Hen raising keets

[Edw@rd]

I have 5 day old keets in a sectioned off area in my coop. The mother has access and pops in and out taking care of her young. How long will she raise them? When can they have access to the whole coop with the other adult birds? Thanks in advance!

 

[sylviethecochin]

@R2elk?

 

[R2elk]

I have 5 day old keets in a sectioned off area in my coop. The mother has access and pops in and out taking care of her young. How long will she raise them? When can they have access to the whole coop with the other adult birds? Thanks in advance!

Every hen is different. I recommend allowing her mate to also have access to them. Guineas tend to make it a family affair when raising keets.

Perhaps @guineapeeps can relate her experiences allowing guineas to raise their own.

 

[guineapeeps]

I have 5 day old keets in a sectioned off area in my coop. The mother has access and pops in and out taking care of her young. How long will she raise them? When can they have access to the whole coop with the other adult birds? Thanks in advance!

The mother hen should continue to raise the keets until they are fully feathered and able to keep themselves warm and fly up to the roost at night. I’ve even had some hens continue to parent and be protective of the keets for months after that. I did have one hen that decided she would parent during the day but wanted to roost the the others at night before the keets reached this point, so just watch to make sure she is caring for them, and if not, you may have to add a heat source.
I agree with @R2elk that guineas make it a family affair when raising keets and that you should let her mate have access to the keets as well. I always had a male that helped to raise the keets and sometimes an additional hen would help too.
As for when to let them loose in the coop, I would say that it depends on how many other guineas you have, their temperament, and the size of your coop. The mother hens can be quite protective of the keets and can be pretty aggressive to any non-parenting guineas or other birds. You want to make sure if you put them all together, that you have enough room for the other guineas to escape from the mother if she chases them off or is aggressive. (And, of course, you don’t want the keets to get trampled in the chaotic panic of the others trying to escape the wrath of the mother!) If your coop is small and somewhat crowded, then I would keep them separate for at least a few weeks. If you have a very large coop and plenty of space, you might get try letting them out together and see how it goes. When you do put them together, just make sure to keep a watchful eye and be ready to intervene if needed. I never kept my keets separated from the rest of the flock, but they had a large area to roam and were let out to free range, weather permitting. If you have an outside run or plan to let them free range, watch the weather carefully and do not let them out if the grass is wet or if rain is expected, as keets can get chilled easily and die.