Question on how to feed Guinea Fowl kits with chicks in the brooder

[NinjaGamer2022]

Ok, so, my guineas ARE guineas. They're just MY guineas. (@R2elk - )
As for how many and adding to, if you're going to add to, do. it. now. Otherwise you'll more than likely end up with small flocks that have nothing to do w/each other except fighting.
Breeding is a lesson for next year. You have babies.
They can be sociable..if you have that much time to dedicate to it. I've spent a lot of time just quietly sitting next to the brooder, then hand feeding as R2elk said. Itty bitties that will fit in a fuzzy footie sock have spent time snuggled in my hand. I also find things big enough, like a crocheted hat or, my favorite, an old quilted toaster cover of my grandmother's that can fit the entire brood to sit safely in my lap.
Put your hand flat in the brooder and let them perch on it.
With my first, a group of 7, we used a hexagon collapsable covered kennel that I would take them outside and sit in with them, leaving the brooder on the porch after cleaning. They learned to fly back to the brooder on their own when I opened the kennel door.
Once they were old enough to free range, I sat out there for hours with them, hand feeding, talking,mimicking.
At first I took the advice to have them in a quiet area. Then I started keeping the brooder out in the living room so they grew accustomed to dogs, tvs, humans, babies, and a robot vacuum. They know MY dogs aren't a threat. They still raise the roof if they see a coyote or the neighbor's cocker spaniel crosses the borderline.
There is a huge difference between the ones I raised and ones raised by the hen.I kept one raised by the hen. Just shy of being a yr old, he's getting used to me petting him on the perch, recognizes/responds to his name, but still won't eat out of my hand even though he sees everyone else doing it.
To the extreme, I had a single late hatch who has lived inside w/us all winter, she's 6 months old and about to be introduced to the new coop we just finished today.
Ok... she maaay not think she's a guinea...she likes to be "brushed out" with a toothbrush, snuggle and cuddle on the sofa, goes to sleep with her beak resting anywhere on me- hand, shoulder, cheek. She doesn't care for the jumbos outside and that's probably a good thing. She's getting roommates at the end of the month. I guess I'll have to put a sofa in her coop so we can have cuddle time, bc she kind of demands it every evening and gets irate if she sees the dogs and me laying down w/o her. yeah, I'm going to miss her being inside. But she was an extreme- a horrible incubation hatch rate, lone survivor, and nothing was going to jeopardize her survival. And she's so stinkin cute!View attachment 3090163

Is within a month to get more keets too late? They look very young, 2 out of the 3 have no feathers, the last one does. Is there anyway we could slowly introduce them if we had too? We might be able to get more this week but I don't think enough to make 10. Thank you for your input.

P.S. She's very cute. Did you potty train her? She's beautiful.

 

[Sydney65]

Is within a month to get more keets too late? They look very young, 2 out of the 3 have no feathers, the last one does. Is there anyway we could slowly introduce them if we had too? We might be able to get more this week but I don't think enough to make 10. Thank you for your input.

P.S. She's very cute. Did you potty train her? She's beautiful.

I don't have a clue how one goes about potty training a bird, and she was highly offended over the idea of a diaper. I didn't think that was something they could control. But this one and one I had before who also was a snuggler have not ever had accidents. The most I have to watch for is that her feet are clean when I pick her up. When she's out, it seems that she realizes she needs to go, gets fussy, and I put her back in. Never fails once in, she poops. Whether by design or dumb luck, that's how it goes.

 

[Sydney65]

Is within a month to get more keets too late? They look very young, 2 out of the 3 have no feathers, the last one does. Is there anyway we could slowly introduce them if we had too? We might be able to get more this week but I don't think enough to make 10. Thank you for your input.

P.S. She's very cute. Did you potty train her? She's beautiful.

Oh..the numbers game. As @R2elk is my mentor and helped me keep mine alive when I got started, I would never question his judgement. For me, back in the day 6 was the number. It wasn't a choice, If I added to, more died and I still ended up with 6. And the ones that I added were 1 wk younger than the 1st batch (they were shipped the same day they hatched.) There wasn't a big struggle with integrating them, everyone was too busy trying to get under the heat plate, eat,drink and sleep.
I had a whopping 20 something for a brief moment last summer after Mama's brood hatched. They were about 8 weeks old when something attacked and I was left with 3- and those are the 3 out there now plus the princess inside.
She doesn't like them, Mama doesn't like her. Watching them over the winter I could see a big diff between the dynamics of just 3 birds. They have a harder time keeping warm, for one thing. There's only 1 hen out there, so someone is out of luck this yr.
My 6 - the only off balance things were 3 were jumbos, 3 were not. That wasn't really an issue bc the jumbos didn't feel the need to compete/fight. I think the biggest issue was that 5 were dark and one lavender, and poor Nugget never fit in. He didn't really ingratiate himself, but they always ganged up on him.
When breeding season came,I was able to see more of the alpha/beta effect than may be apparent with bigger flocks. Not that my alphas were mean, but there was a ranking. The alphas and betas mated, had their nests, but the other 2 were like guards, one at each nest. It was interesting to watch that.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

