Guinea talk.

[pattyhen]

That's great you got 4 females. Will one of the males take two females then? I think Spiderman has enough to handle with Mary Jane let alone another one.

I hope Helen recovers you might try putting the colorless iodine on her foot or bactine. That might help whatever she has. That's sad they always pick on the underdog.

Yesterday I went to the store to pick up a few things and I was stepping up on our curb out front and tripped. They have scraped the pavement off of our street and repaved and they didn't pave the gutter so now the step up on the curb is taller then what it was. For 28 years I've been stepping up on that curb and never fell. I had on flip flops and my toe hit the curb and down I went. The groceries went everywhere. I'm glad I didn't land on the ice cream cones or they would have been smashed. Anyway as I lay on the sidewalk looking around to see if anybody saw me thank goodness no one did I hear this little voice behind me at the gate. It's Spiderman standing there peeping at me and looking concerned. I told him I was ok just let me get up and get these groceries in the house. All the ducks were in the yard and the chickens but Spider was the only one who come up to the gate to check on me. I do have a bruise on my big toe and my knee is skinned but I'm fine. I love my guineas and this is a true story unfortunely. (however you spell that word)

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I hope everyone has been doing well. I just finished reading and catching up on all the news.


I do have some bad news to report. On Sunday our lucky streak with the predators was broken and a d'Uccle chick and guinea keet were taken by a fox. As I said before, I try not to have favorites or do any naming for a reason, and I was proven once again that this a good practice because out of twelve keets it was my pocket keet that was taken, which actually makes me tear up as I type this. I was very sad over it but of course I had to keep my game face on because my husband just doesn't understand. I don't want to say any of the keets are expendable but out of 12 why did it have to be poor Polly? She was not a lap guinea but still very special to me. I was so upset and thought about just selling all my birds and not dealing with it anymore. The fox came back yesterday for another meal and the lavender guinea ran him off.


My lavender guinea left the nest for a few minutes today and I checked the eggs and two are starting to hatch. She is already getting super feisty so I can only imagine how she will be with babies in tow. Lol. I took a few more eggs and only left her with eight so I can sell off the others right away. I'll let her keep a few but don't really need to add to my population. All of the eggs are developing quite differently from when I incubate them. They seem more wet inside so I am worried about the keets drowning during hatch. It is certainly more humid outside than what I keep my incubator at. At this point there is not much I can do about it though. I can't wait to have some mama and baby pics to share.


Here are some more pics of the other keets. They look so pretty and they are well behaved. The color of the blue and lavender look identical to me. I have one that looks nearly white and I think that's buff dundotte.

My rooster has started picking on them. Maybe he is upset about the big guineas always pulling his tail.

 

[GlennLee]

Oh, Sun.... very sad to hear about little Polly Pocket. She was making such good progress given your TLC. She was a precious keet and defied the odds for a long time. I'm not sure what else could be done to keep the foxes away. Once they know there are easy pickings, they hang around - opportunists, like all predators. Sorry about the loss of your other chick as well. Reading your post made my stomach do flip flops. I hope you don't decide to give up on Guineas - you're such a good Guinea mom and have an extraordinary amount of experience. These are the down sides to being "owned by Guineas". There will be an upside again soon. That's just the way it goes with them - one extreme to the other. Sending warm thoughts your way.

And you don't need to put on your "game face" with us - we get it! Thank you for posting the pics. They are just beautiful! You have lovely birds and we enjoy it when you share them with us.

Dear, Patti! What a terrible thing that you tripped and fell with your groceries. The way you described it was priceless and I could envision everything. I'm so sorry that happened, but I'm glad you were able to save the ice cream cones and how sweet of Spider to come and check on you. He really is a mama's boy and a love! Maybe you will need to give yourself an Epsom salt soak for your toe today. Please take care - everyone needs you!

I think we need a "Rosie the Riveter" icon - You can do it!

Thank you for the suggestion on treating the foot. The problem is, I don't see an open sore. She's just limping severely. Do you know if CORID (amprolium) can be used as a general antibiotic or is it specific to treating coccidiosis? I bought some to use as a preventative to treat the new birds (not sure if I'm going to use it though as I think they are fine - it's been almost 2 weeks) and was wondering if it could be given to hop-along Helen for possible infection. She slept in the new barn coop last night - nestled right down in the straw. I'm planning to keep her in there at least for part of the day. She doesn't want to give up ranging with the flock, but I think a rest would do her good and I might even be able to soak her feet again - I'm doing both - figured it couldn't hurt.

