How To Keep Keets Clean?

[newb1rdmom]

I've only had my keets for about a week now I think and I've probably already cleaned out their bedding 3-4 times if not more. I have two sets of keets in two different boxes, one with wood chips (older keets) and one with puppy pads and sand (younger keets). I've probably only changed the wood chips about 2 maybe 3 times but the puppy pads seem to be getting yucky a lot quicker. I noticed that some of my keets also have feces stuck to their feet -- which i will clean up with some coconut oil to get it loose -- but I just put the new puppy pads in not even a day ago and there's already a pile of poo and food mixture in the middle of the box.

I feel like with the wood chips some of the feces and such get scratched out to the bottom of the box so the top layer is somewhat clean for a bit longer but that isn't the case with the puppy pads as there's nowhere for the feces to fall down into and the layer of sand is very light and just enough for them to have something to scratch on and push around.

I'm not really sure how often you're supposed to clean the boxes out because I haven't really found anything that says a general duration, only things saying to keep the keets clean. I'm also wondering when is a good age to introduce the wood chips for the bedding for the smaller ones. I recently had an issue where the younger keets were eating the wood chips and I didn't realize so I ended up losing 3 of them because they could not pass the chips properly. I have grit now that I give them a little of but I'm not quite comfortable putting them on the chips just yet even with the grit. I believe the younger keets are around a week old maybe a week and a half but not much more than that.

Also; bonus side question: My older keets are scratching almost all their food out of the feeder onto the ground and I'm not sure how to keep them from scratching it all onto the floor. I know they will do it a little regardless but I filled their food yesterday morning and by around 5pm that night they had already emptied the entire feeder onto the ground. I don't want to keep filling it up and having them scratch it onto the ground because I don't want food to be wasted as when its down there they inevitably poo in their own food and I have to clean it out. They also keep putting woodchips into their water -- which is raised off the ground -- and the chips soak up the water so I'm having to constantly clean that and refill it as well.. They're a bit frustrating lol

 

[R2elk]

edit: the coconut oil didn't help much getting the feces off the feet. it's a bit too dry.. i managed to flake a couple pieces off but i don't want to stress the keet out too much and they were very unhappy being held to have their feet cleaned + i don't want to injure the feet by tugging too much.. advice?

I just use my thumbnails to break the dried crap loose. I kind of pinch it making sure that I am pinching alongside the toes and not directly on them.

It has been my experience that chicks do a pretty good job of keeping their feet clean. Turkey poults, not so good, guinea keets are by far the worst. Adult guineas aren't much better than the keets about keeping their feet clean.

 

[yakitori]

I started off with just guineas, they were so scared of me. So I went out and got a bunch of chicks too. When the guineas saw that the chooks weren't afraid to approach my hand they got a lot braver. It took them about a week to get used to my hands, I made sure that every time my hand went in there, I had some white millet (make sure to provide them some grit too if you feed them treats), now they jump on my arms to get to the treats.

I changed my brooder once a day. My friend has a lot of grass clippings from his huge lawn, so I had an endless supply of dry grass bedding. I did read that chicks could die from digestive issues from ingesting the grass, so I provided them with chick grit and haven't had an issue with that. a good thick layer of grass bedding kept things much more sanitary...

To have the guineas associate positively with handling, I always put treats in the holding bin I was moving them to when changing out the brooder. It wasn't long before they stopped struggling when I cupped them in both hands, where before they would struggle and kick (they have such strong legs!) they now simply relax and allow themselves to be transported. Also some treats in the brooder when I moved them back (when I could be bothered) helped strengthen that positive association.

They're older now, and it hurts to have them jump on my arms, so I don't let them do it anymore. If they see my hand coming, they would still avoid it nonchalantly, but occasionally I can get a pet or a tail tug in when they are distracted since they're not on guard when I'm around.

Also I just want to note that I never chase down my guineas. These days I bring them outside in an enclosure during the day, and occasionally allow them to free range when I have time to sit out there and watch them. I bribe them back with a treat or wait for them to return enclosure when they are hungry. They stick to each other like magnets, so once I have most of them in there, the rest will follow.

 

[R2elk]

Oh! good to know! What kind of issue would they have? I think I’ll need to readjust what I’m doing...

When they become adults, the imprinting has removed their ability to understand that chickens aren't guineas. The problem usually appears during the first breeding season when the guineas go nuts with their races and chases including the attacks from behind with the feather pulling and feather breaking. Other poultry do not understand this behavior and can become very stressed. Other poultry do not know how to show submissiveness to the attacking guineas which makes the situation worse.

 

[R2elk]

I live up in Minnesota and the guineas I got in May started laying eggs in early September of the same year. They stopped laying in February and started back up late March I think it was.
I had a light in their coop on a timer through the winter.

The supplemental light was the difference. Mine get no supplemental light and stop laying sometime in October.

 

[My2butterflies]

The supplemental light was the difference. Mine get no supplemental light and stop laying sometime in October.

Do you think it’s harmful at all to give the extra light in the shorter months?
I don’t open the coop door when the temps drop below zero, so we didn’t want to make them live in such dim light from the windows.

 

[Sydney65]

3-4x a WK? I did it 2x a day when they were that little. There's no place on pads or paper towels for it to go but their feet. I did the cups in the water bottle so there was nothing to spill. As for feed, I was home w/them, so was able to only put out enough for one feeding at a time.
While holding, you can let the bird's foot soak in shallow cont of coconut oil to soften before removing. It's good for them to get used to being handled and you def want that softened up before you go pulling on it. I just donned gloves and massaged their feet and legs to get it off rather than trying to scrub or rub. Again, it lets them get used to you messing w/their feet.

 

[Sydney65]

"Adult guineas aren't much better than the keets about keeping their feet clean."

No Kidding.

 

[Sydney65]

You can do inbetween clean ups w/a tissue. I forget how old yours are. At some point, I felt they were able to maintain body temp well enough that I brought a small kiddie pool in their room and let them eat in that while I cleaned out brooder. They loved it, and it cut down on mess in brooder. If you want you read my 1st yr here https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wk-3.1328223/
I'm the 1st to admit I make mistakes, but the team here got me on the right track.

 

[R2elk]

They really dislike me touching them. They all scatter and panic a bit when I even reach in the change the food or water let alone touch one.. I try to hold them a little so maybe they get used to me but it doesn’t seem to work & I also don’t want to over handle them. Do you have any suggestions for how to get them more comfortable?

Put food in your hand. Lay your hand on the bedding with you arm as low as possible. Be patient and let them come to you. Don't move and don't try to catch them. If you are patient enough, they will come and eat from your hand. Some of them may even crawl up into your hand.

Once mine are a week old, I tend to cut short pieces of grass and drop it into the brooder. They quickly learn that it is a treat and come running as soon as the first pieces of grass hit the bedding.