How old are keets before their alarms start working?

[Ellen Neudecker]

I have a couple of Guineas that I bought as adults. Next week, we are getting a few day old keets. They will be in a brooder inside of my house for the first couple of months. When I was planning the time of year to get them, I never thought about their alarms. Can anyone who has had Guineas from keets tell me roughly when they start their alarms? The room where I planned to put their brooder is right downstairs from my bedroom. Wondering if I need to rethink this plan??

 

[PeepsCA]

It will probably depend on what they can see and hear from their brooder, if your dogs or cats are going in there often and spooking them they may be more prone to sounding the alarm starting at an early age. I just sold a few 6 1/2 week olds and they were not noisy yet at that age. Usually by 8 weeks old mine have plenty to say, but have learned from hearing the adult birds that are out and about free ranging.

You may not want to keep them in your house for up to 8 weeks.. they make a lot of dust that gets everywhere, and their bedding needs to be changed frequently to avoid the overwhelming odors. I keep mine indoors only until they get their first set of feathers and then I move them to a sheltered and secure outdoor brooder (with a brooder lamp for warmth still).