Guinea Keets Coming Soon...Have Arrived!

[DeAnzaJig]

Hello Group!

I am very excited! I have 18 Guinea Keets (and 12 various chicks) scheduled to arrive next week.

This is my first time raising any type of fowl, but I have done extensive reading on this wonderful website and other GF sources. I have had guineas in my head for many years and finally am in the right spot. My main reason for acquiring them is tick control.

This is a picture of my brooder. The base is a children's pool we don't use any more. My dad built the frame from scraps of wood he had laying around and some extra chicken wire. It is removeable so I can take everyone outside for grass and fresh air when they get a little bigger. I plan on keeping it in my parlor until I can move them to their as of yet still unfinished coop.

Today I am going to get the heat lamp set up and test the temps.

Do you just leave the thermometer in the brooder the whole time, even when the Keets arrive?

Thanks!

 

[red horse ranch]

It looks like you will have a pretty good set up. I'm glad to see that you have cardboard around the edges since guinea keets can easily get thru chicken wire the first week or two. What type of bedding have you planned on? Pine chips will work okay once they are a few weeks old but you should have it covered in the beginning to keep the newborns from eating it instead of their food. I use old towels since they need to be on a surface that is not slick. Another suggestion is to have half of the circle covered (top and sides) to hold in the heat and prevent any drafts from the window above them.
Some people use a brooder thermometer to constantly monitor the temperature but I don't. Once the brooder is warmed up I use the babies themselves to let me know if they are too hot or too cold. They will huddle together if chilled and get away from the light if it is too hot.
I hope your little ones arrive safely and healthy. And that you have many years of enjoyment from them. Keep us posted and feel free to ask questions. There's usually someone on the forum here that can help.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Thank you for the nice post, red horse!

I got the call this morning to pick them up at the post office. When we got home, I dipped their beaks in the water and spread some additional crumbles around. I lined the floor with paper towels and will wait on the pine chips.

They are so cute! The majority are pearls, but we have one white keet ( my daughter named it Snow White), and a brown/white one. They are so soft and their peeps are sweet. I love how they sleep in a pile with their legs stretched out.

Can you pick them up too much? My daughter has me picking them up for her to pet one at a time. She really likes their toes.

They are hard to take pictures of in the brooder.

 

[red horse ranch]

Congratulations on your new babies!

I'm so glad they arrived safely for you. They are adorable.

I don't think you can pick them up too much. If you want them to be tamed that's what you need to do. Enjoy!

 

[R2elk]

Thank you for the nice post, red horse!

I got the call this morning to pick them up at the post office. When we got home, I dipped their beaks in the water and spread some additional crumbles around. I lined the floor with paper towels and will wait on the pine chips.

They are so cute! The majority are pearls, but we have one white keet ( my daughter named it Snow White), and a brown/white one. They are so soft and their peeps are sweet. I love how they sleep in a pile with their legs stretched out.

Can you pick them up too much? My daughter has me picking them up for her to pet one at a time. She really likes their toes.

They are hard to take pictures of in the brooder.

The majority of the keets in your photo are lavenders. I can see at least 10 lavenders, one white, one pearl and one chick.

Please enjoy them and good luck.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Thanks for the color correction, r2elk. . I am still learning. . At least I won't be disappointed when they grow up.

How can you tell the difference between lavender and pearl ?

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for the color correction, r2elk.

. I am still learning.

. At least I won't be disappointed when they grow up.

How can you tell the difference between lavender and pearl ?

The lavenders are the gray looking ones with the broad gray stripe on their heads. The pearl one is the brown one with a broad dark almost black stripe on its head at the top of your photo.

Pearl gray keet

http://guineas.com/colorchart/color/pearlk2.jpg

Lavender keet

http://guineas.com/colorchart/color/lavstrio.jpg

Guinea Fowl color chart

http://guineas.com/colorchart/

 

[DeAnzaJig]

My Keets are a week old!

They are losing their fluff and starting to get feathers on their wings and tail.

I love how they sleep with their legs stretched out. Will they still do that as adults?

My progress at 'taming' them is poor. They freak out when I reach in to pick them up and run away from my hand. I pick them each up twice a day and hold them and pet them for a few minutes. Usually they settle down, but are not relaxed. I think the main impediment is my 3 and 5 year old children. Their enthusiasm to watch, touch, and be around the guineas is high, which is good, but their voices are loud and their movements are erratic.

My father is helping me convert an old storage shed in our yard into a guinea coop. We plan to add an addition on the back to double it's size.

We spent about four hours clearing out the brush and large amount of pavers the shed was sitting on and digging four of the six post holes.

Once we sink the posts we will lift the shed on top and build out the addition. The coop will be approximately 2 ft off the ground.

I have two questions.

When can I start feeding the guineas something other than the starter?

When I move them to their coop for their six week orientation period, can I take them out and let them peck in the yard (enclosed) for an hour or so once a day? Or will that mess up their attachment to their home? I want to free range them during the day and put them back at night.

Thanks!

 

[DeAnzaJig]

Guineas are doing well and getting larger. They are about 2.5 weeks old. A few of them will jump/fly onto the lowest beam in the brooder. It looks like they are practicing how to roost.

Today they were very excited when I dumped an armload of cut grass into the brooder for the first time. They had so much fun with it. When they were napping they looked like chicks in an Easter basket.

My daughter is excited that some will eat food out of her hand and has gotten very good at holding them.

More coop progress has been made. Today my dad engineered a way to lift the shed onto the 2 ft high platform.

Next step is to run power to it and start building the other half.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

The guineas and our lone chick are 3 weeks old!

They are spending more time sitting on the beams and like to run around and flap their wings.

I started putting large pine shavings in the bottom of the brooder and added a screened top when I found one bird perched on the rim.

I moved their water bottles onto a little wooden stand because they had filled up with wood shavings and soaked the newspaper underneath making everything damp. The guineas have no trouble drinking from them.

It's been raining here for the last few days, so no coop progress. Hopefully we'll be able to build out the other half and start fencing in their run over the next few days.

I really love watching the guineas and listening to their sounds. My kids really enjoy them and wake me up extra early so we can 'pamper them' as my daughter likes to say (ie, feed them and change their bedding)