First time Guinea Mom and Dad raising keets!

[BennieAnTheJets]

We had Guineas for 8 years and have raised hundreds of keets - but only indoors with a bator and brooder box, so I am quite experienced with that.

No idea how to keep them safe outside but trying now!

ScoopyDoo sat on what I thought were dud eggs but one day - surprise!

I quickly kicked out all the other flock members to give mom and keets a chance but dad came around the back to peeped over the wall eyeing his family, so I let him back in. All's well! He took them under his wing and mom is happy with him, too. He is a great dad - better than mom even!

One terrible accident happened: one keet got under the wall into the next pen and the Guineas there killed it.

The other 5 are doing well for 3 days now. I got them water and food and the parents are doing their job keeping them warm at night.

My next worry: the rain is coming and their pen can flood on one end - oh dear, I will need to put sand and paving stones down or something to keep them dry.

Any advice from experienced Guinea parent supervisors welcome!

Mom:

Family:

Under dad's wings:

Watchful parents:

 

[pozees2]

I have no useful answer here, but they are adorable, and from the little I've read about Guineas I think it's unusual for parents to raise them, so it's great that they are! Only Guinea expert I know here is @R2elk so maybe look him up and see what information he might be able to share with you?

 

[R2elk]

I have no useful answer here, but they are adorable, and from the little I've read about Guineas I think it's unusual for parents to raise them, so it's great that they are! Only Guinea expert I know here is @R2elk so maybe look him up and see what information he might be able to share with you?

BennieAnTheJets is a very knowledgeable guinea owner.

 

[R2elk]

We had Guineas for 8 years and have raised hundreds of keets - but only indoors with a bator and brooder box, so I am quite experienced with that.

No idea how to keep them safe outside but trying now!

ScoopyDoo sat on what I thought were dud eggs but one day - surprise!

I quickly kicked out all the other flock members to give mom and keets a chance but dad came around the back to peeped over the wall eyeing his family, so I let him back in. All's well! He took them under his wing and mom is happy with him, too. He is a great dad - better than mom even!

One terrible accident happened: one keet got under the wall into the next pen and the Guineas there killed it.

The other 5 are doing well for 3 days now. I got them water and food and the parents are doing their job keeping them warm at night.

My next worry: the rain is coming and their pen can flood on one end - oh dear, I will need to put sand and paving stones down or something to keep them dry.

Any advice from experienced Guinea parent supervisors welcome!

Mom:
View attachment 2244057

Family:
View attachment 2244058

Under dad's wings:
View attachment 2244059

Watchful parents:
View attachment 2244060

Congratulations. Hope it all goes well for you. If the parents successfully raise these keets, they will be the easiest ones that you have ever integrated into your flock.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

I think Guineas are wilder and more stand-offish to people than other poultry and that is why they often get a bad reputation - the hens don't like to make nests in close proximity to us and other flock members and we don't give them the conditions they need - but they are great parents when they have what they need.

These two are certainly doing a great job so far, even in the pen!

It is early days, though, and I learned not to brag with Guineas, he he. So any unexpected (by me) thing that someone knows may happen and could be prevented (if it is bad), would be good to know.

R2elk, what do you think?

Caught a happy baby flapping its wings on camera! Yeah!

Building adjacent pen in a hurry:

Five babies:

Tucked in for the night:

Look who's sleeping in the middle! Ah, parenthood!

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Congratulations. Hope it all goes well for you. If the parents successfully raise these keets, they will be the easiest ones that you have ever integrated into your flock.

Thanks, R2elk!

That is what I am hoping for! Easier integration. Would be so cool to see and hoping good for the birds!

Will be interesting to observe if these keets act differently from the box raised ones. They are getting a lot of bacteria and physical challenges already that the others did not get. I hope they don't die from bacteria or other causes. Still have to get game bird starter for them tomorrow - gave the adult crumbles so far - too much calcium and not enough protein, but they are ok so far. Cannot really examine them - not even sure about the colors, seem Coral Blue, maybe one Lavender, maybe a Royal Purple? Most important that they are healthy but I cannot tell. In the box you can see how much the poop and examine their little butts but in this situation I left them alone, mostly. Just added the baby water and crumbles on the floor.

