Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[harley587]

Ok. Mine is mfa feed - chick and fryer a crumble - medicated then says, a feed for growing birds. They dont have turkey/game bird starter. I guess I will switch to medicated grower and cut out the game bird feed until they are done with the grower. I was going to do game bird feed with medicated mixed in until I saw the caution on bentonite.

the Dumor we used is a chick starter/grower...

 

[perchie.girl]

Best to use Gamebird starter.... Its higher in protein because guinea Keets grow fast.

For what its worth Dumor is made by Purena... I used Purena Gamebird starter.

deb

 

[Tikkijane]

One more question on this:  Do you turn off the light after a certain point or leave it on all night?

They are very dim solar lights- enough to offset the pitch black; dimmer than a full moon, and they don't turn off. I have no idea how long the light stays on, but they are always off by morning

 

[Pyxis]

Well, since I wasn't sure I got any pied keets hatching eggs, I just put in an order for three white keets with Ideal. If I can't get them from others I'll make my own next year, darn it

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote: Oh, thank you, that's easy!

 

[duluthralphie]

I posted this in free ranging chickens, I thought it would help some of you come to grips with the type of criminal masterminds Guineas are:



I have an interesting quandary. As I told you in the past, my dog Pearl, is not a perfect dog and had an egg stealing habit. Luckily I was willing to admit all animals including my own are flawed and not especially well behaved.


I was willing to admit my dog "could" be rotten and do something I would not condone. She is not her Mother Reagan. Reagan is a perfect dog and has never chased a bird, eaten and egg, dug a hole or anything else. She is beyond a doubt the only "perfect" dog in the world.

Incase you forgot about Pearl here is her picture after she reformed her evil egg eating ways. She has not had an egg in weeks, of this I am certain.




There is very little chance she could steal a single egg.





Now the dilemma, last evening around 6pm, we found a guinea egg lying on the floor of the dining room. We do not have house guineas. However, we do have criminal guineas. Wait until you hear that they did!



Reagan the perfect dog was lying on the floor and the egg was under her neck, below her ears. Reagan, the perfect Dog is a College Graduate, the first dog in our family to ever finish all schools locally and be sent off to a private Ivy league boarding school. She graduated Summa Cum Laud majoring in advanced discipline and hunting. with a master degree in retrieving. She is the worlds greatest hunting dog. She is now 11 years old and a little stiff in the joints so she does not get around as well as she use to.

There was a time people would ask me to go on hunting trips just to have her with. If I could not go, they would ask " Can Reagan Come then? We really don't need you".


That is the type of dog she is. they never get any better. When we introduced her to chickens there were no accidents. She can pick out a rabbit, squirrel or crow from amongst the flock and remove them without bothering the chickens. She has never chased the chickens ever. She is the perfect dog, she can do no wrong...


So back to the egg under her ear. We know it was not Pearl that brought it into the house. We know it could not be Reagan as she is as perfect as the most perfect dogs some others here has described, maybe even more perfect.... It was the darn Guineas!


The distracted us, when we were looking out the window or off the deck at their, what we thought to be innocent antics, one of them snuck into the house. She went to where Reagan was taking her "grandma" nap as she is old and needs a nap. She is a sound sleeper. She did not notice the guinea come into the house, and lay an egg right next to Reagan. Then the darn Guinea pushed it under Reagan ear so we would think Reagan found a Guinea nest and stole an egg. We are not that gullible, we know better than to think our Reagan could ever do a normal dog thing.


Next thing you know the guineas will scatter and run in every direction when Reagan is around and try to frame her for chasing birds! I tell you The Guineas are evil, I worry they will somehow convince some of the young chickens to go in with them on their outlaw activities!

 

[Tikkijane]

Oh, thank you, that's easy!

It is. Solar side out of coop; light inside. I need to plug a new one in soon. But, they are cheap, and easily replaced.

 

[guineapeeps]

Ok. I have 6 wk old guineas and 5 day olds. I read on here to treat them with amprolium but then I read not to feed them medicated chick starter which as far as I understand is just chick feed with amprolium mixed in it. So I bought a 50 lb bag of medicated feed and it specifically says do not use with feeds with bentonite. Bentonite, aka sodium bentonite, is in all the game bird feeds I have seen. It cautions it right on the tag so now I dont know what to do.

I would not use just chick starter for Guinea keets.....it does not have enough protein. I wouldn't use anything less than 22% gamebirds food/starter (or even higher protein content if you can find it). I would think it would be preferable to opt for higher protein that is unmedicated rather than a medicated chick starter than is only 16 or 18% protein content. I have not seen any medicated gamebird starter/grower in my area, so just buy the unmedicated. So far, I've not had any problem with disease (knock on wood!)

As a side note: about a month or so ago, R2Elk commented back to me about feeding Guinea keets and what food/protein does best for them. His post had a lot of good info. I will see if I can find it and post it

 

[Genadendal]

Good afternoon
I'll be getting 12 retired free range Hi line Brown egg laying hens. I also intend buying a rooster. Will it be a good idea to breed with the hens. They'll be about 2 yrs old.

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote: I am interested in that info also. I have not purchased feed yet and have guineas due to hatch 8-9 days.