Broody guinea hatch

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Ok, so I’m hesitant to even let you all know about the disaster I have brewing here, but in the interest of honest information exchange for others with broody guinea hatches, I’ll share. This is 2020 hatch 2.

So, 5 weeks ago, I was so excited about how well 2020 hatch 1 went (yes, most keets later died but not the fault of adults) and I had so many broody hens, that I bought these really expensive eggs from a neighboring town. I placed the order, got the eggs, then the disaster with the storm/snake hit, and only one hen, Welch, stayed broody after that. Welch is not an ideal choice for a community hatch because 1) she’s never hatched eggs, and 2) she is low in the pecking order, plus 3) I don’t know that she even had a mate or hens that will help her. So far, my successful hatches have had multiple females involved. However, at this point I had the eggs and the broody guinea so I decided to go for it. In her favor, Welch had let the keets from Hatch 1 cuddle with her while she was setting, so she had some positive keet experience.

So guess what? Hatch day was today! Guess where I was? On the interstate, driving 75 mph to Iowa, to visit with my uncle and who is in hospice and to pick up my mom who flew here from FL to see him, presumably for the last time. So, I’m driving down the road, checking the guinea cam, and .... things are going poorly, I can tell. There is a knot of guineas around the nest all running around and acting excited. I called DD who got all of the guineas out. I checked the guinea cam again (btw, not the smartest driving activity) and now there was no guinea on the nest! Call DD who checks and reports one dead keet, one zipping, many pipped. I figure that the other hens forced Welch off and keet was crushed by the adults crazily running around the nest.

DD somehow gets Welch in the coop and locks her in and the others out. I’m watching the camera again, and Welch seems upset by the hatching activity. She would crouch over the eggs, then jump up, circle the coop, then go crouch on the eggs again. Sigh. It was 95 F and 65% humidity so ok for keets without her, but I don’t know if she is letting them hatch, killing them, or what... No detail on coop cam. As day wore on, Welch seemed to settle down and just quietly sit. DD let the rest of the guineas in at dusk, so they wouldn’t harass Welch. Plan is to kick the rest our again at dawn and lock Welch in. I am a nervous wreck and feel terrible about the dead keet. I am really going to feel awful if they all die, and I don’t get back until Saturday PM...

 

[southwind00]

Ok, so I’m hesitant to even let you all know about the disaster I have brewing here, but in the interest of honest information exchange for others with broody guinea hatches, I’ll share. This is 2020 hatch 2.

So, 5 weeks ago, I was so excited about how well 2020 hatch 1 went (yes, most keets later died but not the fault of adults) and I had so many broody hens, that I bought these really expensive eggs from a neighboring town. I placed the order, got the eggs, then the disaster with the storm/snake hit, and only one hen, Welch, stayed broody after that. Welch is not an ideal choice for a community hatch because 1) she’s never hatched eggs, and 2) she is low in the pecking order, plus 3) I don’t know that she even had a mate or hens that will help her. So far, my successful hatches have had multiple females involved. However, at this point I had the eggs and the broody guinea so I decided to go for it. In her favor, Welch had let the keets from Hatch 1 cuddle with her while she was setting, so she had some positive keet experience.

So guess what? Hatch day was today! Guess where I was? On the interstate, driving 75 mph to Iowa, to visit with my uncle and who is in hospice and to pick up my mom who flew here from FL to see him, presumably for the last time. So, I’m driving down the road, checking the guinea cam, and .... things are going poorly, I can tell. There is a knot of guineas around the nest all running around and acting excited. I called DD who got all of the guineas out. I checked the guinea cam again (btw, not the smartest driving activity) and now there was no guinea on the nest! Call DD who checks and reports one dead keet, one zipping, many pipped. I figure that the other hens forced Welch off and keet was crushed by the adults crazily running around the nest.

DD somehow gets Welch in the coop and locks her in and the others out. I’m watching the camera again, and Welch seems upset by the hatching activity. She would crouch over the eggs, then jump up, circle the coop, then go crouch on the eggs again. Sigh. It was 95 F and 65% humidity so ok for keets without her, but I don’t know if she is letting them hatch, killing them, or what... No detail on coop cam. As day wore on, Welch seemed to settle down and just quietly sit. DD let the rest of the guineas in at dusk, so they wouldn’t harass Welch. Plan is to kick the rest our again at dawn and lock Welch in. I am a nervous wreck and feel terrible about the dead keet. I am really going to feel awful if they all die, and I don’t get back until Saturday PM...

