Guinea talk.

[GlennLee]

They were something else, I noticed after I let Delta go Echo the pacing grey in the back started chasing her. I was talking with dad and James last night about external nesting boxes and they both said that we can do it once we get some plywood, we have extra shingles and hinges we can make a strong roof for outdoor access to grab the eggs. It will also get rid of the Turkeys poop in the nesting sites inside the coop. I've also noticed the past few days no one has really eaten anything, could that be due to the storm that has just hit or coming this weekend? I feed twice daily, once in the morning a light feeding and once in the evening a heavier than breakfast feeding and if we have extra greens laying around they get those during the day to pick at.

Lots of good ideas here. It's amazing how quickly you've taken on all these poultry and you have all these creative juices flowing on how to make things better. I'm not sure why the food consumption is less. You'll have to see if it goes back to normal once the storm passes. There are some days that mine eat more than other days and I just thought for whatever reason, they just weren't hungry that day. Water consumption varies as well. If I'm concerned, I'll supplement with meal worms or a bit of bird seed, just so I can see them eating something. Good luck with the storm! Hope your power is up and running throughout... that's the worst - to be without power for a long period of time.

 

[pattyhen]

Not sure if the link will work, but this is Charlie, Echo and Blue having the worlds worst hissy because I'm giving love to Missy Delta who was having a panic attack for no reason so I held her rubbed her so did James who shot the video to calm her down.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1345708525501345&id=100001866307787

The video worked fine they were really worried about Missy Delta. When you put her down they really tried to comfort her. That is so sweet.

 

[pattyhen]

Not sure if the link will work, but this is Charlie, Echo and Blue having the worlds worst hissy because I'm giving love to Missy Delta who was having a panic attack for no reason so I held her rubbed her so did James who shot the video to calm her down.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1345708525501345&id=100001866307787

The video worked fine they were really worried about Missy Delta. When you put her down they really tried to comfort her. That is so sweet.

 

[pattyhen]

The frame itself is 15ft, we estimated it to be around 196 sq ft which is more than enough room for my four muscovy's. Forgive the metal grated box thats the Guinea timeout pin when they don't behave or when we cannot watch them while doing a barn cleaning. The turkey's used to go in there as poults when we were introducing them to the outdoors.

As for the removable divider, I could possibly make it out of pvc piping and c clamps to the wall studs. It would be softer than wood and wouldn't rot like it either. And if I find the divider will not work then maybe I can expand one of the sides of the barn out for more space come spring or summer, and make that the broody and chick/keet/poult side.


This is their coop/barn, the 10x12. it was an old storage barn for my mother inlaw before she passed away now we turned it into the coop.



Raised nestbox, two of my chickens use it like crazy, and the tire on the ground near it, which Blue has claimed it as his I am mighty perch.

The lower nest on the South West wall, I have tried to move her and she will nest in that spot again so I placed the nesting box there.


Then we have Charlie with Prism (James corrected me she is not Shimmer) and Cookie

When James wakes up I will have him help me take good photos of Delta and Echo to show how much they look alike. They both at Keets were piebald now they are grey with very little pearl spots. Only way I can tell them apart is Echo has one leg with more pink on it than Delta. Blue and Charlie are the only ones I can tell apart so easily.

It looks like you have lots of room in your coop. Our chicken coop is 8 x 12 and it has a upstairs with the rafters. Most of the chickens perch up in the rafters. The trampolene base would make a good pen for the ducks. It would give them plenty of room.

 

[pattyhen]

I think everyone on here seems to think like I do on Guineas so I have a few questions for anyone on here who may have information or opinion on the subject. My husband is a pilot who is getting transferred to Miami. We don't want to live anywhere within the greater Miami area due to the population, traffic, crime, etc, but need to stay within 2 to 2 1/2 hours of the Miami airport. We are wanting to find a quiet place where we can keep Guineas and other animals and are looking at the area of Naples (Southern gulf coast of Florida), as well as Jupiter (on the Eastern/Atlantic side). Has anyone lived in either of these areas or anywhere in the Southern part of Florida, and if so, what did you think of it? Also, if anyone lives in the humid, hot southern part of the US, how do your Guineas do with the heat and humidity? (We would definitely looking for a place with a lot of trees for shade for them). We have only really had 1 really hot humid summer here in Iowa since I've had my Guineas and they did not tolerate it well. I would really like to keep them but don't want them to drag them to a place where they will be miserable with the climate. Any ideas or input from anyone would be appreciated!

