Guinea talk.

[pattyhen]

The little pocket keet is the same size. Are you going to leave him with the newly hatched. As long as he is eatting and drinking he may eventually catch up. If not you can have your pocket full of a little keet.

Congrats on the new egg. Is is tan with brown spots? That's what Mary Janes look like. She is still laying real little eggs I guess she is just practicing until she can get it down pat.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

She is too adorable. Before I took her out of the big coop this morning, she was running around like everyone else and kept flapping her wings like they do, except she doesn't have a hint of feathers yet. It reminded me of a little kid tagging along behind their bigger sibling trying to act like them. I've had runts before but she seems extreme. At 8 or 9 days old she shouldn't be the same size as a new hatch! I will be sad when she starts catching up, because she is so cute, but I'll be very, very relieved as well. Her legs have gotten longer, as when I watched hr this morning it was not so hard for her to reach the food in the feeder, so that is a good thing. I was thinking if she did stay that size she would be better off on my shoulder so I wouldn't squish her (plus I don't really ever have a shirt pocket). I'll need to make her clothes to keep her warm. Either way, her name could be Polly - like the Polly Pocket kids toys, or Polly the parrot on a pirate's shoulder. I put her with the new hatches because I worry she is going to try to go out into the run with the bigger kids and one of the older guineas or the turkeys will attack her. As long as more than 7 hatch I will keep her with the new hatches. 7 are presold to the guy who picked up keets from me last weekend. I give the new hatches a vitamin/electrolyte/probiotic supplement in their water, and maybe that will be the boost she needs to get growing.


I used to have an outsider guinea similar to what you are describing, GlennLee. I am trying to picture it in my mind and I think it was my pearl female and I think it was when I had more females than males. Wherever the group would go, she would stay 15' or so away, never part of the group. It was like that for several months, and then one day she was with the group! When maturity hit this past spring, the lavender male started chasing purple male relentlessly. I really thought purple male was a girl for a long time (I swear I heard him buckwheat before). During a chase session I even saw lavender mount him! I guess that was a dominance thing, though, because obviously he turned out to be male. It confused me for a week or so, though, and I kept watching them and going back and forth over whether it was male rivalry or resistance to mating. One day I was watching and purple tried to do a sneak attack mating session on a female that was laying in the grass looking for bugs, so that confirmed gender for me lol. I really am still sad about losing purple. He was a very good guinea compared to the lavender male. The lavender male is like a high school football jock that thinks he is something big and special but is really just a cocky bully. He has a bigger horn and wattles than purple and he has a bad attitude to go along with them. Now that I think about it, something else has changed. When purple was around, lavender would go on the deck railing every morning chatter very loudly, similar to how a rooster crows. I think it was some sort of dominance declaration or something. He doesn't do it anymore.

GlennLee, remind me again how old your birds are. I have two older keets about 2 months old and they fly up into the tree with the turkeys sometimes. I bet the table is not too high and if you leave it that height they will use it eventually. At anything past 3-4 weeks old, 2' is definitely not too high for them. When I made my treehouse coop, I made sure to have all of my roosts at about the same height just for the reason you are describing. I know some people do ladder roosts but I wanted to minimize squabbling. Of course, they still wanted to fight over prime "sections" or corners. There's just no satisfying the creeps. When I got my fat bottom hens, I built a ladder up to the roosts and the guineas use it as well even though they never used a ladder before. Lazy or smart, they will use whatever method is easiest, I suppose. The roosts in that coop are about 3' high, I think.

We got the same storm you did. It really poured down and was windy, but it didn't last all night. If I had gone out and the run was open and birds were gone, I'm pretty sure I'd have an anxiety attack. I'm glad everyone was safe.

Let's see, what else did I want to comment on? You gave me some ideas for how I can make a nestbox the guineas would actually use. I think it is too late for my current adults, but maybe I can convince my new generation to lay in the coop.

Oh yeah, I wanted to mention why I refer to my guineas by their colors rather than giving them names. I have found with my chickens, at least, any bird that I give a name to or even look at with a twinkle in my eye and a momentary thought of it being a favorite of mine becomes dinner to a predator within a month or so. So, for the sake of the birds' lives and my sanity, I refrain from giving names, though some of my chickens have "unofficial" names (Rooster, Chickener, Hawk Bait, and Snakehead). The turkeys' names are Trex (T. Rex) and Other (shortened from "that other turkey"). I think those names are just dumb enough to keep a bullseye and an "eat me" sign off of their backs. Fingers crossed.