Sure sounds stressful. I think the coop creates the stress for the guineas which they wouldn't have in the wild but of course in our wilds the guineas are sitting ducks.
I'm still shuffling my older bird and mate out early and and in late. Yesterday we had storms and I put them in the run earlier where they ended up roosting for the night. Good luck

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Sure sounds stressful. I think the coop creates the stress for the guineas which they wouldn't have in the wild but of course in our wilds the guineas are sitting ducks.
I'm still shuffling my older bird and mate out early and and in late. Yesterday we had storms and I put them in the run earlier where they ended up roosting for the night. Good luck

I’ve been reading about guinea fowl natural history and my flock is so far from wild guinea behavior... it’s really not surprising that they don’t know how to go from sitting on eggs, which they love and will do at the drop of a hat, to actually hatching keets and raising them. I’ve been really concerned about this hatch since the other broodies abandoned the nest when the snake got in and ate eggs and a keet... I barely slept last night I was so worried, then anxiously watched guinea cam for my DD to let them out at dawn. I had to call and wake her up. I owe her big time for dealing with this!

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Ok, so I’m hesitant to even let you all know about the disaster I have brewing here, but in the interest of honest information exchange for others with broody guinea hatches, I’ll share. This is 2020 hatch 2.

So, 5 weeks ago, I was so excited about how well 2020 hatch 1 went (yes, most keets later died but not the fault of adults) and I had so many broody hens, that I bought these really expensive eggs from a neighboring town. I placed the order, got the eggs, then the disaster with the storm/snake hit, and only one hen, Welch, stayed broody after that. Welch is not an ideal choice for a community hatch because 1) she’s never hatched eggs, and 2) she is low in the pecking order, plus 3) I don’t know that she even had a mate or hens that will help her. So far, my successful hatches have had multiple females involved. However, at this point I had the eggs and the broody guinea so I decided to go for it. In her favor, Welch had let the keets from Hatch 1 cuddle with her while she was setting, so she had some positive keet experience.

So guess what? Hatch day was today! Guess where I was? On the interstate, driving 75 mph to Iowa, to visit with my uncle and who is in hospice and to pick up my mom who flew here from FL to see him, presumably for the last time. So, I’m driving down the road, checking the guinea cam, and .... things are going poorly, I can tell. There is a knot of guineas around the nest all running around and acting excited. I called DD who got all of the guineas out. I checked the guinea cam again (btw, not the smartest driving activity) and now there was no guinea on the nest! Call DD who checks and reports one dead keet, one zipping, many pipped. I figure that the other hens forced Welch off and keet was crushed by the adults crazily running around the nest.

DD somehow gets Welch in the coop and locks her in and the others out. I’m watching the camera again, and Welch seems upset by the hatching activity. She would crouch over the eggs, then jump up, circle the coop, then go crouch on the eggs again. Sigh. It was 95 F and 65% humidity so ok for keets without her, but I don’t know if she is letting them hatch, killing them, or what... No detail on coop cam. As day wore on, Welch seemed to settle down and just quietly sit. DD let the rest of the guineas in at dusk, so they wouldn’t harass Welch. Plan is to kick the rest our again at dawn and lock Welch in. I am a nervous wreck and feel terrible about the dead keet. I am really going to feel awful if they all die, and I don’t get back until Saturday PM...

Hi my friend,
It sounds like we have similar situations in that I have a lot of family medical challenges, too, right now. Be kind to yourself and take a deep breath - you seem to be doing all you can for everyone. Sometimes there are accidents. Take care of yourself because if you are not well and accident free please, yes!!, then you cannot help others or the animals. Everyone depends on you being there so take care of yourself first - it is not selfish. Maybe someone can help you build some enclosures - I usually make them the size of a plywood sheet - 4 by 6 feet - so you can protect moms and babies without so much stress for yourself. If you put some branches and stuff in the corners the Guineas may nest there. I will try to take and post some pictures of the easy enclosures I make - even the doors are custom made and so everything fits easily where I need it. If you have two or three of those you can lock the Guineas up in safe enclosures and tend to other important tasks - I found that helps me.
All the best from VA!
-Bennie