I live in Southern Indiana here and our weather in the summertime is described as the 3 h's. Hazy hot and humid. The guineas panted when it was hot but but they didn't seem bothered by the heat. I always run a fan in the coop in the summertime and I didn't have any problems with them at all. I think they enjoyed the summer more then this winter. They love to come inside the house and warm up. I've never even been to Florida so can't advise you on that.

 

[Dmontgomery]

Okay, I'm trying to get more specifics for you on the areas you mentioned and will post when I do.  My stepdaughter's husband is from Florida and they lived there for over 10 years.  She sold Real Estate for a while and her husband's dad is a home builder in Jupiter.  Although she lived in more central Florida, her in-laws were in Coral Springs and her mom lived in Bocca Raton - two areas on the Atlantic side and within your driving distance. 

We have friends who have retired in Punta Gorda and Coral Gables on the west coast, but I think they are too far from Miami.  They love it, but they live in developments and that's most of what I've seen for housing when I've been to Florida.  The words that come to me that people have used to describe Naples are - upscale and beautiful. 

Most of the trees are evergreens and of course some palms, but for shade, I've mostly seen evergreens.  I'll check on that though as they would know what trees would work well for landscaping - with the climate, many of their shrubs would grow tree size though though, like azaleas. 

[COLOR=0000FF]I'll let others weigh in on the the guineas and being able to cope with the heat and humidity.  DMontgomery must have weather similar to Florida and Patty gets some hot and humid days as well.[/COLOR]  

One more predator to worry about there - alligators!  That would be mostly if you live near a lake - and there are a lot of those in Florida.  Pretty part of the country, but you'll know you're not in Iowa (or Kansas) anymore!    

Our guineas had very little problems with the climate this summer. It was our first year with them, but they handled it just as well as the chickens, maybe better. We had 90+ temps here for the whole summer, which is typical. 96 degrees at 8pm is not an uncommon day. I don't run fans or supplemental cooling of any kind in my coop. I do add a quart of ice to their water each morning and then another quart in the afternoon on really hot days.
I actually grew up on the beach in the northern part of Florida so I'm very familiar with the heat and humidity there. Not so much with the southern end, but I know that because of the cooling air off the water, their climate is actually more comfortable than what we have here. I've visited the Tampa to Orlando area lots of times. I know that's still a little north of what you are looking at. Weather wise, I would rather live there than south Louisiana. Y'all will definitely need to provide them with shade though. Even though the heat may not be really bad, the Florida sun can be brutal.
I don't know what kind of coop y'all have now, but you will definitely have to rethink their needs down there.

 

[guineapeeps]

Okay, I'm trying to get more specifics for you on the areas you mentioned and will post when I do.  My stepdaughter's husband is from Florida and they lived there for over 10 years.  She sold Real Estate for a while and her husband's dad is a home builder in Jupiter.  Although she lived in more central Florida, her in-laws were in Coral Springs and her mom lived in Bocca Raton - two areas on the Atlantic side and within your driving distance. 

We have friends who have retired in Punta Gorda and Coral Gables on the west coast, but I think they are too far from Miami.  They love it, but they live in developments and that's most of what I've seen for housing when I've been to Florida.  The words that come to me that people have used to describe Naples are - upscale and beautiful. 

Most of the trees are evergreens and of course some palms, but for shade, I've mostly seen evergreens.  I'll check on that though as they would know what trees would work well for landscaping - with the climate, many of their shrubs would grow tree size though though, like azaleas. 

[COLOR=0000FF]I'll let others weigh in on the the guineas and being able to cope with the heat and humidity.  DMontgomery must have weather similar to Florida and Patty gets some hot and humid days as well.[/COLOR]  

One more predator to worry about there - alligators!  That would be mostly if you live near a lake - and there are a lot of those in Florida.  Pretty part of the country, but you'll know you're not in Iowa (or Kansas) anymore!    

