new shipment of guineas came - some dead

[alwayswantedchicks]

At 7 this morning we got our call from the post office that our guinea keets were ready for pickup. My husband rushed over to pick them up while I prepared their water and heated up the brooder. He didn't open the box until he got home at around 7:45. We opened the box and took them out one at a time giving them sugar water and then placing them in the brooder with a waterer of the same with marbles in it. Of the 32 keets in the box, 8 were cold dead in the bottom of the box and one more just died in my hand within the last 10 minutes. It kept falling over on it's back and was more wobbly. It drank ok. I picked it up to check it and try more water and it seemed to be gasping and just went still. We called the hatchery yesterday to check on the shipment and they said they were mailed Monday afternoon. This is Wednesday morning. Isn't it unusual to have that many DOA? Any suggestions? I took off work to be able to assure them a good start. They obviously are more fragile birds than baby chicks. I have 21 chicks that are 14+ weeks old and thriving so this is very unsettling. I'm noew to posting so I posted this first in the emergencies section of chick forum.

 

[DulcyDoll]

Did you call the hatchery and let them know? 8 dead is rather significant..I've never had more than 2 birds dead in a shipment.

 

[fishman65]

were they shipped with cool packs? sometimes the heat will do them in! Sorry for your loss. hopefully the hatchery will make it right (discount or more keets). They are pretty hardy little guys, something out of ordinary to cause such a large loss.

 

[alwayswantedchicks]

I called the hatchery this afternoon and the customer service rep seemed to be not surprised. She said that she would record the losses so far (at that time, there were 11 dead, counting the 8 doa). She also said for me to call by Friday to let them know any other losses we have and they will either credit us or replace. This is very disheartening. We've been so careful not to make any mistakes, pretty much doing the same as if they were chicks which we've done before. So far tonight out of the 32 keets there are about a dozen that I would say seem to be thriving. The rest wouldn't surprise me to be gone by morning. Also we've lost, counting the 8 doa, 13 today. Afraid to walk away from the brooder at this point. Consistent temperature, no drafts, sugar water - great well water, not softened, warmed, turkey starter mixed to mush (which is what we used to feed our cockatiels when they were newly hatched). All I can think of is it must have been one heck of a trip for them. They did have a pack in the box to keep them cool. We live in the mountains of southwest VA and it gets a little cool here but we waited for summer shipment so it wouldn't be too cool and were hoping not hot.
I'm picking my brain for answers now. I'll keep you posted on their progress. Thanks for input.

 

[damselfish]

Wow, that's a lot. I'm glad the hatchery is taking care of you, but still it must be so frustrating.

It sounds like you're doing everything right, so I have no suggestions, only sympathy.

 

[alwayswantedchicks]

Hey everyone, Thanks for the feedback. This is Friday morning. The baby keets arrived Wednesday morning. As of Thursday morning at 6 am 20 had died. The 12 remaining (which were the 12 I had figured would be most likely to survive) are thriving. And no additional babies have died since the initial 24 hours. I'm really thinking they must have had a horrible trip. I'm afraid to try having new keets shipped for fear the trip might also be too hard on them and we would go through this again. I'm wondering if I should try to incubate eggs but I don't have an incubator. I've really been counting on having guineas. We have 21 chicks that are 15 weeks old. They free range when we're outside during the day- which is a lot. Our golden retrievers help keep them safe also, like mother hens. Our goldens are the reason we finally got chicks and want guineas, to help control the tick population. Lymes disease has hit heavily in our area (several dogs in the neighborhood-including ours, and one small child) that we know of. We're in a semi rural area, 8 families in 100+ acres.
Any thoughts on incubating vs shipping live keets?

 

[damselfish]

Also consider where you are...there truly may be a drivable hatchery. Even something a few hours away could be a nice excursion drive if you plan it in advance. Something to look into.

Incubating has its own risks + up-front investment...but I don't incubate (yet), so I don't really have a handle on it.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Guinea keets tend to be a little fragile. There are a lot of factors that could have lead to death... heat, dehydration, rough handling, etc.

Try giving them warm (not hot) sugar water. Cold water may be a shock if they are super thirsty. They can actually drink themselves to death.

 

[alwayswantedchicks]

Just talked to the hatchery. 'Donna' was very sympathetic and seemed to think the trip must have been rough. How can they afford to handle these kind of losses regularly or is this unusually strange? I asked that question, and she was very nice, said that they only have the postal service for shipping options, and being live babies, sometimes lose them in the shipping process and/or shortly after. I asked her if I should try again or try incubating eggs but that I don't have an incubator and she didn't seem keen on that idea. So I opted to try live keets again instead of trying to get an incubator...
They will be shipped the 13th with expected delivery on the 15th. I'll be at the post office with warmed sugar water in hand and a cozy clean and bigger box than they arrive in before the post office calls the cellphone so maybe we can shorten the time they have to be in the box at the post office. I don't know, I wonder if I go over to the post office before then and talk to them. Maybe the keets arrived at our post office in the night and sat in a storage room until they felt they could call me (a 'decent hour'). Maybe I could get them to call me as soon as they get them, no matter what time it is. I called them ahead of time this last time and they called at about 5 after 7 in the morning. My husband was there and back home with them within 45 minutes. He didn't open the box at the post office though. I always warm my babies water (like an human baby). I figure it's not good for human babies to get cold liquids till their bodies can handle it. I make mush out of their feed for the first few days to a week to give their little systems a chance to mature. I watch over them like crazy without holding them much though when they are real little. Just as needed to check butts and stuff. I'm a 'clean freak' when it comes to my chicks. I wash their feeders and waterers at night after they go to 'bed', after they get old enough to 'sleep' through the night, and start fresh each morning. I change out their water to freshen at least 3-4 times a day...more when it's hot out. I clean their coop often (others say too often), I rake their enclosed pen area (800 sq') to keep the grass areas 'fluffy'. It does seem to make a difference. They have a great dusting area and get lots of extra priveliges. My chickens are healthy, happy and spoiled. They come when called. Their coop is elevated 2' to give them space underneath for hanging out when it's hot or raining without having to go inside. Part of their pen is covered for shade and dry area also. They get plenty of greens, extra veggies from the garden, plenty of bugs and always have feed in their feeders. So far we haven't lost a single chick so the keets dying has been tough. I'll go since I'm really rambling on. Thanks again for any advice and input. I read and pay close attention to all advice. I'll keep posted to progress. I'm also looking into more local hatcheries if I can find them. I was hoping to start from babies so they would surely know where home is and want to be with us. My brother works with a lady who has a hatchery in Northern VA, about 4 hours away one way. Hopefully this next batch will do better and with the 12 survivors doing good now...maybe I won't need to get any more than that. Actually only 1/2 of these are to be mine. When I ordered the 30, it was to share 1/2 of the order with a girl who works at the local Lowes store. She's ill now (doing chemo, i think) so we were keeping them all till she gets better. They were ordered before she found out she was sick.

 

[alwayswantedchicks]

The new shipment of 20 guineas came this morning. What a huge difference. All were very alive, warm and jumping out of the box! They're all eating, drinking and pooping.