Have a better day today everyone!

 

[GlennLee]

Oh, forgot to comment on the male / female ratio. From what I've read, a male will take several females up to 5 or 6, but if the ratio is equal - like Mary Jane and Spider - they will mate with one partner and be monogamous. With my flock, going a bit heavy with the females is a good option since they are the most vulnerable when they go broody. I'm not sure how it will work with the French (Jumbos) and Pearls - I'm taking a chance that they will be compatible for mating. I don't have any experience in this and it's difficult to find detailed information related specifically to French Guineas. Exploring new territory here... I did witness a copulation right at my feet in the coop the other day! While the male mounted, he pulled on the hairs of the back of her neck to stay on. I know Blue Herons will do that and actually have breeding feathers that come in for that purpose. After he was done - quick on and off - the other birds started to make a breathy whistling sound which I have never heard before. I'm starting to feel like field researcher - or a coop researcher anyway...

 

[pattyhen]

Sun I'm so sorry you lost Polly.

I totally understand the loss you feel about losing her and the little chicken. My husband always says that be careful who you choose to be your favorites because it seems like they always go first.

The keets are beautiful. I love that color. Good luck with your momma hatching those eggs. She sure has been determined and bless her heart. I can't wait to see pics of them.

I feel the same way like I'm a field researcher. There are so many things you learn about guineas that aren't in the books.

I feel like I should be logging this information in a notebook. This experience of raising them has been so new to me and I must say an enjoyable experience.

I really not for sure but I don't think the corrid would help Helens foot. Its more for the cocci if they have that. I might try the epson salts on my foot if it helps the guineas it should help me too. It's still bruised but it's feeling much better. I hope the rest helps Helen gets better I can't imagine running around in the weeds with a sore foot for hours.

I finally ordered War Horse the book from amazon. It's a little book and it's only 168 pages and it took me about 2 hours to read it. It's more of a childrens book then for an adult. The movie was so much better then the book. They made a lot of changes in the movie but the storyline is basically the same. I'm glad I finally got to read it because it's been on my bucket list for a while but I must say I was disappointed in it.

I hope everyone has a nice day.

 

[guineapeeps]

I hope everyone has been doing well. I just finished reading and catching up on all the news. I do have some bad news to report. On Sunday our lucky streak with the predators was broken and a d'Uccle chick and guinea keet were taken by a fox. As I said before, I try not to have favorites or do any naming for a reason, and I was proven once again that this a good practice because out of twelve keets it was my pocket keet that was taken, which actually makes me tear up as I type this. I was very sad over it but of course I had to keep my game face on because my husband just doesn't understand. I don't want to say any of the keets are expendable but out of 12 why did it have to be poor Polly? She was not a lap guinea but still very special to me. I was so upset and thought about just selling all my birds and not dealing with it anymore. The fox came back yesterday for another meal and the lavender guinea ran him off. My lavender guinea left the nest for a few minutes today and I checked the eggs and two are starting to hatch. She is already getting super feisty so I can only imagine how she will be with babies in tow. Lol. I took a few more eggs and only left her with eight so I can sell off the others right away. I'll let her keep a few but don't really need to add to my population. All of the eggs are developing quite differently from when I incubate them. They seem more wet inside so I am worried about the keets drowning during hatch. It is certainly more humid outside than what I keep my incubator at. At this point there is not much I can do about it though. I can't wait to have some mama and baby pics to share. Here are some more pics of the other keets. They look so pretty and they are well behaved. The color of the blue and lavender look identical to me. I have one that looks nearly white and I think that's buff dundotte. My rooster has started picking on them. Maybe he is upset about the big guineas always pulling his tail.

