Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[starlingdaly]

Awww I'm sorry you are loosing keats. I don't think the lamo should have been an issue if they were able to move out from under it. Though I don't no how your set up is. Is it solid where the whole thing would have gotten to hot and it not matter if they moved? As far as potatoe I'm not sure on that 1. I never tried giving mine stuff like that. They really don't show much intrest in veggies and stuff.

They were in my quarantine cage because the rest of the chicks were too interested in eating their beautiful orange toes. Quarantine is a 10 gallon aquarium (small) with a mesh lid. Heat source is a ceramic bulb on one side of the aquarium so it does hold in heat really well, which is good because it's really close to the AC. Directly under the heat lamp it was about 100F which I know is too warm (was working on getting another ecoglow brooder for them) but the rest of the aquarium was a comfy 90F give or take a few degrees.
They could move away from it but when I turn of the ottlights for the night, they can no longer see so they just sleep (which is great for MY sleep plus they are in a day/night cycle) but if it was still too hot where they were and they couldn't see to move away... I don't know.
I give my chickens vegetable scraps like that all the time, but I've never given it to baby guineas so I didn't know if they have some intolerances that I didn't know about.

 

[itsjustme]

Hmm it doesn't sound like the temps should have been a problem then..I will have to look into feeding them potatoes. I give my chicks veggie scraps also. Just never thought about giving it to my keets and my older birds won eat veggies they will go through the garden eating every bug they can find but not mess with the fruits or veggies...I wish the lights out worked for my poults lol I turn the lights off at night it seems they get louder lol I tease my bf that they are afraid of the dark. We aren't in the house often so iv not started using my air yet and it stays warm in here. My poults are in a large dog crate with a light at one end. At night I drape a cover over it thinking it would quiet them but no such luck. Which I shouldn't be suprised at it doesn't work with the african grey either lol I cover him he will just yell hey come on. And say come here. Lol

 

[starlingdaly]

Hahaha. Great story. My chicks last year hated lights out but I started these with bedtime lights out from day one so they are used to it now.
I do it gradually so the light directly above them is off first but the house lights are still on so they know to start putting themselves to bed at that point, then I cover up their cage halfway with a blanket to block out even more light and potential drafts. By that time they are making their sweet chirring noises so I can just turn off the house lights when I'm ready to go to bed.
I do the same thing in reverse in the morning.

The keets dying was so sudden and timed with the heat lamp moving so unless someone can tell me cooked white potato is bad for keets or some other explanation, I think I will probably believe it was the heat. I could swear those ceramic bulbs get hotter than actual lightbulbs of the same wattage. I'd get a 40 watt but I'm working on getting another ecoglow so I won't need it at all before long.
Oh well, what's done is done.
I feel so bad though. I have tried to raise guineas so many times and not one has made it to adulthood.
Some of it was due to complete inexperience but I thought I was getting it right this time! They hatched so healthy and perfect!

 

[itsjustme]

Like I said I'm not sure. I got guineas for the first time last year as day old chicks. I use a cricket box like you see in pet shops as my guinea brooder. I just took the hard plastic cover off replaced it with screen and although it has a place inside the box for a light I just hung one over the top pointing just at one end and didn't have any issues. It was in the basement which stays cooler than the rest of the house naturally by its partialy under ground. I had worried they may get to cold but I guess not the box is solid so I guess it magically stayed warm enough lol. I had no idea what I was doing lol I didn't start loosing any until they were old enough to stay outside. 1 I still have no idea what happened to it. 1 I think an overly frisky horse may have kicked ir stepped on. I swear he thinks he's a dog loves to run through the birds and make them fly up around him. He will also chase a ball. And 1 I think become coyote food? I don't think you should give up though. And I wish you luck if you do try again.

 

[starlingdaly]

Sounds like your brooder was similar to mine!
I am considering getting some adult guineas but I want them to like me! And I don't want to keep all my chickens cooped up for 6-8 weeks while the guineas acclimate to their new home base. Argh, I feel especially bad since a friend gave me these eggs after I couldn't keep two young keets alive last year. And I waited 25-26 days for them to hatch and then after four days of being alive they die and I will have to tell my friend since I see him about once a week. It does make me feel a bit of a failure. Thanks for your kind words. Maybe if my friend hatches any guineas I will just ask for some day olds this time. I think I will wait until most of my current brood is acclimated with the big flock outside.
*sigh* It's easier to deal with animal death when it had nothing to do with you. But I am fairly sure they died because of something I did or didn't do.

 

[BlueMouse]

Sorry about your Keets

I'm just on my first group and don't know enough to wager an opinion. Thankfully I only lost one out of sixteen.

 

[itsjustme]

As bad as it stinks that's part of raising any kind of animal really. Live and learn. If you get adult guineas I would pen them up and keep letting your chickens free range. and I normally just do it 2 maybe 3 weeks but like I said I'm not 1 to follow rules. It will be hardet to get them use to you but not impossible. I would suggest getting some in the middle maybe? A month or so? And if your friend is a good one he will understand and maybe able to give you some better pointers if he's raised them longer than I can. Lol

 

[starlingdaly]

Sorry about your Keets

I'm just on my first group and don't know enough to wager an opinion. Thankfully I only lost one out of sixteen.

Good on you! That's a fair win, I'd say.

As bad as it stinks that's part of raising any kind of animal really. Live and learn. If you get adult guineas I would pen them up and keep letting your chickens free range. and I normally just do it 2 maybe 3 weeks but like I said I'm not 1 to follow rules. It will be hardet to get them use to you but not impossible. I would suggest getting some in the middle maybe? A month or so? And if your friend is a good one he will understand and maybe able to give you some better pointers if he's raised them longer than I can. Lol

Yah, too true. I will talk to him EVENTUALLY when I feel more confident. :/ It's sort of embarrassing that I keep killing his guineas!

 

[BlueMouse]

yeah. I'm pretty sure the one I killed was at least partially from user error though.... I felt HORRIBLE. I wouldn't have felt so bad if It had just been one of those things that I couldn't have prevented. long winded way of saying, I totally feel your pain.

 

[starlingdaly]

yeah. I'm pretty sure the one I killed was at least partially from user error though.... I felt HORRIBLE. I wouldn't have felt so bad if It had just been one of those things that I couldn't have prevented. long winded way of saying, I totally feel your pain. 

Exactly how I was feeling last night. Guilty, depressed and crying. It definitely is so much easier to deal with if you know it wasn't connected to you.