New Keets are sick, help!

[jak2002003]

I had a flock of 7 guinea fowl a few years ago.. living free range in my mango orchard. I had them for about 2 years, raised them form keets. Sadly I lost most of them in a few nights to feral dogs. And I had to re home the rest as I was unable to stop the dogs getting in.

Now I have the land all fenced and walled in.. and its safe now from dog attacks.

I was looking for some young birds for many months. Finally a pet shop got 4 keets for me. Yesterday I got them home.. I was very excited.

However, I noticed that they are coughing a lot. They are not sneezing, and don't have any bubbles or mucus in their eyes or nostrils. Poops all normal and eating and drinking normally.

Any idea what could be wrong? I got them in a small pen away from my chickens... with water with added vitamins, and am feeding high protein chick food, mealworms, and hard boiled eggs.... some grain as a treat.

They are very different to my other keets I had before... they are very scared of me and wild acting.. jumping about and won't come near me even with the insect treats.. and its when they get scared and start running about they start the coughing. I have seen no open beak breathing, or gasping. Just the coughing sounds, which sound a bit like they have mucus in their lungs.

Thanks for any advise... I am very worried about them.

 

[jak2002003]

Also... will guninea fowl eat hairy caterpillars ? My trees are infested with thousands of them, and they are walking around the ground making cocoons all over the place...

 

[jak2002003]

Anyone ?

 

[jak2002003]

Sorry.... no one with any help at all?

Are there no Guinea Fowl people on this site?

 

[R2elk]

I had a flock of 7 guinea fowl a few years ago.. living free range in my mango orchard. I had them for about 2 years, raised them form keets. Sadly I lost most of them in a few nights to feral dogs. And I had to re home the rest as I was unable to stop the dogs getting in.

Now I have the land all fenced and walled in.. and its safe now from dog attacks.

I was looking for some young birds for many months. Finally a pet shop got 4 keets for me. Yesterday I got them home.. I was very excited.

However, I noticed that they are coughing a lot. They are not sneezing, and don't have any bubbles or mucus in their eyes or nostrils. Poops all normal and eating and drinking normally.

Any idea what could be wrong? I got them in a small pen away from my chickens... with water with added vitamins, and am feeding high protein chick food, mealworms, and hard boiled eggs.... some grain as a treat.

They are very different to my other keets I had before... they are very scared of me and wild acting.. jumping about and won't come near me even with the insect treats.. and its when they get scared and start running about they start the coughing. I have seen no open beak breathing, or gasping. Just the coughing sounds, which sound a bit like they have mucus in their lungs.

Thanks for any advise... I am very worried about them.

I have no idea what could be causing the coughing.

Since you are feeding other things than starter feed, you need to provide them with an appropriate sized grit so they can properly digest the mealworms and grain.

I cannot say whether or not they will eat the caterpillars but they will eat the adult moths. You could try dropping a caterpillar in with them to watch and see what they do with it. Just be sure they have grit available so they can digest it properly.

Guineas learn their preferred foods at an early age so if you can get them to eat the caterpillars while they are still young, they will eat them when they grow up..

 

[Trefoil]

You didn't say how old they were, are they warm enough? If they are over 6 weeks old, I would worm them. Until they are better, I would only give them the vitamins in their water once a week and the rest of the time add apple cider vinegar to their water 2-3 teaspoons/quart of water. Not because they don't need the vitamins but because you can't add both the vitamins and the apple cider vinegar at the same time. Could you add the vitamins to their feed?

 

[jak2002003]

Hi. Thanks you for your replies.

The keets are about 6 - 7 weeks old I guess. They have all their feathers on their bodies, but still have stripy heads and necks. They are not making adult sounds yet... and have a lot of growing to do.

I will get some apple cider vinegar tomorrow. They are still coughing... but seem otherwise healthy and acting normally. I can't get them to calm down when I go near them.

They sound like they have something in their lungs.. like mucus... kind of like when humans get cough when they get a cold and congestion.

 

[pearlGuinea]

I've had keets that after being scared ( like being chased by my dog) will fluff up its wings and open its mouth and make raspy noises. Maybe the coughing is them making noise to scare you away when you come near them. I just thought that since you said they cough when they get scared and run around that they might be trying to make noises to scare you.

 

[jak2002003]

Hi... That't is a really good idea, and something I had not though of. ... but I think they are coughing when they get breathing fast.

I have good news because now only one of the four is coughing. 2 have stopped any coughing and one is not as bad as before.

I have been adding ACV to the water in the mornings, and change the water and put in Vit B12 medicine powder for the afternoon and when they go to sleep.

Keeping fingers crossed that its some kind of respiratory virus and with supportive care, fresh air and warm sunshine they will get over it.

Keep you all posted.

 

[Tony K T]

They should be wormed 2 times per year.As should all birds.After 1st treatment you need to repeat 10 days later to kill the cycle.But the above adviced should be followed also.
What do you mean by chick food?They need to be fed a gamebird feed.
In N.H.,Tony.