 

[GlennLee]

Have fun with Polly. Cute name for her.... She may fit right in with new keets and grow along with them; it could end up being a good social group for her depending on if you keep any of them. I found this amulet pouch on Pinterest with a hawk on it, but I think we could modify it with a Guinea and Guinea feathers on the fringe. We'd have to put in a vent hole for Polly, but then she could be worn around your neck.

Murphy's Law that the favorites end up being the ones taken, either by a predator or car, or illness. It probably gives you some detachment emotionally to call them a color rather than by name, but I don't know if it really matters what they are called; it's their personalities that find their way into our hearts. So purple is greatly missed as your Purple, as much as if he had been given a name. You've given me an idea though, Sun..... (are you okay with us calling your that?) I could name some of my lusty males with a "50 shades of gray" theme (never read the book) - Charcoal, Ash, Gunmetal, Slate, Silver, Pewter, Stone...

Patti, the egg was a cream colored and looked like a large ping pong ball! The outside had a leathery textured shell and I really thought it looked more like a turtle's egg, but we don't have any of those around and the size was larger than a turtle's egg. I'll let you know if any more appear in the coop. That may be a good sign if they are comfortable laying in the coop; we might be able to transition them into that next spring. I won't hold my breath though. I wonder how a big old hollowed out log would work? Hmmmm.... I'll have to go on a field trip.

My guineas are 15 weeks old and you would think they would be hopping and flying all over by now, but they have little interest in doing so. I'm not sure if it's because they are the French Guineas. They still struggle with even getting up to the lower level perch at 3 1/2 feet. They use the baby perch to hop on, then it takes them a good minute to commit to flapping up there. I haven't seen any fly up to the 5 foot perch from the ground. Sometimes they try to go straight up from the floor underneath, but don't ever make it. Once they are up, the like to glide down to the dirt outside the coop, but getting there is a chore for them. Someone spent time on the table last night - and they left evidence! I'll leave it for now and just watch them. I could always use that table in the storage area and get a shorter one for the new coop. We have time to play with it a bit.

Keep cool and let's hope for no more thunderstorms. A gentle rain would be nice...

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Have fun with Polly. Cute name for her.... She may fit right in with new keets and grow along with them; it could end up being a good social group for her depending on if you keep any of them. I found this amulet pouch on Pinterest with a hawk on it, but I think we could modify it with a Guinea and Guinea feathers on the fringe. We'd have to put in a vent hole for Polly, but then she could be worn around your neck.

Murphy's Law that the favorites end up being the ones taken, either by a predator or car, or illness. It probably gives you some detachment emotionally to call them a color rather than by name, but I don't know if it really matters what they are called; it's their personalities that find their way into our hearts. So purple is greatly missed as your Purple, as much as if he had been given a name. You've given me an idea though, Sun..... (are you okay with us calling your that?) I could name some of my lusty males with a "50 shades of gray" theme (never read the book) - Charcoal, Ash, Gunmetal, Slate, Silver, Pewter, Stone...

Patti, the egg was a cream colored and looked like a large ping pong ball! The outside had a leathery textured shell and I really thought it looked more like a turtle's egg, but we don't have any of those around and the size was larger than a turtle's egg. I'll let you know if any more appear in the coop. That may be a good sign if they are comfortable laying in the coop; we might be able to transition them into that next spring. I won't hold my breath though. I wonder how a big old hollowed out log would work? Hmmmm.... I'll have to go on a field trip.

My guineas are 15 weeks old and you would think they would be hopping and flying all over by now, but they have little interest in doing so. I'm not sure if it's because they are the French Guineas. They still struggle with even getting up to the lower level perch at 3 1/2 feet. They use the baby perch to hop on, then it takes them a good minute to commit to flapping up there. I haven't seen any fly up to the 5 foot perch from the ground. Sometimes they try to go straight up from the floor underneath, but don't ever make it. Once they are up, the like to glide down to the dirt outside the coop, but getting there is a chore for them. Someone spent time on the table last night - and they left evidence! I'll leave it for now and just watch them. I could always use that table in the storage area and get a shorter one for the new coop. We have time to play with it a bit.

Keep cool and let's hope for no more thunderstorms. A gentle rain would be nice...

Ah, okay! French guineas are not very good with the whole flying bit, from what I've read. They were bred to be more of a meat bird, but I don't think they have the health issue of chicken and turkey meat breeds.

The egg you are describing doesn't seem like a guinea egg. Can you post a picture of it? It really sounds like some sort of reptile egg.

I am always grateful for any rain we get. We are trying to grow more trees on our property and most are not near a water hose. Rain saves me from hauling water out to the back of the property! Of course, I can do without the strong winds and lightning.

