New to keets

[NCgirl21]

Hi everyone,

I have been doing some major research on keets and it just hasn't been as easy as I expected when I had researched chickens. I have so many questions and don't know where to find the answers. My biggest fear is one of the keets dying and I would hate for it to be due to my lack of knowledge in this area. (and I apologize in advance for not knowing the lingo yet).

For the first six weeks should they be in a cardboard box or something more like a rabbit cage? I read a cardboard box isn't safe with an open lid (plus we have dogs and cats) and I read that people thought rabbit cages could be drafty. what do most people do or recommend?

Then what should I line it with? Paper towels? Hay? Can I get all this at a pet store? Can i use the same bedding shavings that rabbits and guinea pigs would use?

What kind of lamp should I use? Is there a special kind or is the bulb the only importance? For chickens I read you use a special red bulb but I have read for the keets to use a regular light bulb? Is this right? I read someone said to leave it at 95 degrees F for all six weeks but many others have said to start at 95 and to reduce it five degrees every week. Which is right?

Next is food and water. What do I feed them? Am I supposed to medicate the food AND the water? Is it true that they should be given warm water because they don't like cold?

Would keets respond well to having bird toys in their brooder(?)? I know they like a mirror but what about those hanging things with bells and such? I just want them to be as happy as can be!

While the babies are in their 6 week growing up period should I keep our dogs and cats away from them or do you think it'd be okay if the dogs got to sniff at the cage to learn their scent and meet them? I don't want to traumatized the keets by barking or loud noises. I'm not sure how sensitive or skittish the keets are.

Also should they spend the majority of the time in the cage with the heat lamp or is it okay that I hold them a lot? I'm not sure how easily they can become chilled and need to return to the warmth.

Finally, where do most people keep the keets for the first six weeks? I was thinking a spare room in the house but I read on a forum you can't have your AC running or it'll be too cold. Do people agree with this?

Thank you so much for any answers, advice and suggestions you can offer. As you can see I'm a very nervous but excited keet owner!

 

[JLeigh]

Welcome to the forum NCgirl21. You've found the right place to get answers, and lots of moral support and comradarie. I'll try to answer some of your questions. The first being temperature for keets.

If you've brooded chicks, then they're exactly the same with a few exceptions. For the first week, have the temperature directly under your heat source at 95 degrees. Lower the temp under the lamp 5 degrees a week. 95 first week, 90 second week and so on. I, too was confused by the direction to keep them at 95 degrees for six weeks, but was told by those who know, "DON'T do that." Put a thermometer directly under the heat lamp and adjust your lamp up or down to get to 95 degrees, then 90 degrees and so on.

I'm going to use an infrared heat lamp, but I have it on a "dimmer" which means I can control the intensity of heat very easily. I may change over to a simple light bulb if experts tell me I should.

The exceptions for keets are that they need a non-slip surface for the first week or so to avoid leg problems. I was advised to use rubber shelf liner to start. Towels without frayed edges or strings works too. I like the shelf liner. You can get it at Walmart and it's cheap.

Just as with chicks, you have to teach keets to eat and drink by gently putting their beaks in the water, and sprinkling their starter food (more about that later) on paper towels in front of them to stimulate their eating. Don't use any kind of wood shavings for the first two weeks - they'll eat it and become impacted.

Put clean marbles in their water dispenser to start so they won't drown. I did that with my chicks, too. Works like a charm.

RE: food. Use a high protein game starter (I bought a Purina brand that has 30% protein.) Turkey starter or game starter doesn't really matter - the high protein matters. It is necessary for their growth. Minimum 24-26% protein.

RE: introducing keets to dogs and cats...I can't address that. I've never done it, but it would make good sense that you do it carefully and have the dog and cat under complete control when you do. An accident isn't what anybody wants.

I've never heard of anyone providing toys for more than one or two keets, but who doesn't love toys? . A nice stuffed animal (clean) wouldn't hurt if there's enough space for it.

The more you hold them, the more acclimated they'll become to humans, but keets/guineas aren't domesticated. Their wild instincts are intact. You can tame them, but they aren't "lap birds". I've read of a few exceptions, but I wouldn't expect the kind of relationship you would have with a domesticated animal. In my experience, it takes time and patience to train guineas, and lots of both. They are pretty stupid, but incredibly charming, quirky and amusing. They respond to food treats for training. White proso millet is a good, inexpensive treat. When they're older, crickets, dried (or live) mealworms (very expensive). When they run to you for the treat, you can think it's because they love you so much, but it's really the food they're after. Get the love where you can. .

You can keep the keets in a spare room, LOL, but be prepared! Bird dander will own the room, and get everywhere else in your house. If you don't mind that, go for it, but newbies (like me) always think they won't mind, until they're overrun with dust. I kept 22 chicks in my spare bedroom for four weeks. I will never do that again. BUT, that said, I will keep keets/chicks in the spare room for the first week so that I can go in and check every 10 minutes on how they're doing. After that, they go in the basement (temperature controlled). Just don't put them under an air conditioning vent or in front of a window where heat can come in and spike the brooder temp. The heat source should be with them until 4-6 weeks. Opinions on that vary.

