Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[duluthralphie]

But, again I'm getting over 100 guinea eggs a week right now, probably closer to 150 a week, it's far in excess of what I could ever imagine using... I remember a post on here about two years ago where someone posted a picture of a larger Rubbermaid full of guinea eggs and it looked impressive, not so impressive any more as it's a reality over here after a few weeks of collecting...

How many Guineas do you have?


I have an empty incubator. I have been getting 50-60 a week, But I quit hatching as people are no longer interested in buying baby birds.

 

[MeepBeep]

How many Guineas do you have?

I don't keep a running count, but about 30 I'm guessing likely heavily weighted towards females based on the number of eggs I get a day...

 

[Tikkijane]

Ok. Well heating is good there is a range between 90-95. They are at 6 days. He does have pasty butt but there is something else going on. Look at pic and zoom. If you cant click on pic and zoom then please save the image and open with your device so you can. He has a pink nub that protrudes. Is that the belly button. I would think if heat were too far off more than 1 would have it. I almost think he ingested papertowel.

Even enlarging isn't helping me much. Is his vent clear? How old, again? If it's newly hatched, it absolutely could be umbilicus attached to a drying, unabsorbed yolk sac. If that's what it is, leave it alone or snip if it's dragging and getting in the way, so long as the cord is dry.

 

[Nizzanlady]

Lol, you got it - I'll let you know how it goes. We are totally new to owning open land, and the guineas were our first animal purchase - mainly to keep pests (insects, rodents and snakes at bay). I've done quite a bit of Internet exploring and some ppl have had luck at conditioning them to go out and come back using treats and sounds....but who knows? As I said in totally new to all this (been a city girl all my life, now we're raising our boys county

). Lol...but I'll check in and let you all know if it works..Wish us luck (fingers crossed)

Wow all the questions...


Welcome to BYC.  Enjoy your time here..

2 weeks old and you still consider them darlings!  You must have special guineas.   At two weeks I would have mine on wood chips and nothing covering them. Like all birds, IMHO you need to have them on grit for a day or two before giving them something other than feed. I assume you are giving them game bird starter something around 27% protein.

A lot of the questions depend on where you live and what other birds and animals you have.   I did not know they ate clover, mine seem to prefer eating bugs. But I seldom watch what they eat.  I am too busy protecting life, limb and property from them to watch them eat.

I have never had keets that were not deathly afraid of us. No matter how much we try to be with them. They are always so flighty we find it best to leave ours alone as much as we can.


You are going to train them to go in every day/evening?    Interesting,  mine go in when they want, they stay out when they want. We use to try and force them in every night.  It  was a 2 hour event we normally lost. What they seem to like to do is have all the flock go into the coop except for one or two.  Then while we spend our time chasing the lone wolf guinea around from roof top to roof top, to tree tops and then under something the others sneak out again.  The ones that sneak out will quietly go sit on another roof and watch the excitement of the chase.  I think they like to see if they can get me to swear at them.  Normally they can.

I would never train mine to the sound of a bell, unless the bell was so heavy they could not carry it off and sell it for drugs and alcohol. I really want to hear how this goes. I am sure it can be done. Ours pick up on clues of things we do, if we set a lawn chair up in the areas we normally give out treats, they will come running.  Unless they think we want them to come running. then they won't.

When we throw the kitchen scraps to the birds we just yell "Girls" and they all come running, but I am not sure they are not following the chickens and turkeys so maybe you can train them with the bell.      I read all the nice things people say about their guineas, and to be honest, I do not recognize the behavior as guinea behavior. 

I love my Guineas, but then I am sure Ted Bundy's Mother loved him too. Outlaw motorcycle gangs members are loved by someone normally.  They serve a function, they entertain us with their antics. They keep the ticks at bay, they keep cabbage moths and worms out of my garden.  We have box elder bugs by the billions if we do not have them around. They seldom if ever eat commercial feed for 7 months a year, so they are cheap to raise. They just forage for themselves.


They remind me if I have not opened the coop door early enough, (on the days they go in).  They force my roosters to be better behaved.  They have no remorse about teaching a bird that violates bird etiquette to not do it again.  

I had some eggs that were pipped yesterday, I have not looked at them in 20 hours, I am going to look shortly. I need to get my courage up before opening the hatcher and reaching into it.  I have 5 fingers on each hand this morning, I am hoping to have the same 5 this afternoon. I also have turkey eggs in another drawer on the hatcher and I hate to open it too often during hatching time, So that is part of the reason I have not looked in, there is nothing I can do anyways.  I will get them out either today or tomorrow.  I like to raise them with other birds because they seem to be better behaved.


I wish I could have answered your questions better. Maybe some of the people that own the nicer suburban guineas will be able to help you.

Ok.....our keets are about 2.5 weeks old.  They have been staying in a cardboard box (30"x30" - 21" tall), smack dab in the middle of our house (which is pretty small). We try our best to hold them often (which catching them is a whole other thing....how in the world 20 keets can dodge being caught in a 30x30 box is beyond me...but wow, those lil bugers are fast! It's quite an effort to get a hold of any of them, lol)...but once caught, and given a min to calm down (rubbing the under their beaks or firmly down their backs seems to relax them), they chill and seem to somewhat be OK with being held (I even watched a 3 hr movie with one sleeping on my lap). Soooo cute!


