Crippled Guinea Keet

[Sydney65]

One crummy weekend,down 2 birds, I keep my remaining female locked up now.I have a covered kennel she can be in outside of the run, but have learned that the females lead the boys astray. As long as she's locked up, they happily graze nearby.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

One crummy weekend,down 2 birds, I keep my remaining female locked up now.I have a covered kennel she can be in outside of the run, but have learned that the females lead the boys astray. As long as she's locked up, they happily graze nearby.

Oh no, what happened??? The road??? I’m so sorry!!!

 

[Ggg]

Thank you. I will humanely put it down.

On a sad note, I am down to 13 adults. I actually saw a car run down one of my male Guineas this morning. After the deed, I think they looked up and seen that I had witnessed them doing it.

Btw There’s no way to humanely kill an animal unless it’s taken to the vet and done properly with sedation first.

 

[R2elk]

Btw There’s no way to humanely kill an animal unless it’s taken to the vet and done properly with sedation first.

This is only your opinion and is not a fact.

 

[southwind00]

Btw There’s no way to humanely kill an animal unless it’s taken to the vet and done properly with sedation first.

What your saying then is since the dawn of man, no animal has ever been put down humanely until the chemicals they used now where discovered.

 

[Sydney65]

Haven't lost anymore, that crummy weekend was when I lost Bella and Lucy.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Haven't lost anymore, that crummy weekend was when I lost Bella and Lucy.

Oh I’m relives to hear that! Not that you lost Bella and Lucy of course, but that the rest are still good. I still have my road issues. Did you see the pic of the silt fence that I put up? Now there’s a new trail that I need to block...

 

[Vaughnr007]

I am increasing my Guinea flock by 16. I have 14 adults. I have a keet that is about 5 weeks old in a group of 6. It was a late hatcher and had bad splayed legs from the beginning. I did the band-aid but it has not gotten much better. One of its legs goes to the side. It is not roosting on the pole with the others but stays on the ground. I figure it needs its leg strength to get airborne. Otherwise, the keet eats and is feathering normally.

My Guineas free range, and I am wondering if this Guinea will make it. They have the choice to stay in a spacious coop but it. I have a blind hen that stays in the coop. Am I prolonging a life that isn't going to be a good one? Does anyone have a similar experience where a Guinea with a leg deformity made it? Legs are such an important aspect of a Guinea. This keet seems to run around more on its belly. It gets around OK but just not as fast.

Don't give up hope. The smallest of my last hatch had a splayed leg. Being a newby to raising birds, I didn't do anything. When I moved them from a small brooder in the house to a larger one in th he garage, he seemed to get better. I think it was from more room to run. I put them into the guinea coop a couple of nights ago. the only way I can recognize him today is from his seize, he's still the runt of his group.

 

[Frog Song Farm]

Leg out to the side sounds like a rotated femur issue, not a splayed leg. Splayed legs are usually easily corrected because they are usually caused by an injury and will heal fine if braced soon enough, but that is not usually the case with a rotated femur which is usually a genetic deformity, not an injury. Rotated femur is a painful condition for the bird to live with, and it only gets worse as the bird gains weight with age/growth. Unless you want to pay for the bird to have costly corrective surgery done by an avian vet, IMO it is probably best to put the bird out of it's misery...

Sorry I could not be of more help... but I have tried and failed to help several keets over the past couple of years with this condition. After a few days of watching them suffer with no response to the therapy and braces, I just put them down.

Also another thing to consider is that since a rotated femur is usually a genetic problem, if that bird is allowed to suffer thru life you then run the risk of that bird breeding and producing many keets with the same issue.

I ordered some guinea hatching eggs off of eBay this year. 5 of 13 hatched, and of those 3 look like they have this rotated femur deformity. Sigh, risk you take with eBay I guess. Two only slightly and can still walk normal, but one is really bad (of course the only white one out of the bunch). He eats voraciously and scoots around the brooder, but what quality of life? I’m really glad I found this thread so now I know what I’m facing. I think I will have to bite the bullet and put him down (humanely, sans anesthetizing drugs).

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I ordered some guinea hatching eggs off of eBay this year. 5 of 13 hatched, and of those 3 look like they have this rotated femur deformity. Sigh, risk you take with eBay I guess. Two only slightly and can still walk normal, but one is really bad (of course the only white one out of the bunch). He eats voraciously and scoots around the brooder, but what quality of life? I’m really glad I found this thread so now I know what I’m facing. I think I will have to bite the bullet and put him down (humanely, sans anesthetizing drugs).

I’m sorry to hear that. What a difficult decision!!!