Guineas hatching

[pattyhen]

Your babies are so cute. I love the keets they are so much fun to watch. You did a great job with the hatching and the silkies will make great moms if you need a broody. Are you going to ask your neighbor for child support since their guinea is the dad?

 

[Jessie22]

Ha ha no actually his hen laid the eggs on my property and he wanted to destroy the eggs because they didn't want more guineas so I said I wanted them and he said OK. Since guineas don't know property lines they are always here more. I have open land. His hen got hit by a cat that's how I ended up with 10 eggs. First time hatching and I have an great building coming, first class a 12 X 16 and I am having a fence company building the run since its in the 40s and I am not going to let them out til spring. Should I insulate or not?

 

[Jessie22]

I meant got hit by a car not cat ha ha

 

[Jessie22]

I had to separate my silkies from the guineas. The guineas wouldn't leave my silkies alone. They kept on pecking him/her constantly for 2 hours but my silkies loved them. All it wanted to do was lay with the guineas. So sad. I will wait til the silkies get stronger then try again. It seems I have 1 white and the other 2 different color and 1black and white. Will post pics later today.

 

[pattyhen]

That's sad that they picked on the silkies. The guineas were a little bit older weren't they then the silkies and them being different I guess that's why they picked on them. I would love to see pics of them.

 

[Jessie22]

The guineas were 4 days old and the silkie had just come out of the incubator. The guineas grew fast and boy are they energetic. I am giving them electrolytes/vitamins in a gallon of water. It seemed to make them grow fast and stay healthy. I have 28% protein starter feed and I mixed it with medicated feed and they are so healthy. The same for the silkie chicks. I put 2 guineas in the silkie brooder so they could get use to each other instead of 10 attacking the silkie. The guineas hollered and would not calm down. They wanted to be with the other guineas. I didn't want to stress them out so back they went with the other guineas. I will be posting some pics of the 4 silkies I have, they were suppose to be white but look at them and tell me what color do you think they will be when grown? I hatched 4 out of 6 silkie eggs but the 2 are still in the incubator. It seems the air sack is larger than the 4 that hatched. Don't know if they will hatch but I am at least giving them a chance.

 

[GlennLee]

Congratulations on all your hatchlings! The pictures are adorable and I can't wait to see your postings as they grow and change. Also, I appreciate the information on the incubator. I'll be starting my quest now and will be reading up, plus connecting with my neighbor who has hatched chickens. Between the two of us and support on BYC, we should be able to pull it off to hatch some guineas in the spring. My egg production stopped about a month ago and it's just as well - it's too cold to work on hatching at this point.

Your new building sounds great and had asked about insulating a coop. Anyone who I have talked to about insulation has not recommended it. The insulation has the potential for mold to grow and reduce air quality and increase moisture - both of which can contribute to illness or death with poultry. There may be those who do insulate, but I haven't talked to anyone who has recommended it. Some I know do provide heat in extreme cold, but do not insulate. Hope that helps.

Please post some pics of your set up once you have it in. Good luck!

 

[Jessie22]

Ok thanks for the info on insulating the building. I have also read in my book on Guineas that I shouldn't insulate due to respiratory illness along with alot more but I will by a sweet heater or 2 to turn on when it gets cold since my guineas and silkies were raised so far inside and they will have a closed in run, predator proof that's for sure. We have foxes, coyotes(I have heard but not seen), opossums and bird of prey (owls-Great Horned pair), Red tail hawk-who sits on my empty birdhouse in early morning). I love my animals including my chihuahua who licks her lips and follows me in the bird room but she will learn. She runs between my neighbors guineas just to see them run and fly when they are visiting. I am a state and federal licensed rehabilitator for wildlife so I am very aware of what they can do. I will definitely load some pictures of it in my file during delivery and each set up with it. My pictures of my 4 silkies are on my profile, they are suppose to be white, what do you think? Take a look and have a great day!!

Silkies 4 days old(shipped eggs) and keats are 8 days old and growing like a weed.

 

[GlennLee]

Sounds as though you have your work cut out for you keeping those Guineas safe from predators! And chickens too. Your chicks are adorable! I'm not familiar with Silkies, but they don't look white to me; they're still cute as a button though. Have fun with all your little ones!

 

[Jessie22]

I looked at your photos and love'um. You have beautiful land, home and of course guineas galore like me. New York sure is cold. The silkies I got off of ebay. I am a trusting person so I ordered them, got 17 silkie eggs and only 4 hatched and the rest were not fertile. I sent her an email but she has not responded and this was 2 weeks ago. Oh well live and learn. My post office is rough with packages, I hate to receive anything from our post office. It is either wet, torn or smashed. Good luck with your guineas! Stay warm