Oh..the numbers game. As @R2elk is my mentor and helped me keep mine alive when I got started, I would never question his judgement. For me, back in the day 6 was the number. It wasn't a choice, If I added to, more died and I still ended up with 6. And the ones that I added were 1 wk younger than the 1st batch (they were shipped the same day they hatched.) There wasn't a big struggle with integrating them, everyone was too busy trying to get under the heat plate, eat,drink and sleep.
I had a whopping 20 something for a brief moment last summer after Mama's brood hatched. They were about 8 weeks old when something attacked and I was left with 3- and those are the 3 out there now plus the princess inside.
She doesn't like them, Mama doesn't like her. Watching them over the winter I could see a big diff between the dynamics of just 3 birds. They have a harder time keeping warm, for one thing. There's only 1 hen out there, so someone is out of luck this yr.
My 6 - the only off balance things were 3 were jumbos, 3 were not. That wasn't really an issue bc the jumbos didn't feel the need to compete/fight. I think the biggest issue was that 5 were dark and one lavender, and poor Nugget never fit in. He didn't really ingratiate himself, but they always ganged up on him.
When breeding season came,I was able to see more of the alpha/beta effect than may be apparent with bigger flocks. Not that my alphas were mean, but there was a ranking. The alphas and betas mated, had their nests, but the other 2 were like guards, one at each nest. It was interesting to watch that.

That's terrible. But if I understand correctly, if I added 2-3 more this month also at a young age it should be OK? Since my keets are very young and unsexed, there genders are a mystery. Would I be able to add more of opposite genders depending on what I get for future breeding? And are you saying that getting several different colors is a bad idea? Thank you

 

[R2elk]

That's terrible. But if I understand correctly, if I added 2-3 more this month also at a young age it should be OK? Since my keets are very young and unsexed, there genders are a mystery. Would I be able to add more of opposite genders depending on what I get for future breeding? And are you saying that getting several different colors is a bad idea? Thank you

I find that the easiest time to add guineas is when all of them are keets. Adding more keets to keets is simple and simply involves putting more keets in the brooder. I have had older keets still in the brooder take very well to smaller ones that were added later.

Adult flocks can be more difficult to add members to regardless of the age of the ones being added.I have found it relatively easy to add adult hens to a male heavy flock. Adding males to a flock can be more difficult but I manage to do it.

I have found all birds to be very segregationist. If it doesn't look like them it will often be shunned or attacked. The difference is when you brood multiple different colors at the same time they do much better.

In @Sydney65 's case of have a long Lavender guinea in a group of Pearl gray guineas, the Lavender was the odd one out.

I have a Lavender, Coral Blues, Chocolates, Sky Blues and a Royal Purple all running together. Mine get along as well as a flock of guineas can with the differences being more due to personalities than colors.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

I find that the easiest time to add guineas is when all of them are keets. Adding more keets to keets is simple and simply involves putting more keets in the brooder. I have had older keets still in the brooder take very well to smaller ones that were added later.

Adult flocks can be more difficult to add members to regardless of the age of the ones being added.I have found it relatively easy to add adult hens to a male heavy flock. Adding males to a flock can be more difficult but I manage to do it.

I have found all birds to be very segregationist. If it doesn't look like them it will often be shunned or attacked. The difference is when you brood multiple different colors at the same time they do much better.

In @Sydney65 's case of have a long Lavender guinea in a group of Pearl gray guineas, the Lavender was the odd one out.

I have a Lavender, Coral Blues, Chocolates, Sky Blues and a Royal Purple all running together. Mine get along as well as a flock of guineas can with the differences being more due to personalities than colors.