There are a few things you must do for keets, (non-slip bedding, high protein starter food, and heat lamp for the first weeks) and other advice is opinion. I always err on the side of caution, because I'm not nearly as experienced as some on this forum. When you get your first couple of weeks and some research under your belt, you can decide what you feel is right for you and your keets.

One of my opinions is that guineas are only a little harder to brood up in the beginning, but once you've done it, they're as easy as chickens, with only a few needs that are different.

A good resource to start out is "Gardening with Guineas" - a free, online book that has great information in it. It doesn't answer all questions, but it gets you on the right path, and things make sense in it. There are great photos and the authors have "Guinea TV" - videos they've taken and posted that are great.

Good luck.

 

[daylily]

Welcome NCgirl21,

, JLeigh gave out some very sound advise. The only thing I would add is to have a top on the top of your box as they can fly by the end of the 2nd week! I let my dogs go nose to nose with the keets and lick them if necessary. we loved holding our keets and had fun with them. They are quick so hold them well!. We ended up after the tall box and then tall plastic tub, a medium dog crate worked well. I added strong cardboard paper to the outside of the cage about halfway up so they wouldn't get direct drafts, yet they could look out when they wanted. I moved mine from a back bedroom to the garage. There was morning and afternoon sun coming in windows to get them used to the temp changes and sunlight and dark. We also put a stick in for a roost and they loved it! By 12 weeks we had moved again to a doublewide medium dog crate and they were ready to check out the great outdoors. This you have to allow them to do at their own pace. Mine would wander up and down the garage floor doing sliding stops and quick low flybys. They would gang up at the doorway and look out at the dirt and someone would enviably shove one out and the hop and squall was hysterical! They are such amazing creatures and so inquisitive! Little ones stalk at everything and will run back to their home for shelter. For a whole summer the water hose was a giant blue snake that had to be flown over by

only the bravest! Then was helpless once over on the other side. This year they are teenagers and not so noisy. They still hop over the blue hose though. Good luck in raising your keets and please take lots of pics! They grow up so fast. I have a strong bond with mine not enough for them to sit on me but they love to come and hang out and tell me all about the day.

 

[NCgirl21]

Thank you both so much for the help. I really, really appreciate you taking the time!

 

[JLeigh]

You're very welcome, and good luck.

 

[Marinda]

Hi everyone,

I have been doing some major research on keets and it just hasn't been as easy as I expected when I had researched chickens. I have so many questions and don't know where to find the answers. My biggest fear is one of the keets dying and I would hate for it to be due to my lack of knowledge in this area. (and I apologize in advance for not knowing the lingo yet).

For the first six weeks should they be in a cardboard box or something more like a rabbit cage? I read a cardboard box isn't safe with an open lid (plus we have dogs and cats) and I read that people thought rabbit cages could be drafty. what do most people do or recommend?

Then what should I line it with? Paper towels? Hay? Can I get all this at a pet store? Can i use the same bedding shavings that rabbits and guinea pigs would use?

What kind of lamp should I use? Is there a special kind or is the bulb the only importance? For chickens I read you use a special red bulb but I have read for the keets to use a regular light bulb? Is this right? I read someone said to leave it at 95 degrees F for all six weeks but many others have said to start at 95 and to reduce it five degrees every week. Which is right?

Next is food and water. What do I feed them? Am I supposed to medicate the food AND the water? Is it true that they should be given warm water because they don't like cold?

Would keets respond well to having bird toys in their brooder(?)? I know they like a mirror but what about those hanging things with bells and such? I just want them to be as happy as can be!

While the babies are in their 6 week growing up period should I keep our dogs and cats away from them or do you think it'd be okay if the dogs got to sniff at the cage to learn their scent and meet them? I don't want to traumatized the keets by barking or loud noises. I'm not sure how sensitive or skittish the keets are.

Also should they spend the majority of the time in the cage with the heat lamp or is it okay that I hold them a lot? I'm not sure how easily they can become chilled and need to return to the warmth.

Finally, where do most people keep the keets for the first six weeks? I was thinking a spare room in the house but I read on a forum you can't have your AC running or it'll be too cold. Do people agree with this?

Thank you so much for any answers, advice and suggestions you can offer. As you can see I'm a very nervous but excited keet owner!

I am also very new to raising keets

From day one i allowrd mine to roam freely about the house and the yard. The little one love the dogs, and my fox terrier follows it around making sure its safe.

Mine is a lap baby. At night it will sleep in a hamster cage, i placed a warm water bottle with fleeze cover inside. It seems to love it. During the day the keet wont sleep in the cage it likes body heat. I wrap a scarf around my waist and the little one wil sleep with ease.

 

[R2elk]

I am also very new to raising keets

From day one i allowrd mine to roam freely about the house and the yard. The little one love the dogs, and my fox terrier follows it around making sure its safe.

Mine is a lap baby. At night it will sleep in a hamster cage, i placed a warm water bottle with fleeze cover inside. It seems to love it. During the day the keet wont sleep in the cage it likes body heat. I wrap a scarf around my waist and the little one wil sleep with ease.

This thread is from June 2012. The OP has not been on BYC since April 19, 2016.

Read the thread Raising Guinea Fowl 101 and pay particular attention to posts made by @PeepsCA .

Guineas are flock birds that do best in large groups of their own kind. In my opinion it is wrong to raise one guinea by itself. I never recommend having fewer than 10 guineas.