Clueless but trying to learn....

[farminglady]

Hello Everyone,

I am brand new to owning guinea fowl.
As a child, my friends parents had them and they would follow us all the way down to the bus stop and then come running to meet us on the way home. I've never forgotten those birds and now have some of my own
Okay....so....I'm in waaay over my head now that I've started doing my own research.
First of all, yes, I absolutely will feed my babies the proper food, NOT the medicated chick starter that the breeder I purchased them from said I should feed and have been giving them for a week.
I went out and bought a 25kg bag of baby turkey food this afternoon but now I don't know if I got starter or grower or if its medicated.....my mind is mush from researching and the bag simply has the stores name on it...GRRRRRR....will be heading back there tomorrow to find out what I have here.
Here's a clue as to how absolutely clueless I am...I cant tell the keets from the chicks!
I was going to raise the keets and chicks together and free range both but now that I know about the different nutritional needs of the birds, I will separate them.
Please help. I don't know who is who. I have australopes. silver laced wyandotte, gold laced wyandotte and guineas.
I do remember waaaayyyy back in april when I went to the breeders place that I picked out the colors of guineas I wanted but now I cant even remember what I asked for and even if I did remember, geesh....I can't tell what's what.
I didn't hear from the breeder until last week....your chicks are ready...OMG WHAT?!? (I didn't contact her after I met her because I just figured she didn't take a shine to me or something and didn't want to sell me any chicks, turns out her she has just been busy). I did think that she would have called me to let me know that my babies were at the very least, in their eggs...wow, a big surprise, a happy one though.
Okay so in order for me to provide these kids with the best start in life, please help me identify who is who.
Oh and there is nooooo way that all these birds are the same age......some of them are getting real feathers while the others are all soft and downy still.
I don't even know how old these little fluffballs are. I was told 4 or 5 days of age last sunday....I doubt it.
The collage is of pics I took this evening

 

[Whittni]

 

[farminglady]

LOL...green=ducks
THANK YOU SO MUCH, I was in the barn with my cell phone trying to figure out who was who but the pics of keets are so small on my phone and the darn chicks wouldn't sit in one place long enough for me to get a good look. You identified them incredibly quick. WOW!

 

[Naunnie]

Bless your heart! ) Can you get "Purina Flock Raiser" crumbles in Ontario? If so..... that would be great! All your babies can eat it! If you go with the starter, the ducklings should not eat "medicated" and the keets don't really need it...or so I've been told. I do not have any chickens right now...someone else will have to help ya with them. ) But....Keets need to stay warm longer than chicks or ducklings, especially at night. The recommendation is 95 degrees to start and lower by 5 degrees each week until fully feathered. That's about 6 weeks old. Here is a great link to Guineas. It's long but worth reading. IMO https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/312682/raising-guinea-fowl-101 And here is one for ducklings: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711:


P.S. Love the pics! Whittni, you are amazing! Love what ya did with the pics!

 

[farminglady]

I got my food from Grand Valley Fortifiers here in Ontario. They only sell "their" brand but I will definitely try to find another "feed store" that sells Purina Flock Raiser.
I'm going to read the link to caring and raising ducklings post now. Thank you for your help.
I will keep the little keets nice and warm. I have a red 175W bulb here that I bought today, just have to force my man make them a little coop tomorrow so that I can hang their light at least 3' from them so they don't get too hot. I have a 100W bulb in their "kennel" thing right now but will go and buy a proper coop thing tomorrow because my man seems to NOT be getting around to building a coop.....he will get his butt in gear as soon as he sees that I went out and spent $ on something that he could build in an hour. LOL
We have a huge barn, he has used it to store vehicles in for the past 10 years. Not anymore. I want a nice hen house inside and a coop outside for the wee ones until they are big enough to roam the farm . A guinea pen with roosts and a nice warm place for my ducklings.
I bought a Slovensky Cuvac, livestock guardian pup, a year and a half ago. I also have a Great Pyrenees puppy who is 9 weeks old. Both the big boy and the little boy are fantastic with the ducklings, in fact, my big boy charges the 2 barn cats if they come around the ducklings.
I'm worried about the cats with my new feathered flock, to be honest, don't much care for the cats at all really. Like most farm cats, they simply showed up here years ago and never left. They are friendly but I don't like them catching birds, even if it is what cats do. We have an understanding, me and the cats....you ignore me and I will ignore you LOL

 

[Naunnie]

I like the way you think!