PS: also, switching eggs to wooden eggs every three days or so helps to prevent nests with live keets - I missed doing it in ScoobyDoo's nest since I thought she had only dud eggs anyway - and had unexpected keets - better to save the keet raising for a year where there is more time and energy that can be spent on the birds. I am switching all eggs again tonight in our main coop.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hi my friend,
It sounds like we have similar situations in that I have a lot of family medical challenges, too, right now. Be kind to yourself and take a deep breath - you seem to be doing all you can for everyone. Sometimes there are accidents. Take care of yourself because if you are not well and accident free please, yes!!, then you cannot help others or the animals. Everyone depends on you being there so take care of yourself first - it is not selfish. Maybe someone can help you build some enclosures - I usually make them the size of a plywood sheet - 4 by 6 feet - so you can protect moms and babies without so much stress for yourself. If you put some branches and stuff in the corners the Guineas may nest there. I will try to take and post some pictures of the easy enclosures I make - even the doors are custom made and so everything fits easily where I need it. If you have two or three of those you can lock the Guineas up in safe enclosures and tend to other important tasks - I found that helps me.
All the best from VA!
-Bennie

PS: also, switching eggs to wooden eggs every three days or so helps to prevent nests with live keets - I missed doing it in ScoobyDoo's nest since I thought she had only dud eggs anyway - and had unexpected keets - better to save the keet raising for a year where there is more time and energy that can be spent on the birds. I am switching all eggs again tonight in our main coop.

I didn’t manage their nest as much last year, but I’ve been managing them quite a bit since then. These are actually purchased eggs that I wanted the guineas to hatch, but things with broodies were different when they were purchased. Updates from DD are that she found one more dead keet but that at least 6 keets are alive and with Welch. Welch has calmed down quite a bit and is sitting quietly. The rest of the flock has been locked out of the coop all day again. I get home tomorrow afternoon and may fence off the area that Welch is in. The thing is that I tried to separate mom and keet from the flock last year, and that didn’t work well. Mom (a different guinea) freaked out trying to get back with the flock and ended up abandoning the keet. I’ll need to play it by ear when I get home, I guess...

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Yes, every situation is different. Best of luck!

Here are some pics of the promised peak into my quick-n-dirty enclosure building. It always envolves 2x4s, plywood, wire or plastic mesh (inside a safe enclosure that has hardwire cloth walls and floor) - I like plastic better, easier to work with and less rust and zinc and other toxins for the birds to eat when they peck at the enclosure, and some hardware for the door. pieces are secured with L-pieces and screws or just screwed together - easy, peasy.

I make a frame that fits the door and then attach the frame to an existing wall or structure to make the pen. The plywood is held up on the frame and a back ledge or leg (2x4), if needed.

Typical enclosure:

Door (this door is made with a 2x4 that I split lengthwise to make thinner pieces and a lighter door):

Door inside (mesh secured with strips of plywood and screws here) Note the bottom ledge - it is useful to keep keets in while parents can hop out - until the keets are big enough to go out with them.:

Quick enclosure I had to build to give the new parents some privacy. Note the carabiner hooks and the wire loop on the board in the lower left foreground - that is where I hook the door when they free range and the door is open, so that it does not shut on them and hurt anybody - it is secured open that way:

This door was recycled from a previous enclosure I tossed out:

This pen has a see-through wall and the plastic mesh is just stapled on (no plywood strips to secure it this time):

Sometimes something has to be cut after tracing it to match the space it needs to fit - here I had to cut the bottom of the plywood in a curved way to close off the wall to the edge of the outer enclosure.

This is what I call an "attention area". I will do work that is not pretty if I need to do it in a rush but I do go over it afterwards and look for areas where birds could get in trouble. This was one of them: between the old platform and the plywood I rested on top there was a gap they could slip a foot under while running across and break a foot or leg, so I closed that off where the dangerous spot was. Not pretty but safe.

At the end of the day I was too tired to make a roosting bar with sturdy legs out of 2x4s, so I made a quick one using a piece of firewood from the woodshed that had not been chopped yet and 2 pieces of leftover 2x4 screwed into the top. They like it ok, especially since I put treats in the center when the come home from free ranging.
Note the hardwire cloth and cement on the outer wall of the run in the back.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Yes, every situation is different. Best of luck!

