color question again.

[PeepsCA]

Have you tried keeping the pair penned for a day or 2 to see if the Hen is currently laying eggs? The Hens can be incredibly stubborn about where they lay, but they can't hold them in forever... lol.

 

[Naturegirl44]

rivkas, good luck with your keets!! and finding more eggs!! Joe and I just love our Miss Guinea to death since we got her in May. She is a total freak but stole our hearts. After her disappearance scare, of which she is now cured and home every night, for some reason we want more to scare the hell out of us now! weird. lol can you say addicted? we are for sure. Joe is totally blown away that they take care of rattle snakes!! we only have garters as well up north where we are but she gobbles toads and frogs like no tomorrow lol

We will be getting baby keets next spring to keep her company not sure if we will get eggs at an auction or just buy some keets. haven't decided yet but we will have room for one or two more once we expand the coop this fall. Then we should have 10 chickens, 1 rooster and 2-3 Guinea's.

Peeps, if we get 1 or 2 more guinea females and house them in the coop with all the chickens, will there be problems? Our Miss Guinea has no problem as she was raised that way all her life, in the coop with 10-12 chickens but getting a few more and having Miss Guinea's inner self immerge now that she is free, we wonder if bullying may happen if we add a few more guinea's to the flock. Thought??

 

[PeepsCA]

Typically Guinea Hens are less aggressive towards chickens than males are, but some of them can still be cranky and defensive, especially during the layings season (whether they are laying fertile eggs or not). But there is a lot less chance of aggression issues. Don't forget that if you get a few more Hens that you will have to deal with more than one Hen wandering off to lay eggs each season, lol.

Female keets can't be sexed until they are about 5-6 wks old and start buck-wheating... so you may end up with males from either buying some young keets or hatching a batch of eggs. But if you do decide to hatch eggs (this would be my choice, that way you can handle them a lot from day 1 and hope for tamer/gentler Guineas) then you can always just raise them until you figure out who the little Hens are, and then sell the rest.

 

[Naturegirl44]

Typically Guinea Hens are less aggressive towards chickens than males are, but some of them can still be cranky and defensive, especially during the layings season (whether they are laying fertile eggs or not). But there is a lot less chance of aggression issues. Don't forget that if you get a few more Hens that you will have to deal with more than one Hen wandering off to lay eggs each season, lol.

Female keets can't be sexed until they are about 5-6 wks old and start buck-wheating... so you may end up with males from either buying some young keets or hatching a batch of eggs. But if you do decide to hatch eggs (this would be my choice, that way you can handle them a lot from day 1 and hope for tamer/gentler Guineas) then you can always just raise them until you figure out who the little Hens are, and then sell the rest.

The idea of getting eggs has been discussed. We can borrow the neighbours incubator if we go that route and i like the idea of being able to handle them from day one to help with gentling them a tad. I will tell Joe what you said.

As for getting more than we bargained for, males, bullys etc, joes is more along the thought of having them for dinner instead of selling them. lol but i will push for selling them to add to our chicken fund. We have a chicken cookie jar that we put all our egg selling money into to help pay for the organic feed, pine chips, DE etc. i will nudge him in that direction

We know the whole disappearing into the bush to lay eggs will multiply with a few more hens but we are hoping that the bell training for treats at bedtime we have started will help with this. And now that we know about it, we are keeping a close eye on which direction she goes lol We have no more problems with Miss G since we found and distroyed her nest but still keeping a close watch!! lol

As always, your a fount of information and thanks for sharing.

 

[JLeigh]

The treat bell will help with broody hens, but don't count on it. They aren't easily deterred - after all, it's their instinct.

 

[Naturegirl44]

Quote:
we will keep ou fingers crossed. Hopefully now that we know, when the nesting time comes...we can watch where they go when we let them out and pay attention when they don't show up for bell/snack time lol it makes me think that maybe we shouldn't get any just because we love them and give Miss G a friend or two, because if they do disappear without us noticing where to, the predator threat is very very real and numerous where we live. Is it fair when the threat is high if they go off into the bush and don't come back?

 

[rivkas]

rivkas, good luck with your keets!! and finding more eggs!! Joe and I just love our Miss Guinea to death since we got her in May. She is a total freak but stole our hearts. After her disappearance scare, of which she is now cured and home every night, for some reason we want more to scare the hell out of us now! weird. lol can you say addicted? we are for sure. Joe is totally blown away that they take care of rattle snakes!! we only have garters as well up north where we are but she gobbles toads and frogs like no tomorrow lol

thanks yea, it's easy to get addicted apparently

Have you tried keeping the pair penned for a day or 2 to see if the Hen is currently laying eggs? The Hens can be incredibly stubborn about where they lay, but they can't hold them in forever... lol.

I did try keeping her in, first day she scooted out with all the rest before I could stop her. 2nd day we kept them ALL in until 3pm but she didn't lay by then, so I followed her to no avail... I guess I'll try again. stubborn is right! I tried retraining her to indoor laying earlier and couldn't get her to lay inside again after we cleaned the once a month coop cleaning. i hope the pullets don't follow her lead when they start laying in the next few weeks

 

[kfacres]

thoughts on breeding my slate hen to a royal purple cock? I'm thinking that's his color- purpleish blue with partial pearling.

 

[kfacres]

thoughts on breeding my slate hen to a royal purple cock? I'm thinking that's his color- purpleish blue with partial pearling.

Would anyone be interested in purchasing this pair? Royal Purple cock and the slate hen?

 

[ijon]

Will a guinea cross with a regular chicken?