Free roaming guinea hen - nest full of babies

[TDFbound]

Hello! My wife and I just started renting a house that has an existing flock of guinea hens. Years ago, they were raised with chickens and all learned to go into a coop at night. Even though the chickens were removed a couple years ago, the guineas have kept up the habit of returning to the coop, and have been teaching the new ones to do the same. Great.

However, one of the hens just hatched about ten new babies in a raised planter elsewhere in the yard, so now I need to know what to do for these little guys to help them out.

They just hatched within the last day or two, and they look fine for now. Do I need to give them a water source where they are? They definitely can't leave the raised planter yet, the sides are about a foot tall with a three foot drop to the ground from there. I don't want them to die in there. There are about 10-12 adult guinea hens running around the yard, but I saw evidence of at least a couple that were got by predators. The house has been vacant for almost a year, so the flock has been on its own for a while. I don't want the flock to get all eaten and disappear, so I'd like to make sure at least some of the babies live to keep the flock going and preserve their habits of returning into a coop at night.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[GodLovesU]

Have you checked out the Guinea Forum yet? There might be some information there. There’s also a collection of Guinea articles here.

 

[TDFbound]

Have you checked out the Guinea Forum yet? There might be some information there. There’s also a collection of Guinea articles here.

Thanks, I just read through those links. I'll get some food for them, and I guess a little watering thing too to hang on the inside of the planter box?

 

[TDFbound]

Update- the babies were all out in the yard when I got there- along with another momma and a pile of her own babies too! I counted 20 in all. I was able to herd them into the coop, gave them water and some high protein food. That's about the best I can do for them right now, I'll check on them each day as we continue to prep to move in.