 

[R2elk]

I think Guineas are wilder and more stand-offish to people than other poultry and that is why they often get a bad reputation - the hens don't like to make nests in close proximity to us and other flock members and we don't give them the conditions they need - but they are great parents when they have what they need.

These two are certainly doing a great job so far, even in the pen!

It is early days, though, and I learned not to brag with Guineas, he he. So any unexpected (by me) thing that someone knows may happen and could be prevented (if it is bad), would be good to know.

R2elk, what do you think?

Caught a happy baby flapping its wings on camera! Yeah!
View attachment 2244206

Building adjacent pen in a hurry:
View attachment 2244207

Five babies:
View attachment 2244208

Tucked in for the night:
View attachment 2244210

Look who's sleeping in the middle! Ah, parenthood!
View attachment 2244211

All I can go on is the same stuff that you have read. I never let my guineas hatch their eggs which means I also never let them raise any keets.

Good luck.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

We had Guineas for 8 years and have raised hundreds of keets - but only indoors with a bator and brooder box, so I am quite experienced with that.

No idea how to keep them safe outside but trying now!

ScoopyDoo sat on what I thought were dud eggs but one day - surprise!

I quickly kicked out all the other flock members to give mom and keets a chance but dad came around the back to peeped over the wall eyeing his family, so I let him back in. All's well! He took them under his wing and mom is happy with him, too. He is a great dad - better than mom even!

One terrible accident happened: one keet got under the wall into the next pen and the Guineas there killed it.

The other 5 are doing well for 3 days now. I got them water and food and the parents are doing their job keeping them warm at night.

My next worry: the rain is coming and their pen can flood on one end - oh dear, I will need to put sand and paving stones down or something to keep them dry.

Any advice from experienced Guinea parent supervisors welcome!

Mom:
View attachment 2244057

Family:
View attachment 2244058

Under dad's wings:
View attachment 2244059

Watchful parents:
View attachment 2244060

Congratulations!!! Your parents are so gorgeous - are they both coral blue? I love that color but have so far lost 2/2 Coral blue guinea fowl, one hen to a bobcat and one juvenile to a snake. We just hatched one in our incubator, but I plan on only adding broody raised keets to the flock this year, so another coral blue we won’t be getting...

I am also so envious of your separate quarters for your parents and new keets! Our broodies have to hatch in the coop, in a communal nest, with all of the flock around. That’s been challenging, as has keeping a pen safe enough for the keets. I’m so sorry that you lost a keet to the neighbors! That sounds awful. We have one keet left from our four that hatched five weeks ago. It’s been doing so well free-ranging with its subflock, but I did something dumb today and fed mealworms too close to the dominant male, who pecked the keet and probably hurt it; it was so upset. Mostly though, treats aside, the flock has accepted the keets pretty well. This is my second year trying, and last year had one truly disastrous hatch and one hatch where moms abandoned the lone keet at less than a week old. I’ve been trying to chronicle this year’s experience with broody hatching of keets here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/broody-guinea-hatch.1384178/

Our flock seems very hen communal, with shared nests and keets, maybe because we have 10 hens and 4 cocks. I have read about the cocks’ great parenting skills, but in our flock, only hens have cared for keets; cocks have been indifferent or mildly aggressive. I hope that your keets do well and that you keep updating us!

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Congratulations!!! Your parents are so gorgeous - are they both coral blue? I love that color but have so far lost 2/2 Coral blue guinea fowl, one hen to a bobcat and one juvenile to a snake. We just hatched one in our incubator, but I plan on only adding broody raised keets to the flock this year, so another coral blue we won’t be getting...

I am also so envious of your separate quarters for your parents and new keets! Our broodies have to hatch in the coop, in a communal nest, with all of the flock around. That’s been challenging, as has keeping a pen safe enough for the keets. I’m so sorry that you lost a keet to the neighbors! That sounds awful. We have one keet left from our four that hatched five weeks ago. It’s been doing so well free-ranging with its subflock, but I did something dumb today and fed mealworms too close to the dominant male, who pecked the keet and probably hurt it; it was so upset. Mostly though, treats aside, the flock has accepted the keets pretty well. This is my second year trying, and last year had one truly disastrous hatch and one hatch where moms abandoned the lone keet at less than a week old. I’ve been trying to chronicle this year’s experience with broody hatching of keets here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/broody-guinea-hatch.1384178/

Our flock seems very hen communal, with shared nests and keets, maybe because we have 10 hens and 4 cocks. I have read about the cocks’ great parenting skills, but in our flock, only hens have cared for keets; cocks have been indifferent or mildly aggressive. I hope that your keets do well and that you keep updating us!

