First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[mountain mom]

And now the promised video of Guinea noise in the hen house!


Please turn your volume up as much s possible. The noise was louder and there was more of it, until I opened the door and stuck my phone inside, but you will get the idea of the noise Guineas make.... I feel sorry for the poor chickens, the guineas never shut up!

HOLY. CRAP. I am never, ever getting guineas. My neighbors, though not too close, would never forgive me. Sound carries pretty far here in the foothills. And, I would probably decide to let them free, and hope the fox, eagle, hawk, neighborhood dogs, whatever would take them down!
Actually, I have thrown around the idea of "free range" (as in no fences, let them completely roam) guineas. I would make them a shelter in the huge cottonwood that is growing in the ravine, and just let them be free. Mostly so I could watch them, and for pest control (we have horses on either side of us, so tons of flies). BUT, all your stories have completely turned me against them. I am getting a goat instead.

I forgot to add, my kids thought it was hysterical!

 

[duluthralphie]

HOLY. CRAP. I am never, ever getting guineas. My neighbors, though not too close, would never forgive me. Sound carries pretty far here in the foothills. And, I would probably decide to let them free, and hope the fox, eagle, hawk, neighborhood dogs, whatever would take them down!
Actually, I have thrown around the idea of "free range" (as in no fences, let them completely roam) guineas. I would make them a shelter in the huge cottonwood that is growing in the ravine, and just let them be free. Mostly so I could watch them, and for pest control (we have horses on either side of us, so tons of flies). BUT, all your stories have completely turned me against them. I am getting a goat instead.

I forgot to add, my kids thought it was hysterical!

LOL..

I am actually making the guineas their own area this summer. I will have an enclosed pen, with a pole shed type coop for them. I will lock them in their enclosure if they try to invade the chicken coop next year.

They are fun during the summer, BUT they never shut up, ever! All summer long I here them. I hope the noise keeps predators away somewhat. ( I wish they would have been as loud as they were before I opened the door to record them. Our house is over 100 yards from the coop and I hear them all day long in the coop, if they are roaming we hear them inside the house which is locked up tight for winter, with the TV on!


I am thinking of getting a goat or a couple Dexters, (look them up) to eat and have babies.


Here is a post I put on the MN thread, I want to share it here because I value all of you as friends and am concerned about this problem,,,,thanks


I went out at 8 am to gather eggs and let the birds out early today, thinking the guinea were being egg eaters.

There was not one egg in the nest box! I doubt the guineas ate them, I would think I would find some trace of eggs or shells if they did. I went out at 11 am to gather eggs and to feed food scraps to the chickens, 2 eggs! That's all!.

33 pullets and 2 eggs! The chickens were all inside the coop when I went out. It is a nice day here, 18 degrees above, light snow and feels warm outside, yet they were all inside and only 2 eggs.

I am worried, these are chickens all hatched June 1st, they should not be molting, they should be laying. They are all eating and drinking well. I gave them fresh water yesterday, which showed their normal use of water.

I have feeders outside and inside the coop, besides feeding them left overs and scratch outside. The inside feeder showed heavier use than normal, which is understandable with the colder weather we had.

I do have a couple pullets with some feather missing on their backs, but I attribute that the poorly mannered guineas. Do pullets go through a molt?


I even checked the artificial light and timer I have hanging, it appears to be working...


Any Ideas?

I have people wanting eggs and no eggs! I being an idiot had too many eggs on Wednesday so I gave away 3 dozen to a good friend.....DUMB of me. I will only give away eggs on a Monday from now on. I count on 2 dozen eggs a day when I only get 2-4 it hurts....

 

[mountain mom]

LOL..

I am actually making the guineas their own area this summer. I will have an enclosed pen, with a pole shed type coop for them. I will lock them in their enclosure if they try to invade the chicken coop next year.

They are fun during the summer, BUT they never shut up, ever! All summer long I here them. I hope the noise keeps predators away somewhat. ( I wish they would have been as loud as they were before I opened the door to record them. Our house is over 100 yards from the coop and I hear them all day long in the coop, if they are roaming we hear them inside the house which is locked up tight for winter, with the TV on!


I am thinking of getting a goat or a couple Dexters, (look them up) to eat and have babies.


Here is a post I put on the MN thread, I want to share it here because I value all of you as friends and am concerned about this problem,,,,thanks


I went out at 8 am to gather eggs and let the birds out early today, thinking the guinea were being egg eaters.

There was not one egg in the nest box! I doubt the guineas ate them, I would think I would find some trace of eggs or shells if they did. I went out at 11 am to gather eggs and to feed food scraps to the chickens, 2 eggs! That's all!.

33 pullets and 2 eggs! The chickens were all inside the coop when I went out. It is a nice day here, 18 degrees above, light snow and feels warm outside, yet they were all inside and only 2 eggs.

I am worried, these are chickens all hatched June 1st, they should not be molting, they should be laying. They are all eating and drinking well. I gave them fresh water yesterday, which showed their normal use of water.

I have feeders outside and inside the coop, besides feeding them left overs and scratch outside. The inside feeder showed heavier use than normal, which is understandable with the colder weather we had.