So sorry to hear about your loss! It's so hard to lose them to predators, especially when they are your favorites. I have lost several of mine over the last several years, but this year has been really bad for Fox and coyote. Earlier this summer, I lost 2 adults and 9 keets to them. After this, I started putting a radio out, tuned it to talk radio, and blasted it out towards where the predators were the worst. Since then, I have not had a single predator problem. In fact, the wild rabbits now hang out in the area, so they must think it's a safe place. If you don't have neighbors that would be bothered by it, you might try it and see if I helps! By the way, your keets are beautiful....love the coloring of all the them!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

So sorry to hear about your loss! It's so hard to lose them to predators, especially when they are your favorites. I have lost several of mine over the last several years, but this year has been really bad for Fox and coyote. Earlier this summer, I lost 2 adults and 9 keets to them. After this, I started putting a radio out, tuned it to talk radio, and blasted it out towards where the predators were the worst. Since then, I have not had a single predator problem. In fact, the wild rabbits now hang out in the area, so they must think it's a safe place. If you don't have neighbors that would be bothered by it, you might try it and see if I helps!
By the way, your keets are beautiful....love the coloring of all the them!

I keep a radio on and my husband was out in the yard on the lawn tractor sweeping the leaves and grass clippings to put in the run. I ran to the grocery store but left them out because I thought they'd be safe. After the guinea ran him off on Monday he came back two more times so finally we shot him. When I went to collect his body I saw why he was so persistent. He was severely undernourished and had sores with eggs and all kinds of parasites in him. I'm sure he was full of them, too, and no telling what other diseases might have had. I actually sprayed bleach on the grass where he went down because I was so paranoid about my dogs getting something. I felt bad for him because he was obviously suffering and desperate but I did feel better because I think he is better off. No doubt being that undernourished he would never have given up and I think he was slowly dying.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Thank you for letting me know.  We put in trees regularly and I'm always looking for new ideas.  In fact one of my friends was bemoaning the fact that her husband used to buy her flowers, but doesn't do that anymore;  I told her my husband didn't buy me flowers either - he buys me TREES! 

I try to go with ones whose natural habitat is where we are since they seem to grow best.  Our environment is pretty harsh with a lot of wind and heavy clay soil - wet in some spots.  Even the "naturals" have difficulty at times.  We were thinking about a willow tree or river birch next - in an area that's very wet and would eventually provide a privacy screen from the road.  It's a good place for a "dirty" tree. 

I think I'm going to have to consider a tree that is a fast grower for some shade on the south side of the coop.  It's heating up to 10+ degrees over the outside temperature on a daily basis.  We are installing a greenhouse fan, so that will help move the air, but a deciduous tree and some cheap indoor shades will keep the sun out in the summer and allow the sun to provide heat in the winter (that will be a good thing).

Hope all your trees (with the exception of the pecan you mentioned) are doing well.  You have a nice selection there.  

I forgot to say, do not ever plant a black walnut tree! We have two on our property and I wish they'd get hit by lightening or something. The nuts they drop are huge and take a sledgehammer to crack and each tree seems to drop 5000 a year.

 

[guineapeeps]

I keep a radio on and my husband was out in the yard on the lawn tractor sweeping the leaves and grass clippings to put in the run. I ran to the grocery store but left them out because I thought they'd be safe. After the guinea ran him off on Monday he came back two more times so finally we shot him. When I went to collect his body I saw why he was so persistent. He was severely undernourished and had sores with eggs and all kinds of parasites in him. I'm sure he was full of them, too, and no telling what other diseases might have had. I actually sprayed bleach on the grass where he went down because I was so paranoid about my dogs getting something. I felt bad for him because he was obviously suffering and desperate but I did feel better because I think he is better off. No doubt being that undernourished he would never have given up and I think he was slowly dying.

I'm glad he is out of the picture now. I had a fox that returned quite a few times like that...I guess he figured it was like a buffet with all the Guineas milling about. We tried to pick him off, but he was always able to slip back into the corn surrounding our property. I'm wondering if a farm nearby did away with him or if the radio is what's keeping him away, as I've not seen him in several months. Either way, I'm glad that my flock is safe (for the time being) but it's a concern for me everyday that they are out free ranging!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

My keets should start hatching any day now! I have two people nearby that wasn't some so I've for at least 18 sold and the rest I'll divide between my two hens since my other hen has gone broody now too. My male is distraught being all alone so now he is hanging out with the chickens.

Yesterday I saw him mate with one of my older keets...I think she is three months. That seems young! I wonder if she's going to lay this year.

Since the fox I had a hawk swoop down and a cat come around. It's stressing me out.