My guineas just had about 5 babies. Now I am need help.

[figment]

Last year I bought a few guineas, ducks, and chickens. The only thing that survived was two guineas and a chicken. I live in a city and I know that somebody decided that they rather eat my ducks and chickens than let me have them for pets. Was offered several times money for my ducks and I always refused and each time a duck would disappear within the week of being offered money. Anyways, I didn't know I had a male and female guinea. Now I seen the guineas outside with five little babies following behind. I had thought one of my guineas was sick or something because it wouldn't come to eat in the morning and would come late in the afternoon.Both of the guineas flew the coop when they were old enough to fly. I didn't know that they could fly and they are too fast for me to catch. Now they have babies and I don't know what to do. I have searched everywhere for their nest but cannot find where it is. Should I just leave the babies alone with the parents or should I try to capture them? Will they have more babies this year or is that something that only happens once a year? Should I buy the feed for baby fowl or just go ahead and give them the feed I give to the chicken and adult guineas? Please if anybody could help it would be appreciated. Thank you,

 

[silkiechicken]

If you could lure them into the coop, that might be your best bet on re-caputring them. But I don't know anything about guineas. Sorry about your human predator problem though. That's totally lame.

 

[PeepsCA]

They stand a better chance at survival if they are confined to a coop or pen with their Momma (and the Daddy if he wants in too), game bird starter feed (they NEED high protein feed) and a waterer they cannot drown in for at least a couple weeks until they are less fragile.

So you'll need to risk life and limb... put on heavy clothing (or football gear/suit of armor, lol) and catch the babies, put them in a box or bucket and put that in a coop/pen that's already set up for them or wherever you want them contained, wait for the Momma to go in then to her crying/peeping keets, tip the box/bucket over and shut the door. Little keets can escape thru the tiniest of openings, so you will want to make sure it's secure (and as you learned, covered). Guinea Hens are vicious Mommas tho, so watch out she will get you... and the Daddy may help her.

 

[figment]

yes, I just learned that they are very defensive when I try to catch the babies. so far I have captured 3 of the 5 that I had seen yesterday. But I don't see the other 2 anywhere.

 

[PeepsCA]

Yikes, they may have gotten snatched by a predator already, or got wet/chilled and died

Do you have them in a brooder, or are they contained with the Momma?

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

They might have scattered when you caught the others. I caught some last year and with 3 people trying there was a few that kept getting away. And would come out a little later to find mama.
1x2 fence won't hold them like chicks. We had them in a pen made from it with mama and they would run out and leave mama. Best to keep them confined or brood yourself. We lost like 28/32 last year leaving with parents roaming around. Great hatchers really bad parents.

 

[figment]

Will the mother guinea have another batch of chicks? Or do they only have one a year? I don't have a brooder and I can't catch the momma guinea, so I brought the babies in the house and put them in a box. I put the box half on and half off of a heating pad, put saucer of water and baby bird feed down in the bottom of the box. I found the other two babies in the yard dead. I don't want these babies to die. So any suggestions would be appreciated. If guineas have more than one clutch/litter/batch a year I would like to know what to look for so I can get to the babies sooner.

 

[PeepsCA]

Sorry you lost the other 2 keets, Guinea Hens are not always the best Mommas if they aren't in a controlled environment like the coop or a brooder pen.

She should start laying again, the laying/breeding season for Guineas is Spring thru Fall, so you are only part way thru the season with your Guineas. You will need to keep an eye on your Hen and see where she wanders off to each day... more than likely she will find a new nesting spot within a week or 2. So you may want to have a plan for collecting keets and getting her to come into a coop or pen with them once she shows up with keets again.

The box you have the keets in will need a top on it of something like chicken wire or hardware cloth (they can fly by a week and a half to 2 wks old), and a heat lamp with a regular 60watt bulb in it mounted above the box at one end would be better than the heating pad (IMO/IME they don't need a big huge red heat lamp bulb). The temp needs to be 90-95 degrees, measured on the floor of the brooder, under the glow of the lamp. And they need to have enough room in the box to get away from the heat if they need to. Then you will need to raise the lamp up a little each week to lower the temp 5 degrees (or put it on a dimmer switch so you can lower the temp that way instead) until the brooder temp is equal to the outside ambient temps, or the keets are 6 wks old, fully feathered and able to regulate their own body temp.

Make sure you are feeding them high protein game bird or turkey starter, not chick feed... they need the higher protein or they will grow and feather out slower, possibly be stunted and also have health issues down the line. They grow fast so you may want to start collecting bigger boxes, or start building a large secure brooder for them. For their best chance of survival they need to be brooder raised for 6 wks, then they will need to be penned outside where your other birds can see them for another 6 wks before you let them out to free range. The adults won't recognize them as their babies and may or may not accept them, so plenty of exposure is your best bet for being able to add them into your flock.

HTH

ETA:
I would not put them on shavings for bedding until they are at least 2 wks old... they can eat them, get impacted and die. Use rough textured paper towels, or rubberized shelf liner over paper towels for several days (no newspaper, it's too slippery), then coarse straw for a while before you put them on shavings. And try to get the large flake shavings, not the light fluffy stuff so that there's less chance of them gorging themselves on them.

 

[figment]

thank you so much for the info. I will start watching the female and try to find where she will be nesting so that the next batch of babies I will be ready for and prepared for raising them.

 

[Highcotton]

thank you so much for the info. I will start watching the female and try to find where she will be nesting so that the next batch of babies I will be ready for and prepared for raising them.

You should be able to listen for her. She should "cackle" after she lays it's more of a Guinea call than a cackle. Guineas are extremely good flyers and they prefer to nest in trees. I don't remember if Guineas will have two broods in a year. They little ones would be safer in a coop since they can't fly for a few weeks. However, all I ever saw on the farm followed their mother around. After all it quite a task to catch Guineas. They aren't far from wild birds.