's the best feed? Medicated or not ( I know medicated for water fowl is a no ) and what's a good number to keep and do males fight like roosters and should I only have one ultimately? Any useful info about guineas would be great...we live on 15 acres of land, mostly woods with clearing in the middle for the house. I plan on coop training them to return home for safety at nite which is an enclosure shared with some pullets and 2 female ducklings. Are they hard to integrate? The babies they will live with are about 4 weeks right now so hopefully when the guineas are ready they'll will not have a hard time getting along. I have 4 month olds too that at this point can't be with the babies...one got out into the other pen and got pecked relentlessly. Hopefully the 4 week old pullets and these guineas will be close enough in age to not fight when introduced.

Use Game bird starter the highest protien you can get. They grow FAST and need the higher protien amount because of that. Purena Game bird starter comes medicated with the right stuff. But I dont know what it is PeepsCA may comment on the propper feed.

Guinea keets are more delicate than Chickens in the first two weeks. you need to put rocks in the water so they dont get too wet when they walk or run through it. I use paper plate for their first week for feed because they are going to scatter it about anyway. I have three keets right now in a brooder they hatched Monday or Tuesday. They have already gone through about three full cups of feed, and trippled in size. By week two they will have enough feathering to be able to fly up and out of a four foot tall fences area.

they need a good warm brooder too I use plastic tubs for my previous batch of keets from Peeps. Nice warm corner 95 degrees and areas where they can get away from the heat if they want.

Oh and when they first hatch out dont put them on shavings I lost about six last year from them eating shavings. Put down either Rubbermaid shelf liner or paper towels or Bath towels for the first week or so. I use the liner on top of shavings for at least two or three weeks because its easier to clean. After that they know which is food and which is bedding.

Also Guineas LOVE mirrors put one in the brooder they will congreate around it and admire themselves. That never ends you will find your guineas admiring themselves in just about anything shiny.... LOL. Patio doors, Car bumpers, hubcaps...... etc

deb