Can you cheat a broody out of her settin' days?

[ScoobyRoo]

Quote:
Will do. The hatchery said they would have some keets next week. I hope it works. I'm trying to avoid the brooder in my house this year.

 

[Lollipop]

Henry, I concur with greathorse about doing it at night. Darkness will keep her calm and the keets will be more inclined to stay put. You will have to be there in the morning when she wakes up to make sure she doesn`t reject them, but her waking up with them gives them a better chance. Do it in the dark..........Pop

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Quote:
That is my plan, Pop. I have already done this with chicks from the feed store. I even tried an experiment and put a store bought chick in the pen with the others and Mama during broad daylight. I got lucky and she didn't reject it or she cant count.

But I'm not doing that with the keets. I will wait till dark.

 

[dancingbear]

Henry's, I've done exactly that, put new keets (that I hatched in the 'bator) under a broody hen. If you do as the others already suggested, and do it at night, it should work fine. The keets will instinctively stay under a nice, warm, feathered belly. By morning, she's mamma.

It's best to put her in a keet-proof pen, (so the little bugger can't get out and die) without other birds, for a few days. After that, she should be able to re-join the flock, babies and all.

Unless you have adult guineas. They recognize keets as being their own species, and will sometimes attack a chicken who's raising them, and try to take them to raise themselves, but when they didn't hatch them, the support system that guineas use isn't there, (not that it works all that well anyway) and they'll lose them all, if they do take them. So if you have adult guineas, keep the hen and keets separate from them, until the keets feather out. It doesn't take long.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

 

[ScoobyRoo]

dancingbear, thanks for the extra information. I have never had guineas. So I wont have that problem with adults. I had a chance to get some adults but decided it best to start out with keets and raise them myself so that they know where home is and who feeds the flock. I really hope the hatchery has them next week. So far the broody is still settin tight.

 

[dancingbear]

That's great, and probably the best way to go. The guineas who are raised by hens are much more inclined to roost inside at night. In fact, they'll want to stay near mom, forever. This can cause some conflicts the following year, or sooner, when mom gets broody again. Or, if a guinea hen she raised gets broody. They have different instincts and behaviors from chickens, and they don't get it when mom chicken doesn't act like a mom guinea. It can cause a few headaches, but it's pretty easy to deal with if you have a few little pens, or tractors, or mini-coops, someplace to put moms and eggs and babies where they can be safe from interference from other birds in the flock.

Hen-raised guineas are also more likely to lay eggs indoors in a nest box, rather than out in the brush somewhere. Note that I only say more likely. One thing I've learned with guineas, is they are hard to predict, and very often contrary to the point of being downright perverse.

For example, with a nice, warm coop available, most of my guineas were staying indoors with the chickens at night. At least while the fall and early winter weather was relatively mild. Then it got colder, there were high winds and freezing rain. So where were the guineas at bedtime? Up on the roof of the coop, or out in the trees. Evidently, before the bad storms, the weather just wasn't nasty enough for them to sleep outside!

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Well,, tonight is the night. My DH picked up 10 French Pearl Keets for me. They are in a box right now. I will attempt to sneak to the hutch *imagine Pink Panther theme* slip the keets under the broody hen ( setting on duds) then sneak back to the house. I hope 'Clyde' (our pligrim gander) doesn't start up a ruckus and bust me. I will get up early in the morning to make sure the mama doesn't reject the keets. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. I will give you an update sometime tomorrow.

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

try to use the lleast light as possible so she doesnt wake up

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Back to last night, Clyde was not a big issue. He just hissed which is quieter than the honking. We did not turn on any outside lights and used a flash light that was kept covered as much as possible. Our problem was the keets. My DD handed me the first one and I slipped it under mama. I get the second one and slip under mama than the first one skittered out. I continued to slip all ten under mama so they know where it is warm. But they were all skittering about like water bugs. Mama started pecking on them. We shut the lid to the hutch and kept quiet for several minutes. Then we peeked in again and all had calmed down with the keets all under mama. I went back out 3 times in the night to check and so far so good. This morning in the light, I noticed one keet had somehow squeezed through the wire and it died.

So we are at nine. But Mama is doing great with the rest so far. One had skittered away and she was not happy. She was calling it to come back. To me that was a good sign. I will continue to keep an eye on them.

If Mama has them now, could she still change her mind and reject them later? Do they get post partum depression? That does sound funny but that thought is crossing my mind.

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

my broody right now would never think of doing that