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- #71
- Jan 26, 2015
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It's true that 15 to 30 is the minimum number of guineas you can buy from hatcheries. Guinea keets are very tiny and it takes that many for them to keep warm during shipment. Even then a few of them may not survive. A better option is to buy them locally. Most people who have guineas will soon have more than they need. Since I have 8 female guineas I usually have more than 100 babies a year to sell. I usually like to sell a minimum of 5 or 6. I also will sell them as fully feathered young birds which is a better option for those who don't want to fool with heat lamps. No, I am not saying this to advertise. But it should be fairly easy to find guineas in your area during the summer hatching months.
Don't feel bad if you can't find them locally. I was hooked up with a local person I found on this message well in advance of Early summer to get 18 day old keets. Turned out her Guineas weren't laying when she thought they would (possibly due to our wet weather this year), and she recommended I try elsewhere. I found a hatchery online to place a shared order of Guineas and chicks and was able to get them in mid-June. I kept my eye on Craig's list and only saw a few keets starting to be advertised in late August, which was too late in the year for me. I wanted the fowl to be out free ranging and filling up with bugs before it got too cold out.