Now they are definitely able to escape their box,  but only seem interested in perching on the edge. The only time someone ends up on the floor is obviously just over shooting the top edge of the box, lol. They seem to be getting use to us, they sit on their lil edge and just look at us as we pass by or come to visit. The only time they completely freak is when you reach into the box (then it's a full on keet stampeed, lol). But so far so good ...I still have yet to get meal worm. I tired hard boiled eggs, but they don't seem to cate too much....so once I get a treat they get excited over I start trying condition them a bell, or something of the sort.

 

[guineapeeps]

But, again I'm getting over 100 guinea eggs a week right now, probably closer to 150 a week, it's far in excess of what I could ever imagine using... I remember a post on here about two years ago where someone posted a picture of a larger Rubbermaid full of guinea eggs and it looked impressive, not so impressive any more as it's a reality over here after a few weeks of collecting...

Wow! That's a lot of eggs! How many Guineas Hens do you have?

 

[guineapeeps]

But, again I'm getting over 100 guinea eggs a week right now, probably closer to 150 a week, it's far in excess of what I could ever imagine using... I remember a post on here about two years ago where someone posted a picture of a larger Rubbermaid full of guinea eggs and it looked impressive, not so impressive any more as it's a reality over here after a few weeks of collecting...

Just saw that DR asked you the same question which you already answered. You can disregard that last question of mine....sorry!

 

[guineapeeps]

Ok.....our keets are about 2.5 weeks old.  They have been staying in a cardboard box (30"x30" - 21" tall), smack dab in the middle of our house (which is pretty small). We try our best to hold them often (which catching them is a whole other thing....how in the world 20 keets can dodge being caught in a 30x30 box is beyond me...but wow, those lil bugers are fast! It's quite an effort to get a hold of any of them, lol)...but once caught, and given a min to calm down (rubbing the under their beaks or firmly down their backs seems to relax them), they chill and seem to somewhat be OK with being held (I even watched a 3 hr movie with one sleeping on my lap). Soooo cute!


Now they are definitely able to escape their box,  but only seem interested in perching on the edge. The only time someone ends up on the floor is obviously just over shooting the top edge of the box, lol. They seem to be getting use to us, they sit on their lil edge and just look at us as we pass by or come to visit. The only time they completely freak is when you reach into the box (then it's a full on keet stampeed, lol). But so far so good ...I still have yet to get meal worm. I tired hard boiled eggs, but they don't seem to cate too much....so once I get a treat they get excited over I start trying condition them a bell, or something of the sort.

My Guineas won't touch the mealworms....they've gotten use to live bugs and won't do the freeze dried stuff, but they love white millet. Every night they return to their coop on their own, but if I want them in sooner or need to catch them, I shake the bag of millet and call "chick, chick, chick" and they come running. I'm sure it's not so much my calling as it is the conditioning them with the millet. The only other treats I've ever gotten them to eat is thawed frozen corn and Chick Sticks from the feed store. Maybe one of those would work for you and your keets.

 

[Nizzanlady]

My Guineas won't touch the mealworms....they've gotten use to live bugs and won't do the freeze dried stuff, but they love white millet. Every night they return to their coop on their own, but if I want them in sooner or need to catch them, I shake the bag of millet and call "chick, chick, chick" and they come running. I'm sure it's not so much my calling as it is the conditioning them with the millet. The only other treats I've ever gotten them to eat is thawed frozen corn and Chick Sticks from the feed store. Maybe one of those would work for you and your keets.

I will definitely try! Thank you for the suggestions!

 

[duluthralphie]

Ok.....our keets are about 2.5 weeks old. They have been staying in a cardboard box (30"x30" - 21" tall), smack dab in the middle of our house (which is pretty small). We try our best to hold them often (which catching them is a whole other thing....how in the world 20 keets can dodge being caught in a 30x30 box is beyond me...but wow, those lil bugers are fast! It's quite an effort to get a hold of any of them, lol)...but once caught, and given a min to calm down (rubbing the under their beaks or firmly down their backs seems to relax them), they chill and seem to somewhat be OK with being held (I even watched a 3 hr movie with one sleeping on my lap). Soooo cute!


Now they are definitely able to escape their box, but only seem interested in perching on the edge. The only time someone ends up on the floor is obviously just over shooting the top edge of the box, lol. They seem to be getting use to us, they sit on their lil edge and just look at us as we pass by or come to visit. The only time they completely freak is when you reach into the box (then it's a full on keet stampeed, lol). But so far so good

...I still have yet to get meal worm. I tired hard boiled eggs, but they don't seem to cate too much....so once I get a treat they get excited over I start trying condition them a bell, or something of the sort.

If you are going to be keeping them in the house Please for the sake of your family, keep all knives, sharp items, firearms and ammunition locked up under at least two locks and hidden. It they get their little toes on that stuff, you will have mayhem!

 

[pattyhen]

If you are going to be keeping them in the house Please for the sake of your family, keep all knives, sharp items, firearms and ammunition locked up under at least two locks and hidden. It they get their little toes on that stuff, you will have mayhem!

You know he is only kidding. Your going to have nizzanlady scared to death of her guineas. My guineas love to be held and seek out attention from us.