I do have a couple pullets with some feather missing on their backs, but I attribute that the poorly mannered guineas. Do pullets go through a molt?


I even checked the artificial light and timer I have hanging, it appears to be working...


Any Ideas?

I have people wanting eggs and no eggs! I being an idiot had too many eggs on Wednesday so I gave away 3 dozen to a good friend.....DUMB of me. I will only give away eggs on a Monday from now on. I count on 2 dozen eggs a day when I only get 2-4 it hurts....

I just may be able to convince my husband to get a cow if it is a Dexter! Off to work I go...

On your egg front:
Our hens were hatched end of March, technically should not have molted (they say around a year and a half will be molting age), but did starting in November. We are currently not getting any eggs.
I wonder if they are indeed starting to molt. I have one who is just now starting.
The tell tale sign will be feathers in the coop. You may not think much of a couple here and there, but check them to see if they match the girls who are missing feathers. I would think if it was the guineas, there would be a bit of blood as well. A forced pluck will likely bleed a bit.
I would also check poop, listen for sneezing, etc. just to be sure it isn't anything else.
Even with the light, I think some gals just slow down in the winter because they use more food energy for heat instead of egg production. And if they are indeed going through a molt, they will not lay. They can't do both. Also, it seems once one starts molting, everyone will. Kind of like cycle syncing.
That is what my research has yielded for me on the , "where the h-e-double hockey sticks are my eggs?!" search. Hopefully none of you find that spelling offensive and report me.

 

[duluthralphie]

I just may be able to convince my husband to get a cow if it is a Dexter! Off to work I go...

On your egg front:
Our hens were hatched end of March, technically should not have molted (they say around a year and a half will be molting age), but did starting in November. We are currently not getting any eggs.
I wonder if they are indeed starting to molt. I have one who is just now starting.
The tell tale sign will be feathers in the coop. You may not think much of a couple here and there, but check them to see if they match the girls who are missing feathers. I would think if it was the guineas, there would be a bit of blood as well. A forced pluck will likely bleed a bit.
I would also check poop, listen for sneezing, etc. just to be sure it isn't anything else.
Even with the light, I think some gals just slow down in the winter because they use more food energy for heat instead of egg production. And if they are indeed going through a molt, they will not lay. They can't do both. Also, it seems once one starts molting, everyone will. Kind of like cycle syncing.
That is what my research has yielded for me on the , "where the h-e-double hockey sticks are my eggs?!" search. Hopefully none of you find that spelling offensive and report me.

After reading that my virgin eyes and ears are bleeding gallons of deep red blood!


There is no blood or even a bruise where the feathers are missing. I noticed that this morning and thought " self, that is weird, feathers missing bare skin and not a scratch or drop of blood"...That is what I told myself.


I notice there are others losing feathers also, from there backs. With Guineas they normally pull at head and tail feathers and not in the middle of the back. Is that where a molt starts?

It is weird to see so many birds with tufted up feathers on their backs. I am going out to see if I can get some pictures and check for feathers in the coop, or more feathers than normal.

 

[duluthralphie]

Here are some pictures of their backs. I cannot say the coop is loaded with feathers..



Where the above one is white on her back is normally red, I have many of this breed, that look like this, whatever breed she is..



This is "ICU Baby" she is the bottom of the pecking order, I love her, she is so sweet, but because of her color if there is any blood I see it.







I picked them up and looked for mites or lice an saw none.

Does it look like the start of a molt? How long would a molt on these young ones last?

 

[mountain mom]

After reading that my virgin eyes and ears are bleeding gallons of deep red blood!


There is no blood or even a bruise where the feathers are missing. I noticed that this morning and thought " self, that is weird, feathers missing bare skin and not a scratch or drop of blood"...That is what I told myself.


I notice there are others losing feathers also, from there backs. With Guineas they normally pull at head and tail feathers and not in the middle of the back. Is that where a molt starts?

It is weird to see so many birds with tufted up feathers on their backs. I am going out to see if I can get some pictures and check for feathers in the coop, or more feathers than normal.

Haha! Score one for me!

A molt will start in various places, typically with the back. My gals started on their necks.
If you look up molting, there are all sorts of humiliating pictures of chickens running around in various degrees of neckidness.

There is a roo in with them, correct? Your handsome Dixie? His name is escaping me. Is he getting aggressive?

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm coming up with mice or rats. do any of those feathers have a clipped or blunt ended appearance to them??? Can you mount a game camera in the coop?

 

[holm25]

Can you guys think of a name for our two turkey hens.

 

[holm25]

Darn EE I appreciate her trying to make picking eggs easier but how did she get up there without the basket tipping over.

 

[JessicaThistle]

Ralph: I was also wondering if maybe Rick or another roo was getting rough? I'm not familiar with the molt as this is my hen's first winter but that feather loss seems localized. (Yep, 10 years in the medical field right there). It seems more like aggressive roo, feather picking or someone else picking feathers to me.

holm: I LOVE that pic. Stick a silkie in that basket and you'd have an instant broody.