Thanks for your input! Looking online, there seems to be a lot of houses in the Naples area that are in the country with acreage that are affordable. I think we will be priced out of the Jupiter area....things are crazy expensive there, especially compared to rural Iowa! The alligator issue is a concern as my Guineas tend to try to stand up to predators. A few years ago they tried to team up and surround a fox family. It didn't end well for them and hen got eaten before I could get to them. I'm thinking they would fare even worse with alligator, so I will try to steer clear of lakes or ponds! Our daughter and grandkids just moved to Ocala, Florida and we visited them a few months ago. The weather was great, but it was November and I know the summers will be brutal compared to the midwestern ones! You are very right....it won't take long to figure I'm not in Iowa (Kansas) anymore!

 

[guineapeeps]

I live in Southern Indiana here and our weather in the summertime is described as the 3 h's.  Hazy hot and humid.  The guineas panted when it was hot but but they didn't seem bothered by the heat.  I always run a fan in the coop in the summertime and I didn't have any problems with them at all.  I think they enjoyed the summer more then this winter.  They love to come inside the house and warm up.  I've never even been to Florida so can't advise you on that.  

Thanks, Pattyhen. I run a fan in my coop on hot days too and will definitely continue that if we end up moving. My Guineas are really struggling with the cold this winter too. The last few days it been 10 degrees or below and even though I've opened the coop door to let them roam around outside, they've rarely gone out. Hopefully they will appreciate the Florida winters more!

 

[guineapeeps]

Our guineas had very little problems with the climate this summer. It was our first year with them, but they handled it just as well as the chickens, maybe better. We had 90+ temps here for the whole summer, which is typical. 96 degrees at 8pm is not an uncommon day. I don't run fans or supplemental cooling of any kind in my coop. I do add a quart of ice to their water each morning and then another quart in the afternoon on really hot days.
I actually grew up on the beach in the northern part of Florida so I'm very familiar with the heat and humidity there. Not so much with the southern end, but I know that because of the cooling air off the water, their climate is actually more comfortable than what we have here. I've visited the Tampa to Orlando area lots of times. I know that's still a little north of what you are looking at. Weather wise, I would rather live there than south Louisiana. Y'all will definitely need to provide them with shade though. Even though the heat may not be really bad, the Florida sun can be brutal.
I don't know what kind of coop y'all have now, but you will definitely have to rethink their needs down there.

Sorry for the multiple posts. My computer wouldn't let me use the multi-quote to respond to everyone in one post, so I thought I'd address everyone individually.
Dmontgomery,
I really appreciate your input on the heat and humidity....it sounds like you know a lot about that issue! The ice in the water is a great idea and I will have to try that. We will definitely be looking for a place with a lot of trees and shade for the Guineas. My current coop is an old clay tile building that was built in the 1930s so it won't be coming with us. What type of coop do you have and do you have any suggestions on what type of coop would be best in that type of climate?
Also, has anyone ever had to transport Guineas or chickens across the country? I know the drive would take several days and I've not had to transport any of my Guineas more than about 30 miles. Anyone have any suggestions on that?

 

[MartinsPoultry]

I think I know why they are sticking their beaks up to the food, I had to go with crumbles because the store we buy their feed from was out of the pellets and man are they not wanting to switch back to crumbles even for a few days. This crazy cold and 4in of snow has everyone hiding in the coop, silly birds the day after we got the snow tried to go out and as soon as the snow hit their feet a panic hit them and they laid down and wouldn't move, James and I had to carry them back into the coop. Even my big macho toms were scared of the snow.
Ducks well they are ducks and dont mind it to much, they were taking a small cat-nap in the a-frame in the snow. Sorry no pictures of that.
I honestly cannot wait until its warmer outside so I can take my other animals outdoors but they are cold blooded and this would shock them.

Egg production is fairly good with the chickens, but nothing from the Guinea girls yet. When do they first start laying? I know my turkeys wont lay until spring.