Picked up 6 new 12 (?) week old guineas!!

[Cindy in PA]

I just picked up 6 new guineas this afternoon. The lady said they were about 10 weeks, but I'm guessing about 12. She knew they were about 7 weeks younger than her chickens. She wanted them for tick control, but decided they were too noisy. I believe there are 3 girls & 3 boys, so with my other two boys (my stray from last year & 1 other male left from the six I got last June) I will have 5 boys & three girls.

Their wattles are really too big for 10 week olds I think. Does anyone know if they could be only 10 weeks and matured faster? Everything is going well so far. They have checked out their coop etc. I have no way of releasing them in the coop & then keeping them there, so I released them into the pen. I am so happy to have more guineas again. I will keep them penned 2-3 months and train with millet. I hope Gilbert & Whitey will show them the ropes. Sure glad breeding season is about over! My group of five had learned to stay where they belonged & come in at night until the 3 girls were eaten by foxes in the middle of the day. We are still working on that problem & won't release these until we have a handle on the problem. Just had to share.

 

[jtbrown]

Congrats on your new ones. I am new to guineas so I cannot help you with wattle size. Mine are 14-15 weeks and their wattles are as big as a friend's mature birds (very close). I know so little of watching them grow though, but I hope you get the fox situation fixed.

We had a fox attack on our chickens this spring and we never did fix the problems, just minimize the risk as best we can by limiting free ranging (makes me sad) to whe we are home.

Good luck and congrats!

 

[Cindy in PA]

Thanks Jtbrown. They seem Ok this morning after being in the coop together. I may actually have more than 3 girls! Their wattles are all long compared to my previous guineas, so they are confusing me. I am enjoying the "buck wheating" this morning.

They actually went in the coop first last night & then my 2 males went in. They didn't roost, but at least they went in. I envisioned catching them & throwing them into the coop like my last ones. Enjoy your guineas.

Cindy

 

[Cindy in PA]

I am 99.9% sure I got 5 girls & 1 boy!!!!!!! That makes a flock of 3 males & 5 females. I just left my 2 older males out (now of course they want back in!) & they started Chi chi-ing so five of the new birds lined up on the coop ramp & started pot racking & I'm sure they were all doing it. Inside the coop there was one lone Chi Chi call from what I think is my lone male in the new group. I am psyched! Couldn't have made a better purchase.

 

[PeepsCA]

Both sexes will scream chi chi chi (that's their alarm call), but only the Hens will make the 2 syllable buck-wheat call. Wattle size doesn't always indicate sex, Hens can have large cupped wattles, males can have small flat wattles depending on their genetics. So just keep listening for the buck wheating, or you can catch and separate one bird at a time... the Hens when separated (out of sight of the others, but within earshot of them) usually start calling to the others right away. Sometimes I use pink Zipties as leg bands for my Hens after I do this so it's easier to tell their sex at a glance... and keep track of how many Hens I have per flock.

Congrats on getting your flock built back up. If you can, post some pics of them that show their wattles, feathers and their size as well as possible. I have a batch of juveniles that are around 10-12 weeks old that have been raised on high protein game bird starter, and they grew like weeds (chick starter will cause slower growth and development). I can let you know if your birds look like they are the same age, younger, or older than my batch.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Thanks PeepsCA, I will try to get pictures, but we're having rain today. Yes, glad these wattles weren't on my first ones, I would have been so confused! The five on the ramp were all buckwheating unless they were just moving their beaks LOL, but time will tell. Their wattles are all over the board and only 1 or two look flat, but none are as short & flat as my previous girls. Integration is going well so far. I am excited to have a flock again. Thanks.

 

[JLeigh]

ZIP TIES!!!! Of Course!!!

Peeps, I have 15, 5 week old keets, hatch date Aug 10, and I've heard the female call twice so far. I can't tell who it is of course, because they're all in a pile. I thought I'd give it another couple of weeks before separating them out one at a time, but then I thought I'd have to write down who is male, who is female....but ZIP TIES!!

You're a genius.

 

[PeepsCA]

I'm not a genius, I'm just well weathered by a million Guineas, lol. Learn as we go... trial and error... go with what works... scrap the rest, lol. One thing to keep in mind about using the Zipties is that if you put them on young birds, they need to be checked often as the bird grows. You want to get them off and replaced before they get too tight that you can't cut them off easily. There's a fine line between putting them on too loose and having them slip off... and putting them on too tight so that there's not much room for the bird to grow before you have to replace them again, sooner than needed. I usually use a pair of human toenail clippers to cut them off, (and also to trim the excess off). The nail clippers work really well for quickly/safely snipping off a Ziptie, and there's not much room for error or injuring the keet.

 

[JLeigh]

I understand. Since I watch my guineas for entertainment daily, it shouldn't be too hard to keep an eye on the zip ties. Thanks.