LOL There is no problem housing them all together. Just make sure the ducks can wash their heads and the chickens won't drown! I've never heard of a swimming Guinea, but guess it's possible......

However you decide to house them.....please keep Predators in the foremost of ya brain! I know, I know, you do already! I just read so many sad stories.....gotta stop doing that! Those pups are a great asset. If you do a search, you can find all kinds of training pointers here too! They will handle the kitties. The kitties may even learn to help out.....dogs are for the birds, cats are for the rodents! I have 3 "stray" cats that I lovingly call "barn cats". They earn their keep and I let them stay.

For the keets; ya might want to invest in a thermometer for the brooder. I'm not sure where my husband got it, but I took it away from him! It has 2 parts. One part stays in the house and the other part stays in the brooder. It tells me what the temp is outside and inside. It says "ACU-RITE on the front...? I have my keet brooder set up in the barn and I can see what the temp is at all times. Any thermometer will do and the birds will "tell ya" too. If they are piled up under the light, they are chilly.

Another thing I have found invaluable is a "baby monitor". Again, one part in the house and one part in the barn. All my dogs are spoiled

and sleep in the house, but with the monitor we can all get a good nights sleep! Type up in the "Search" bar "baby monitors"....I'm not the only one!

By the way!!! Welcome to BYC!

 

[farminglady]

I will go out tomorrow and get a baby monitor. THAT is BRILLIANT!!! I'm up and down like a yo-yo with every strange noise...is that a fox I heard? A weasel? A rat? A coyote?...I think the ducklings are calling me, better go see whats going on in the barn. (I swear I'm hearing things "going bump in the night" that don't even exist).
With my big dog in the barn, I doubt any critters are going to find an easy meal but one can never be too careful.
Wesson (the Slovensky Cuvac) has run the coyotes clear off the property since being allowed to run the 80 acres beginning this spring.. We rarely hear the coyotes now and I don't see their footprints either. Then again, winter will be the proof cuz I will be able to track the yotes again then.
I don't mind the coyotes but I wanted them cleared off my land before the chicks arrived so I planned in advance with the livestock guardian and then was still not ready for the chicks. Duh!!!
Okay I really have to get off this forum and go to bed....my ducklings will want me up early to play in the garden with them

 

[Naunnie]

Well darn! I was trying to call it a night too and then thought of something else important....that I have learned, here about Guineas. You may have already read it, but just in case.....when you move Guineas from brooder to coop, make sure it is their permanent coop/run. They don't do well with change. Guineas take their "flock" to the extreme! If you keep them with the chickens or ducks, then try to give them their own space....they won't like it! They will want to be with their "flock mates" and that original coop/home....regardless what you think! ) There are many threads about free-ranging but here is just one I found helpful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/761452/housing-guineas. BYC Member "PeepsCA" knows her Guineas! Most important....I have been talked to/ been told!!!!/read this.... countless times, do not let them ALL( I mean only the Guineas) out to free-range at the same time. They may consider the chickens/ducks as kin, but it's the confined Guineas that will keep the rest of your Guineas from flying into the wild blue yonder! Once you have them set up in the coop/run, don't let them out for at least 6 weeks. I know....seems like forever..... but they "need" to know where home is..... so they will come back every evening..... and roost in the nice lodging, you have worked hard to create for them!

 

[farminglady]

I have been unable to find Purina Flock Raiser, darn!
It would be so nice to be able to feed the guineas and the chickens the same food, especially if I want to house them together.
I don't really want to separate them but it looks like I am going to have to.
I am about to head out to another TSC and see what they carry in the way of feed and housing for the keets.
I plan on having my man build an interior coop for at night with an attached outside run for the chickens and the guineas. I'm hoping to house the chickens and guineas together and will keep them confined to the coop for 6 weeks so they know where home is. Will also make sure to keep some guineas back when I begin letting the flock roam. Not really sure how I shall accomplish this but.....lol
Okay, on my way to spend more money and get my mans butt into high gear on building the coops.....plan on coming home with prices for sheds and pics of them too, THAT will really kickstart his motor because sheds cost about $1000.00

for a "kinda" nice one

...Im talking your typical garden shed here, absolutely nothing fancy, cheaply constructed, not at all suitable for housing chicks and keets in: no heat, no nest boxes etc (I will tell him that he could easily convert this tiny shed into a "starter" coop)............see Mr. Farmer work as fast as he can to get the coops built....BAHAHAHAHA

 

[Whittni]

Glad I could help