OK, thank you! How long are they considered keets? Would it be OK to continue added until they mature? I didn't consider that possible problem with colors. Right now we have 3 pearls. Thank you your info has been extremely valuable.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

Oh..the numbers game. As @R2elk is my mentor and helped me keep mine alive when I got started, I would never question his judgement. For me, back in the day 6 was the number. It wasn't a choice, If I added to, more died and I still ended up with 6. And the ones that I added were 1 wk younger than the 1st batch (they were shipped the same day they hatched.) There wasn't a big struggle with integrating them, everyone was too busy trying to get under the heat plate, eat,drink and sleep.
I had a whopping 20 something for a brief moment last summer after Mama's brood hatched. They were about 8 weeks old when something attacked and I was left with 3- and those are the 3 out there now plus the princess inside.
She doesn't like them, Mama doesn't like her. Watching them over the winter I could see a big diff between the dynamics of just 3 birds. They have a harder time keeping warm, for one thing. There's only 1 hen out there, so someone is out of luck this yr.
My 6 - the only off balance things were 3 were jumbos, 3 were not. That wasn't really an issue bc the jumbos didn't feel the need to compete/fight. I think the biggest issue was that 5 were dark and one lavender, and poor Nugget never fit in. He didn't really ingratiate himself, but they always ganged up on him.
When breeding season came,I was able to see more of the alpha/beta effect than may be apparent with bigger flocks. Not that my alphas were mean, but there was a ranking. The alphas and betas mated, had their nests, but the other 2 were like guards, one at each nest. It was interesting to watch that.

Do you think if I spend 30 mins to an hour with my Guineas everyday they could be almost as friendly as yours? I would love to spend an hour plus but we have many other birds (chicks and quail) that I also want to spend time with and the rush to finish getting ready to plant ourdoors this May.

 

[R2elk]

OK, thank you! How long are they considered keets? Would it be OK to continue added until they mature? I didn't consider that possible problem with colors. Right now we have 3 pearls. Thank you your info has been extremely valuable.

What i am talking about is keets that are 4 weeks or less in age.

 

[Sydney65]

That's terrible. But if I understand correctly, if I added 2-3 more this month also at a young age it should be OK? Since my keets are very young and unsexed, there genders are a mystery. Would I be able to add more of opposite genders depending on what I get for future breeding? And are you saying that getting several different colors is a bad idea? Thank You

Not at all- after all, having the rainbow is the fun of it. @R2elk and @mixedflockenthusiast have varied colored flocks. I don't recall them mentioning issues with it, either, so that may be one of the glaring facts of smaller flocks - easier to hone in on differences. They didn't hurt him, he was just always "it" when they chased. He had his own spots for sleeping and eating. When I mentioned alpha and beta couples, he was in the beta, so he found his way to 2nd in command.
He would get on top of the coop every evening and call out until the others all came in, and not go in until the rest were in. So he was a part of the flock, it was more like you and I saying there are ppl we work with, but don't hang out with, if that makes sense. -and I have various colored keets coming this month.
Yes, that young, they'll be ok. If yours were shipped to you, they were most likely hatched the day they were shipped, to help you pinpoint age.
As for gender, you're never going to know what you've got until they're around 8 wks old, then the female starts making her "comeback," "buckwheat," "ka-vac"- how ever your ears interpret their 2 syllable call. There are a lot of recordings on line. AROUND 8 wks..Princess here suddenly blurted out a "ka- vac" - I believe it was at 15 weeks? So we thought she was a he. My point, don't think you'll be going out and picking up a cpl female keets. It just doesn't work that way with goonies. You can buy adults and know what gender they are.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

Not at all- after all, having the rainbow is the fun of it. @R2elk and @mixedflockenthusiast have varied colored flocks. I don't recall them mentioning issues with it, either, so that may be one of the glaring facts of smaller flocks - easier to hone in on differences. They didn't hurt him, he was just always "it" when they chased. He had his own spots for sleeping and eating. When I mentioned alpha and beta couples, he was in the beta, so he found his way to 2nd in command.
He would get on top of the coop every evening and call out until the others all came in, and not go in until the rest were in. So he was a part of the flock, it was more like you and I saying there are ppl we work with, but don't hang out with, if that makes sense. -and I have various colored keets coming this month.
Yes, that young, they'll be ok. If yours were shipped to you, they were most likely hatched the day they were shipped, to help you pinpoint age.
As for gender, you're never going to know what you've got until they're around 8 wks old, then the female starts making her "comeback," "buckwheat," "ka-vac"- how ever your ears interpret their 2 syllable call. There are a lot of recordings on line. AROUND 8 wks..Princess here suddenly blurted out a "ka- vac" - I believe it was at 15 weeks? So we thought she was a he. My point, don't think you'll be going out and picking up a cpl female keets. It just doesn't work that way with goonies. You can buy adults and know what gender they are.

Thank you for the info. What are the chances of a clip winged Guinea to escape an electric fence? Thx,