Guinea keet listless, won't eat or drink

[Nellie Rose]

You'll need a baby bird crumble for t he keets. They eat less and need higher nutrition

ok will do. Flock raiser says it is good for keets but I will get to the feed store soon. Anything I can suppliment for the time being. I've got mealworms, super worms, crickets, and dubia roaches. Maybe they'd like the roaches? They are very high in nutrients, I feed them to my lizards.
I have started adding vitamins and nutridrench to water to add a little boost.

Thank you for your help btw, I really appreciate it.

 

[Nellie Rose]

Keets freak out when anything new is introduced. You can try the bugs, but you should also introduce grit.

Sounds good, thanks! I'll update later and post pics of the other babies!
Staying positive that I did my best with the deceased baby. And hoping it wasn't something I did.
Is 5 keets enough for a guinea flock? I've read absolute minimum is 3, but minimum order was 6 so want to make sure. They are being raised with baby chicks and seem to have bonded well. Ducks and gosling sleep together while chicks and keets sleep together all cuddled up it is so cute.
I have more chicks coming this week as well. I'll likely be keeping them separate for a few days while they get their sealegs.

 

[SmiYa0126]

What's the space you have?

 

[Nellie Rose]

What's the space you have?

Brooder or outdoors?

Brooder is 6×4, so 24 square foot.

Enclosed run outdoors is 200 square foot, main coop is around 60 I forget the exact number, I am upgrading to a 10×10 soon, so 100 square feet, by January.
Second coop is 10 square feet with a 50 square ft run, and 100 square foot free range area.

There is a fenced in area around Enclosed run, 500 additional square ft, and free ranging space in the yard and the back woods, about an acre.

I am nervous about the guineas just leaving, since they are generally more wild than chickens, but I'm going to keep them locked in the coop and run for a few months before free ranging, they are being raised with chicks and will continue to live with them as they age, and I am doing a lot of handling and hand feeding to try and get them as tame as possible. I am also going to instal outdoor roosts to try and discourage them from sleeping in trees, and draping predator nets over top of fenced in area, to protect from owls/hawks/falcons/eagles should they still choose to roost outdoors.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Guineas and chickens don't mix well. Chickens don't understand guineas which leads to scared chickens and lots of broken feathers. If you handle your guineas and have a call for them they will be trained to come to your voice. They can fly pretty well, you might not be able to keep them penned. Do you have close neighbors? Guineas are really loud....

 

[Nellie Rose]

Guineas and chickens don't mix well. Chickens don't understand guineas which leads to scared chickens and lots of broken feathers. If you handle your guineas and have a call for them they will be trained to come to your voice. They can fly pretty well, you might not be able to keep them penned. Do you have close neighbors? Guineas are really loud....

I do have neighbors, but I spoke to them before ordering and they said they didn't mind. They've both got roosters that crow 24/7 and are used to the livestock noises. One has screaming goats... they wake me up every morning.

Hmm, I read that raising them with chicks can help them calm down, if it isn't working out I can always separate and house them apart. I've got about 2 acres to play with.
I have been working on a call, but since all they are eating is grower crumbles, no treats yet, it's just the groundwork. They are very tolerant of handling. I let them out and sit on the floor and they climb all over me.

I did lots of reading before ordering, I've wanted them a long time, both because of their reputation of clearing a yard of ticks and because they are basically the guard dogs of the backyard fowl world

As for their flying that is fine. I don't expect to keep them penned, but they'll be in a fully enclosed run for maybe six months. I've read about keeping them penned when young and when first moving outside so they learn where home is and don't disappear.

I've never had them before so everything I "know" comes from reading online, looking at forums, and you tube, so I know some of the info I have could be incorrect. I figure it'll be a learning journey.