Regarding 50 Shades of Gray, I tried to read it twice and couldn't get past the second chapter. It was terrible. I did watch the movie and it wasn't horrible but it confirmed my thought that the storyline and characters were uninteresting. However, I like your name theme! I am going to have to figure out something with this new bunch since I have multiples of each color except two.

 

[GlennLee]

I have been talking with our neighbors down the road who have had Guineas on and off for a while and they noticed the same thing. When they have the French Guineas, they don't have the same interest in flying and they also tend to stay around closer to their property. That's all fine with me....

I know! The egg just didn't seem like the right shape. I won't be able to send a pic - I tossed it into the shrub line because there was a hole in it. If I see another one, I will take a picture before discarding. I thought about it at the time, but didn't have my phone on me. I should probably carry it with me every time I go out - you never know what photo opts will come up. Yesterday, my husband was changing out an old culvert for a new larger one (after those two thunderstorms caused some wash out on the tractor road) and he had the PVC pipe laying on the ground by the coop. The Guineas had been dusting and decided to check out the new addition - you know their routine - keep the body way back, but stick the neck way out, and ogle at it like it was from another planet! They finally got up the courage to hop on it and of course most of them didn't stick the landing, but were slip sliding off. Hysterical to watch! I may have to put some PVC pipes in their new coop!

As for naming the Guineas, you could post a color and solicit responses for shade names to choose from. It would be a color naming contest rather than a coloring contest. It's a good thing we entertain ourselves with this venture. All the more fun to do it with other "crazy bird people".

I may be adding to the flock. There was a posting on Craigslist for 6 Guineas. She doesn't know the sex of the birds, but wants to sell the entire group. One of my neighbors down the road is willing to take any males, which would allow me to take any that are female. I figure given the odds, I could pick up 3 females, even if I got 2 that would help and 4 would be fine or even if all 6 were female, I could work them into the flock. The issue is going to be keeping them separated. I think it's recommended to do that for a month with new birds, correct? We do have some additional dog fencing and I could cover it with netting, but that doesn't provide any cover. I've got to come up with a plan quickly and it's got to be one that doesn't require a lot of additional work since my husband and I are consumed by the new coop and gardening. Would you put a mite / parasite treatment on them as a precaution and when do you recommend I do that with my current flock? My neighbor treats her chickens once a year - early spring, but there wasn't the need to do that with mine yet since they were still inside. Thoughts?

Have a good day!

 

[pattyhen]

So would the french guineas be heavier then the regular guineas? That would cause them not to be able to fly. That is a good thing that way you don't have to get them down out of trees. I know that Mary Jane and Spiderman do not do any flying but I did clip their wings when they were 6 weeks old.

50 shades of gray would be a good way to name your guineas. I will admit I read the book and I liked it. It is not my cup of tea but I still enjoyed reading it. I am an advid book worm.

I always put seven dust on my chickens and ducks in the spring. I haven't dusted the guineas at all.

You do have to isolate any new birds for a month to make sure you don't bring anything onto your property. Have you figured out how many males and females you have? If you need more females and someone will take the males I would do it.

Polly is a cute name for your pocket guinea Sun. I hope she starts growing maybe being with the younger ones she will have a better chance now.

Yesterday my husband come running in the house he was looking for his phone. He said Spiderman was setting in the swing by himself just a swinging. By the time he got back out Spiderman had jumped down he was going to take a video of it. Earlier that day Spiderman and I were sitting on the swing and I had it going pretty high. He was enjoying every minute of it. I felt kind of crazy sitting on the swing in the front yard swinging with a guinea. Oh well.

I hope everyone has a nice day.

 

[GlennLee]

I remember you mentioning that you had clipped the wings of Mary Jane and Spider. That seems to have worked well for you and them too. I didn't have mine clipped because they are free ranging quite far and I wanted them to be able to escape if chased by a predator. The French Guineas should end up being about 2 pounds heavier than the Pearls. They were developed to get big quickly for meat birds. They love to hop and get up high, but they aren't great flyers. Now I'm wishing that I had put in a shorter roost in the new coop - we're at 39" and 51". They will love it once they're up there, but I've got to work on creating their hop ups. Not sure about that table idea. It's definitely too high and I think they're having trouble sticking their landing since it's not a perch, but a large flat surface. May have to just beef up the baby perch concept and make one a bit higher. Who knew there would be all of these decisions?

Today, we worked on creating a covered run addition to the back of the current shed/coop as our quarantine area for the new birds. We hope to finish it up in another day or so. I'll be picking up the 6 Guineas on Thursday afternoon. The ride is about an hour north of us. Our neighbors down the road have agreed to take any males. Fingers crossed that I can get 3 females. I'll let you know on Thursday.

