New to Guineas :)

[SunHwaKwon]

The guineas were very talkative this evening. I now know why people say guineas are loud. You would have thought the end of the world was coming.

The upside to this is I got some more buckwheat-ing going on. Four of them where making calls when they were in the brooder room, but ever since I moved them to the coop they have been hesitant to make any two syllable calls. A purple finally began calling a couple of days ago, and yesterday a white joined her. Tonight, amid all the ruckus, a second white and two pearls began calling. So now I know I have five females. I am rather certain that the third pearl and two of the lavenders are male. I'm not sure about the other six. I try to spend at least ten minutes twice a day out in the coop, just sitting with them, observing them, getting them comfortable with my presence. Three of them finally ate mealworms from my hands yesterday. That was a nice breakthrough.

In other news, I told my husband about my thoughts on extending the run by ten feet. I told him it would be a good idea because, other than the logistics of moving the coop, it would not be too difficult, and it would be good to have more run room for winter when the property is covered in snow, in case the birds don't want to venture out much. I wouldn't blame them, and I'm not looking forward to feeding and watering duty then However, I'm not even living in the coop and run and I'm already bored with the amount of space they have to explore! Maybe when I become a millionaire I can build a guinea palace with all kinds of roosts and swings and things to explore and room to chase each other about.

 

[GitaBooks]

The guineas were very talkative this evening. I now know why people say guineas are loud. You would have thought the end of the world was coming.

The upside to this is I got some more buckwheat-ing going on. Four of them where making calls when they were in the brooder room, but ever since I moved them to the coop they have been hesitant to make any two syllable calls. A purple finally began calling a couple of days ago, and yesterday a white joined her. Tonight, amid all the ruckus, a second white and two pearls began calling. So now I know I have five females. I am rather certain that the third pearl and two of the lavenders are male. I'm not sure about the other six. I try to spend at least ten minutes twice a day out in the coop, just sitting with them, observing them, getting them comfortable with my presence. Three of them finally ate mealworms from my hands yesterday. That was a nice breakthrough.

In other news, I told my husband about my thoughts on extending the run by ten feet. I told him it would be a good idea because, other than the logistics of moving the coop, it would not be too difficult, and it would be good to have more run room for winter when the property is covered in snow, in case the birds don't want to venture out much. I wouldn't blame them, and I'm not looking forward to feeding and watering duty then However, I'm not even living in the coop and run and I'm already bored with the amount of space they have to explore! Maybe when I become a millionaire I can build a guinea palace with all kinds of roosts and swings and things to explore and room to chase each other about.

I wish I could build a guinea palace also! I doubt I'll just get a million dollar check in the mail, but you can always hope.

Glad that your guineas are becoming tame! Best of luck with them!

 

[DeAnzaJig]

I was just thinking how much I liked the yellow you painted your coop and if I could find the same for mine.

 

[DeAnzaJig]

That's so exciting that you are able to start identifying male and females! But the fact you are getting them to eat out of your hand is even better!

Have you tried white millet yet? Mine love it. I wish I had started them at 2 weeks old on it, but didn't get around to introducing it until 5 weeks.

As I was watching my flock of 13 on the lawn today I tried to picture double the amount and thought if you! Lol

 

[dinydeek]

We are new to guinea's and chickens! This thread is great!! My 3 guinea's are about 6-7 weeks old right now and I have to admit I enjoy watching them more then chickens.

Mine eat out of my hand I think because the chickens always have and raised them together. They especially have a hunger for broc. I hold the floret by the stem and all 13 chicks tear into it! Then they devour the stem as well. They also love fresh bok choy leaves out of the garden and are as excited by the crickets we give them as the chicks are. I haven't tried holding any of them but the hubby tried and they were not entertained! Yesterday's big excitement was they caught a lizard! Boy did they have fun with that!

We find it funny that the chicks try to imitate the guinea's - sometimes that is good and sometimes hilarious! Here is a pic of them "roosting". We snapped it through the window of their chicken shed The first in line is a chicken.

 

[GitaBooks]

We are new to guinea's and chickens! This thread is great!! My 3 guinea's are about 6-7 weeks old right now and I have to admit I enjoy watching them more then chickens.

Mine eat out of my hand I think because the chickens always have and raised them together. They especially have a hunger for broc. I hold the floret by the stem and all 13 chicks tear into it! Then they devour the stem as well. They also love fresh bok choy leaves out of the garden and are as excited by the crickets we give them as the chicks are. I haven't tried holding any of them but the hubby tried and they were not entertained! Yesterday's big excitement was they caught a lizard! Boy did they have fun with that!

We find it funny that the chicks try to imitate the guinea's - sometimes that is good and sometimes hilarious! Here is a pic of them "roosting". We snapped it through the window of their chicken shed The first in line is a chicken.