Hey again, Mixed Flock enthusiast!

I see your thread - need more time to give it enough attention - we should definitely compare notes and observations! Every situation is different and individual Guineas are as different as individual people! I have seen this in our flock. Still some things are the same and it may help our Guineas if we know as much as possible.

Separate pens are easily constructed - just give me my skill saw, electric drill, screwdriver, staple gun, some plywood, 2x4s, and screws - maybe a few pieces of hardware (hinges, locks, carabiner hooks) and some plastic or wire mesh. You can make them any size to fit into your safe enclosures. Basically we have a coop and connected run that is as closed as possible to all sorts of predators with hardwire cloth (even on the run floor). Then I built inside pens that made sense. Too many by now, ha ha.

Always have to observe the Guineas and they often cancel my plans and make me rush to fix something else for them.

Oh, and, yes, they are both Coral Blue. Pearl Gray, Coral Blue, and Buff Dundotte are my fav colors - we also got Lavender, Royal Purple, and Pastel as babies and kept some of them (only one Royal Purple and one Pastel ever hatched).

We never used to get Coral Blue babies - only 2 in 6 years out of hundreds - then one of my favorite males, Blue, died after a year of nursing him along. He was such a personality, still out with the flock and dustbathing and holding his position in the flock until the last day. He was a real trooper and a strong and confident bird, even when his weight was down to nothing. He still held his own in the flock and went out free-ranging. In his last days he was still jumping up to fetch Japanese Beetles from our roses. I thought he would turn around and come back - he never gave up until the last 24 hours. He gave me time to say a final good-bye in person and then left. He was like a hairbrush with feathers on, so thin, in the end. When he died we had a Coral Blue hatch and I just had to keep him. Named him "Baby Blue" and he is the dad of this bunch now. Another Coral Blue hatched that year and my husband named her ScoobyDoo to go with Baby Blue and she is the mom now.

Grandpa Blue:

Blue at the end:

My first embroidery was a Blue portrait:

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Hey again, Mixed Flock enthusiast!

I see your thread - need more time to give it enough attention - we should definitely compare notes and observations! Every situation is different and individual Guineas are as different as individual people! I have seen this in our flock. Still some things are the same and it may help our Guineas if we know as much as possible.

Separate pens are easily constructed - just give me my skill saw, electric drill, screwdriver, staple gun, some plywood, 2x4s, and screws - maybe a few pieces of hardware (hinges, locks, carabiner hooks) and some plastic or wire mesh. You can make them any size to fit into your safe enclosures. Basically we have a coop and connected run that is as closed as possible to all sorts of predators with hardwire cloth (even on the run floor). Then I built inside pens that made sense. Too many by now, ha ha.

Always have to observe the Guineas and they often cancel my plans and make me rush to fix something else for them.

Oh, and, yes, they are both Coral Blue. Pearl Gray, Coral Blue, and Buff Dundotte are my fav colors - we also got Lavender, Royal Purple, and Pastel as babies and kept some of them (only one Royal Purple and one Pastel).

We never used to get Coral Blue babies - only 2 in 6 years out of hundreds - then one of my favorite males, Blue, died after a year of nursing him along. He was such a personality, still out with the flock and dustbathing and holding his position in the flock until the last day. He was like a hairbrush with feathers on, so thin, in the end. Anyway, when he died we had a Coral Blue hatch and I just had to keep him. Named him "Baby Blue" and he is the dad of this bunch now. Another Coral Blue hatched that year and my husband named her ScoobyDoo to go with Baby Blue and she is the mom now.

Ah, poor Blue! What disease did he have to waste away like that? Yes, I love lavender and coral blue too. I also ended up with a slate keet I purchased last year, along with a “Violet” keet, that I’m not sure is really violet... At any rate, I really love the slate and violet colors as well. Here’s a pic of Slate and Violet together. Wish I had a lavender in that pic too. It would be great to have lavender, coral blue, and slate guineas - goals!