I can't believe that Spiderman was swinging by himself! That is amazing. Perhaps I should really look into getting a used glider rocker to put in the coop! I do hope you can get a video of that the next time.

I enjoy reading as well and have recently taken to downloading audio books from the library and listening to them on my phone. I'm not sure what genre you usually enjoy, but a good one for animal lovers, although a bit sad in places, was War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. There was a movie and Broadway play made as well although I haven't seen either yet.

Hope all the infirm Guineas are getting better. They should given all the attention and care they receive. Here's to speedy recoveries!

Have a good evening everyone...

 

[pattyhen]

Yes Spiderman was just a swinging all by himself sitting on the cushion. They use it a lot to when no one is sitting out. You have to clean up after them when before you can sit down. I hope we can get a video of him swinging.

I hope you get a lot of girls Thursday when you pick up the new guineas. More girls should help with the fights.

I saw the movie War Horse but I haven't read the book. The movie was so sad but I loved it. I think I cried threw half of it. Knowing that it was a true story made it even sadder. I've never listened to the audio books before my hearing is not so good so it's easier for me just to read the books. I've always got a book I'm reading. I get most of my books from the Salvation Army they are a lot cheaper then buying them new.

I hope everyone enjoys their day.

 

[GlennLee]

It's been a while since I've been on.... Hope everyone is doing well.

Sun - what kind of trees were you planting on your property? It has been a high watering year, but perhaps you've had enough rain recently to forgo that job - one of many that you do. And, I haven't had another egg. I'm wondering if it was a snapping turtle, but if it was, they lay multiples, so someone must have taken it into the coop. How are your colorful keets all doing and the ones you have been nursing?

Patti - we pick up books at the Salvation Army (and sales at our Public Library) too - somehow I don't think I could find one on Guinea Fowl there though! :-0 Great savings on the books and I'm always glad to give a book another home. Please share your video of Spider on the glider swing if you can get one. It would be hysterical to watch.

I'm sending two pictures and a video if I can get it to attach. Here's one of the added run - aka quarantine area for the new Guinea Hens. It will be kind of like that girls dormitory they built on that old show "Here Come the Brides". I'm sure there will be lots of interest from my guys who haven't yet found a mate.



And I have some sad news to share. We lost BOSS. He never came home yesterday. There has been a large hawk around the past few days and I was able to scare it away twice. It even swooped in for the kill after two males who were doing their mating run. Both of them survived, but one was in shock and just stood at my feet not moving for a good 2 minutes. It literally scared the poop right out of him too... poor little guy.

Although I didn't see it happen, I'm guessing that the hawk got BOSS. Very sad, but I'm very angry as well. I think of all the work we put into our birds and then SWOOP - it's gone. I still think I'd feel bad even if I referred to BOSS as a color than a name. We miss them no matter what. And, since some hawks lay twice a year, it won't be going away any time soon if it has young to feed - and my flock of Guineas are easy pickings - down to 14 now, but looking to increase with the addition of the hens tomorrow ...

Today they have spent most of the day in the cattails. I think they may feel safer there. Here's a picture of one hiding and the video was taken in the same area. We're starting to get that late summer / early fall look here. Love this time of year.

Hope all is well with everyone in the Guinea Talk thread... Have a good afternoon everyone and I'll try to post the results of my hen pickup tomorrow.

 

[pattyhen]

That's a nice sit up for your brides to be.

The odds aren't good but I hope you get 6 girls that would be nice.

I loved the pic of the guinea in the cattails and the video was so cute. You could see the plants moving but not the guineas then they suddenly popped out. That is a great cover for them to hide from the hawks. I can't stand hawks. I'm so sorry about Boss. I keep thinking maybe he went someplace else to live but your probably right about a hawk. Even if he didnt have a name which he did you would still miss him. We've had a huge hawk sweep down several times in the past week. I hope it doesn't like chickens, ducks or guineas. The fall is when we see them the most and I dread that time of year.

Spiderman took a piece of lettuce out of my hand. I was handing out pieces of lettuce to the chickens and he come up and he took it out of my hand when I offered it to him. That's the first time he has ever done that before. Of course he had to call Mary Jane over so she could have a bite of it too. He sit on my lap for a little while and then he wanted down. The street sweeper was going up and down the street and I think that made him nervous. It's pretty loud when it goes down the street.

Sun how are you doing? I haven't heard from you for a while. Is Polly doing ok? I would love to see another pic of her.

Thanks for the sharing the pics and the video. I hope everyone has a nice day and the hawks stay away from your critters.