Here are some pics of the promised peak into my quick-n-dirty enclosure building. It always envolves 2x4s, plywood, wire or plastic mesh (inside a safe enclosure that has hardwire cloth walls and floor) - I like plastic better, easier to work with and less rust and zinc and other toxins for the birds to eat when they peck at the enclosure, and some hardware for the door. pieces are secured with L-pieces and screws or just screwed together - easy, peasy.

I make a frame that fits the door and then attach the frame to an existing wall or structure to make the pen. The plywood is held up on the frame and a back ledge or leg (2x4), if needed.

Typical enclosure:
View attachment 2248602
Door (this door is made with a 2x4 that I split lengthwise to make thinner pieces and a lighter door):
View attachment 2248603
Door inside (mesh secured with strips of plywood and screws here) Note the bottom ledge - it is useful to keep keets in while parents can hop out - until the keets are big enough to go out with them.:View attachment 2248604
Quick enclosure I had to build to give the new parents some privacy. Note the carabiner hooks and the wire loop on the board in the lower left foreground - that is where I hook the door when they free range and the door is open, so that it does not shut on them and hurt anybody - it is secured open that way:
View attachment 2248617
This door was recycled from a previous enclosure I tossed out:
View attachment 2248618
This pen has a see-through wall and the plastic mesh is just stapled on (no plywood strips to secure it this time):
View attachment 2248619
Sometimes something has to be cut after tracing it to match the space it needs to fit - here I had to cut the bottom of the plywood in a curved way to close off the wall to the edge of the outer enclosure.
View attachment 2248626
This is what I call an "attention area". I will do work that is not pretty if I need to do it in a rush but I do go over it afterwards and look for areas where birds could get in trouble. This was one of them: between the old platform and the plywood I rested on top there was a gap they could slip a foot under while running across and break a foot or leg, so I closed that off where the dangerous spot was. Not pretty but safe.
View attachment 2248620
At the end of the day I was too tired to make a roosting bar with sturdy legs out of 2x4s, so I made a quick one using a piece of firewood from the woodshed that had not been chopped yet and 2 pieces of leftover 2x4 screwed into the top. They like it ok, especially since I put treats in the center when the come home from free ranging.
Note the hardwire cloth and cement on the outer wall of the run in the back.
View attachment 2248627

Very nice spaces! If I rig something up, it will just be some plastic mesh strung around the nest area. However, Welch is already really antsy wanting to get to the flock. She is running over the keets and acting nutty trying to get out. I got past this stage with the last broody hatch by locking the whole flock up together for nearly two weeks, when the keets started to fly. However, a dominant hen ( Lemon Pie) had taken the keets under her wing and was keeping the adults away from the keets. I guess I need to let Lemon Pie in and see if she is attacking or adopting the keets...

 

[Sydney65]

Your photos have had my brain in overdrive for the past day or so. Thank you mentioning the plastic fencing. You've given me somd ideas and lots to think about. Thanks!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thought I’d update as to the current status of this hatch. So, final tally is 8 living keets from 14 eggs. There were three more that hatched but died, so I guess that’s 11/14 hatched, plus several that were shrink wrapped and died in the egg. Deaths were due to shrink wrapping or presumed crushing (2 keets found in the nest with no signs of damage). Most of these problems were due to first time mom Welch freaking out when her eggs started to hatch. I hoped that the high heat and humidity would allow the eggs to hatch even though she kept getting freaked out and jumping off the nest... but no. Apparently humidity was not high enough.

DD collected the partially zipped eggs since I was out of town, but was only able to save one, and it was not reunited with mom. We ended up with three pearls, two pearl pied, one white and one violet. I was hoping for a slate but am happy about the violet and white. Really I’m happy that any successfully hatched with all of the drama.

Welch has settled into mama hood well, though she is pretty nervous. Yesterday she set up her nighttime nest right at the coop auto door, then attacked any guineas that entered to roost for the night... Today though, dominant hen Lemon Pie bonded with the babies, and her whole sub flock was welcomed to interact with the babies. Ghost even chased me away when I got too close. I hope this continues as Lemon Pie has been invaluable at helping 6 week old keet Scout Lemon. Pics!

 

[Sydney65]

Aw, congrats! They're much cuter out of the shell! so the white/tan is violet?