First time mom - Day one

[fishman65]

Sorry to burst your bubble but guinea moms are terrible moms. It would be better to take the keets from her and brood them yourself. In the wild their survival rate is quite low. I lost over 20 keets in the first week of letting mom handle things, and ended up out about 35 keets from my first lesson in wild raised guineas. Now i will let mom set the eggs and hatch them but she gets only 2 days in charge, after that i take them and brood them and let her go back to laying eggs. Sorry to bring such bad news but I have learned a hard lesson and want to try to save my BYC friends from the same heartbreak of nature. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

[cracking up]

Yeah I've seen a lot of posts about the keets dwindling down to nothing. They just look so much healthier and happier then the ones that are in the brooder. I know I'm either going to have to lock them all up - and the mom will hate that - or take them away or just let them go. I'll let you know what happens. Right now she seems to have twelve that we have counted. She had 24 eggs so there are probably more under there. I didn't think any would hatch because she laid them in the hot sun and the rain just right in the middle of nowhere.

 

[lcw]

yes please keep us updated.

 

[cracking up]

She waited for the knee high grass to dry off and took them on the long trek down the hill. A couple of other guineas joined in and a few curious chickens were told it was none of their business. When they made it down I gave them a little water and some food. They acted like they were starving. Right now there are 12. It's hard for me to leave them alone. I hope she finds a safe place for them. There are plenty of hiding spots around.

 

[lcw]

Quote:
CUTE!!

 

[cracking up]

When I went back after about 20 minutes, there were only 10. I watched for a while and was real surprised to see one of the adult guineas go after a keet. He stomped it and pecked and was carrying it off by the wing. I snatched it away and a while later a different one did the same thing to another keet, so I gathered them all up and put them in the brooder. I just couldn't let them get pulled apart. I'm going to call the feed store and see if they want them. Thanks for all your nice comments. Maybe next time we can prepare something for the mom and keets - just don't know how I would get her into a room.

 

[lcw]

put the mom and keets together.

 

[cracking up]

Where? in the bedroom?

 

[lcw]

do you have an out building.

 

[b.hromada]

Awwwww.

She looks like a good mommy!