Hens raising keets and keet death

[Paula McCormick]

We had 2 broody hens, so a neighbor gave us 11 fertilized guinea eggs. They all hatched successfully, The hens shared the care of the keets, and have been very good mothers. They are allowed to roam our large suburban backyard with is kept in a natural state - we use no pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizer. We have sunflowers that grow wild in the yard. The keets have had access to water since day 1 in a small container that they could access without drowning. We feed our hens organic feed for layers, along with leftover kitchen scraps such as watermelon/cantelope rinds, corn cobs, cooked rice, tortilla chips, etc. It is amazing to watch the hens call the keets to the food and then break the food into tiny pieces with their beaks for the keets. They also gave the keets water with their beaks when they were very little. The hens and keets would go into the coop every night on their own, and we would let them out in the morning. Last night I checked on them before closing the coop - and just like every night, most of the keets were under the hens, I could see several heads looking out. When we opened the coop this morning, the hens and several keets ran out, but not all. We looked in, and there were 5 dead keets. The keets are about 3 weeks old. There were no injuries or blood. Last night we were observing them and they were all appeared healthy, and one was even jumping up to a perch about 2 feet off the ground. These keets have been sleeping/resting under these hens since day 1. We live in Austin, Texas. The temperature was 95 at 6 pm yesterday, and went down to 73 by sunrise.
Do you know why these healthy keets died? Could they have suffocated under the hen?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

3 weeks is way too long to feed baby birds layer feed. It is about 4% calcium as opposed to approximately 1% calcium content in all non-layer feeds.
If a bird isn't actively building egg shells - they are not layers and shouldn't eat layer feed. The same thing goes for broody hens, retired hens, hens on their winter break and roosters/cockerels.
They need a starter feed.
I bet if you had a necropsy done or did a DIY necropsy, you would find swollen and/or atrophied kidney segments.

 

[Paula McCormick]

Thank you for your information.
All my hens (total of 6: 4 layers and the 2 parents) roam and forage in the same area. Would it be OK to feed them all starter since they are all together? Or should the mother hens and keets be penned separately?
(P.S. I love your Mark Twain quote - one of my favorites)

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thank you for your information.
All my hens (total of 6: 4 layers and the 2 parents) roam and forage in the same area. Would it be OK to feed them all starter since they are all together? Or should the mother hens and keets be penned separately?
(P.S. I love your Mark Twain quote - one of my favorites)

They will all benefit from the starter feed. It is higher in protein and lower in calcium.
For birds still laying eggs, provide oyster shell in a separate container so they can replenish the calcium lost when they build an egg shell.

 

[Paula McCormick]

Thank you so much! Going now to get starter - thankfully a feed store is open. I will try and save the remaining chicks.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thank you so much! Going now to get starter - thankfully a feed store is open. I will try and save the remaining chicks.

Hi Paula, sorry about your keet loss! In addition to high calcium, it sounds like your keets may have been eating a low protein diet. I feed keets a higher protein diet than chicks, some kind of 28% gamebird starter crumble is best. Your keets are getting old enough not to need quite so much protein, but switching to gamebird crumbles for awhile might be helpful. Your hens will be ok with the high protein for a few weeks, with oyster shell offered free choice. If you can’t get gamebird feed, is go with the highest protein chick feed that you can find and supplement with brewers yeast for the B vitamins. I’d also cut out the low protein treats for awhile except for dried mealworms or hard boiled eggs. Guineas are very heat tolerant - I doubt that your temperatures were problematic for them.

 

[Paula McCormick]

Thank you for the suggestions. We will cut back on the watermelon treat and get some meal worms asap

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hi Paula, sorry about your keet loss! In addition to high calcium, it sounds like your keets may have been eating a low protein diet. I feed keets a higher protein diet than chicks, some kind of 28% gamebird starter crumble is best. Your keets are getting old enough not to need quite so much protein, but switching to gamebird crumbles for awhile might be helpful. Your hens will be ok with the high protein for a few weeks, with oyster shell offered free choice. If you can’t get gamebird feed, is go with the highest protein chick feed that you can find and supplement with brewers yeast for the B vitamins. I’d also cut out the low protein treats for awhile except for dried mealworms or hard boiled eggs. Guineas are very heat tolerant - I doubt that your temperatures were problematic for them.

good points