Guinea Fowl

[Sisterof2cops]

I currently have 8 adults 7 pearl and 1 white. I have had several hens in the past go broody in the woods to never return, so we kept replacing them. I was told that it is rare that the hens survive incubation and if keets do hatch they are bad parents. I had a hen go broody and did return much to our suprise with 21 keets in tow. I spoke to a good friend of mine about it and he said post it here as I could find no research validating that these fowl co parent. I don't mean the cock protecting the hen and keets by day and abandoning them at night. They have enlisted the rest of the flock, 2 hens as "nannies" to watch batches of the brood, the others are kept on the fringe about 5 ft. away and they use them as guards. If they overstep thier bounds they are quickly put in thier place. Does anyone else have experience with Guinea Fowl "flock parenting" or are my birds just strange?

Dawn

 

[Chatychick]

I personally dont let mine raise the keets as sometimes they leave with them only to return with less. So when I see them with keets I get the babies and raise them as it makes them more friendly also. Yes mine do flock parent as there are usually 4 or more adults with the keets when they do bring them home.

 

[Sisterof2cops]

Thanks for your insight. I am enjoying watching our flock raise the keets. There are 11 remaining as we have had a possum attack and a feral dog attack. My birds even though transitioned to sleep in the coup prefer to roost in the tree next to it. So they are totally free ranged.

Dawn

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Congratulations. Yep in the wild not only will the other females join in so will the bachelor males. The whole predator issue is probably why they set on sooo many eggs. If you can keep the keets they will have odds of being good parents too. My thinking is because we are breeding for a certain trait... color, and tractability, similar to chickens, we are breeding out some of their ""natural"" abilities.

keep us posted on their progress. My part of the world is very much like where Guineas originated.

 

[Sisterof2cops]

Thanks. We lost 2 adults and 2 keets a couple of days ago. Out of 21 keets we are down to nine and 7 adults.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Sigh thats the down side.... for sure.

 

[Sisterof2cops]

Yeah it is. Your foot note makes me giggle though. 2 mi. from the boarder, guess your fowl have passports!!LOL

Dawn

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
LOL... Right now my whole flock of 40 is locked in the coop. The oldest are just getting pink in their cheeks the youngest are at the tweenager point, almost too big to go through Chainlink. The coop is 12 x 16 and will be their home till spring. I start on the run soon. They will have a 16 x 40 run eventually so they wont be deprived of running and flying and chasing. If I have to I am prepared to turn my whole back yard into a flight cage.

I lost my last flock down to the turkeys to Bobcat, coyote, hawks, and mountain lion. We had a big fire in San Diego at the time and it drove all the predators on this side of it into my area..... This time around I need to keep them safe because I want to start a little business supplying feed stores. Untill I can get them conditioned to coming in when I call they will remain locked in.

That whole border thing is the other reason I want them around because they act like walking burglar alarms. My horse sees people in the brush too. She weighs two thousand pounds and I have heard her snort in the night and go trotting about in her paddock. Her corral is 100 x 75 so she can get up some speed. Being jet black makes her invisible in the night and that thundering noise she makes when she moves fast shakes the ground, I cant imagine anyone who would want to hang around if they heard that in the darkness.

 

[perchie.girl]

oh and by the way Sisterof2cops

 

[Sisterof2cops]

Got it, I have a blue roan percheron as well and a belgum draft mule too, both 17 hands and 2.000 lbs each. Between them, the guinea's and 2 200 lb mastiffs I figure if anyone is dumb enough to breech my property they deserve to get shot...

Dawn