I love the picture! Sounds like you have some awesome birds!

 

[dinydeek]

Thanks! We think they are pretty wonderful!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

We are new to guinea's and chickens! This thread is great!! My 3 guinea's are about 6-7 weeks old right now and I have to admit I enjoy watching them more then chickens.

Mine eat out of my hand I think because the chickens always have and raised them together. They especially have a hunger for broc. I hold the floret by the stem and all 13 chicks tear into it! Then they devour the stem as well. They also love fresh bok choy leaves out of the garden and are as excited by the crickets we give them as the chicks are. I haven't tried holding any of them but the hubby tried and they were not entertained! Yesterday's big excitement was they caught a lizard! Boy did they have fun with that!

We find it funny that the chicks try to imitate the guinea's - sometimes that is good and sometimes hilarious! Here is a pic of them "roosting". We snapped it through the window of their chicken shed The first in line is a chicken.

That picture is too funny and cute! Since I moved my birds out to the coop I don't get to see them as they sleep anymore, but I always thought it was funny how they would let their heads dangle like that. Guineas are great birds and I've enjoyed watching mine grow up.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

That's so exciting that you are able to start identifying male and females! But the fact you are getting them to eat out of your hand is even better!

Have you tried white millet yet? Mine love it. I wish I had started them at 2 weeks old on it, but didn't get around to introducing it until 5 weeks.

As I was watching my flock of 13 on the lawn today I tried to picture double the amount and thought if you! Lol

I started trying millet with mine from about a week and a half. Really, they are not all that interested in it when I try to give it to them. However, I made the mistake of storing some in one of the nest boxes. The first bag the millet in was clear, so I assume they saw it (as I had offered it on several occasions previously so they were familiar with what it looked like) and remembered how it tasted. I found the bag with several holes pecked through it and millet spilled out. So, I put it in a yellow bag that zip locks on top. Now, this yellow bag was in there with another yellow bag with ultrakibble, as well as a red bag of mealworms. They pecked holes through this bag too and got into the millet. They say most birds cannot smell but this leads me to believe that guineas can or how else would they know which bag to get into? Of course, they also love ultrakibble and mealworms and haven't gotten into those yet, so I don't know what to think.

Anyway, I am actually down to 14 guineas now. I sold 10 and 6 went to the neighbor. I was going to find homes for another two but now I think I will hang on to them.

In other news, tonight I lost a chick. Somehow it got out again (I still cannot find how even though this is the second time). My chocolate lab encountered it and brought it to us. I don't think he was meaning to kill it, as he was trying to bring it to us. He has a very soft mouth but I think he either wacked it trying to pick it up or clamped down when it struggled. In any case, I was very upset with him. I have been spending time with him in the run making him get used to the birds and learn not to chase them and he has done very well. He is one of the main reasons I know I need to hold off on free ranging (besides waiting for the crops that surround us to get cut so there are fewer places for predators to hide). In a way he did me a favor, because this was an "extra" cockerel that was going to need to be butchered or rehomed eventually. Still, I was pretty upset.

 

[GitaBooks]

I started trying millet with mine from about a week and a half. Really, they are not all that interested in it when I try to give it to them. However, I made the mistake of storing some in one of the nest boxes. The first bag the millet in was clear, so I assume they saw it (as I had offered it on several occasions previously so they were familiar with what it looked like) and remembered how it tasted. I found the bag with several holes pecked through it and millet spilled out. So, I put it in a yellow bag that zip locks on top. Now, this yellow bag was in there with another yellow bag with ultrakibble, as well as a red bag of mealworms. They pecked holes through this bag too and got into the millet. They say most birds cannot smell but this leads me to believe that guineas can or how else would they know which bag to get into? Of course, they also love ultrakibble and mealworms and haven't gotten into those yet, so I don't know what to think.

Anyway, I am actually down to 14 guineas now. I sold 10 and 6 went to the neighbor. I was going to find homes for another two but now I think I will hang on to them.

In other news, tonight I lost a chick. Somehow it got out again (I still cannot find how even though this is the second time). My chocolate lab encountered it and brought it to us. I don't think he was meaning to kill it, as he was trying to bring it to us. He has a very soft mouth but I think he either wacked it trying to pick it up or clamped down when it struggled. In any case, I was very upset with him. I have been spending time with him in the run making him get used to the birds and learn not to chase them and he has done very well. He is one of the main reasons I know I need to hold off on free ranging (besides waiting for the crops that surround us to get cut so there are fewer places for predators to hide). In a way he did me a favor, because this was an "extra" cockerel that was going to need to be butchered or rehomed eventually. Still, I was pretty upset.

I'm sorry to hear about the guinea you lost. Its always hard, even if you couldn't have kept them. We're going to be getting rid of some roos soon, but its never fun to say good-bye.