Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[guineapeeps]

I think you need them at midnight to get the vacay.... I did not have them at midnight......

I wasn't sure if it was truly a vacation or just a trip to the funny farm, since having more than 100 Guineas at one time have been known to cause temporary insanity!

 

[cabinchicky]

I think you need them at midnight to get the vacay.... I did not have them at midnight......

I wasn't sure if it was truly a vacation or just a trip to the funny farm, since having more than 100 Guineas at one time have been known to cause temporary insanity!

DR to have that many gangster guineas you are one brave man or completely insane. But hey if you are happy that is all that matters

 

[charid]

I know how you feel.....I'm the same way. I feel awful if I lose any of my Guineas, but the keets are especially bad for me to lose.....maybe cuz they are so cute and sweet at that age. This is just one more reason why I try not to incubate my own eggs and not do the whole brooder thing. I let my hens hatch their own eggs whenever possible and I find I don't get so attatched as I don't have as much direct interaction with them and they are more wild. I last incubated and hatched my own keets three years ago. I had one keet that had a splayed leg. I tried splinting it, but after a few days it died. The next day, I had a second one die (it had a matted poopy butt and when I cleaned it up with a warm rag, it had a seizure and died). I felt terrible and thought, "I'm not cut out to do this....I'm too sensitive (a big baby, really)!" Anyway, since then, I try to avoid much that would get me more attatched than I already am. If you have adults, or when you get adults, you might consider letting them hatch and raise their own, if possible. My adults do a great job and, although I do lose a few occasionally, it's a little easier to handle emotionally!
I hope the rest of your keets do ok!

I never had any intention of robbing my hens nest until two were snatched off their eggs. The last hen came home only to be taken. Without hens I was going to be out eventually. I have 18 babies and I really hope these ones are more aggressive so that I can turn it back over to mother nature.

I came home from fireworks and the baby was stretching his leg out. He was stumbling round a bit but seemed better off than I first thought. Problem is he is so small. He is the size of a 3 day old keet but is17 days old. His siblings are HUGE and fast. They dart around and trample him. If I got an old hen that no longer lays do you think she would take him under her wing and baby him until he has time to catch up with the others? I know nothing about chickens but heard they are great nurturing mothers.

 

[guineapeeps]

I never had any intention of robbing my hens nest until two were snatched off their eggs. The last hen came home only to be taken. Without hens I was going to be out eventually. I have 18 babies and I really hope these ones are more aggressive so that I can turn it back over to mother nature.

I came home from fireworks and the baby was stretching his leg out. He was stumbling round a bit but seemed better off than I first thought. Problem is he is so small. He is the size of a 3 day old keet but is17 days old. His siblings are HUGE and fast. They dart around and trample him. If I got an old hen that no longer lays do you think she would take him under her wing and baby him until he has time to catch up with the others? I know nothing about chickens but heard they are great nurturing mothers.

I know nothing about chickens either, so I'm sorry, I'm of no help in that area. I had a similar keet that was born small and the only one to hatch out of a bunch of eggs. I kept her by herself some of the time but eventually I put her with some keets who were about a week older since she was so lonely. Somehow, she broke her foot (maybe the bigger, older keets inadvertently did it). I worried about her for months. She eventually healed and, although she walks funny, she is such a sweet little thing and a joy to be around (she is now 2 years old and keeps up with the others). You might think about separating your little one at least part of the time to let him heal and grow stronger. He may be lonely, but a little time by himself may mean getting more food, water, and rest!
I've also had hens that layed their eggs where I couldn't find them and were picked off by predators. It's very frustrating! It sounds like your doing a great job, though.....keep up the good work and try not to get discouraged! I know it's emotionally draining and hard, but without you, these little ones wouldn't stand a chance! Do what you can to try and help them and know you did the best you could...that's about all that you can do!

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote: I feel like GP is giving good advice about giving the little one some separate time to eat and drink if nothing else.

I'm sorry for your sad experiences. One of my keets had an accidental death and it's very sad indeed. There were recently some posts about ways to move guinea hens and their eggs inside the coop to safety. I expect I will make an effort in this direction when mine get to that point.

 

[duluthralphie]

I never had any intention of robbing my hens nest until two were snatched off their eggs. The last hen came home only to be taken. Without hens I was going to be out eventually. I have 18 babies and I really hope these ones are more aggressive so that I can turn it back over to mother nature.

I came home from fireworks and the baby was stretching his leg out. He was stumbling round a bit but seemed better off than I first thought. Problem is he is so small. He is the size of a 3 day old keet but is17 days old. His siblings are HUGE and fast. They dart around and trample him. If I got an old hen that no longer lays do you think she would take him under her wing and baby him until he has time to catch up with the others? I know nothing about chickens but heard they are great nurturing mothers.

It sounds like simple case of failure to thrive. it happens, stinks but happens. Even with a hen. I have one keet with Erthel, my turkey, and one of hers is really small at almost 3 weeks, I expect it will die. Failure to thrive can cause weak joints and muscles too.

You will not need to be out, you can buy keets in lot of places....I happen to know someone with an NPIP hatchery that has LOTS of keets .....

 

[harley587]

Hoping my USA guinea peeps had a great holiday!!

 

[duluthralphie]

Guineas are the toughest weak birds alive!


I just was throwing out my guinea eggs, I had 5 that did not hatch out of 82. I heard a peep. There was one way back in the hatcher. I moved him to the incubator.

I heard another peep. I candled the bad eggs. One had a living guinea in it! days after the others hatched..( except the one that was hiding that hatched today sometimes)..........

Amazing..

They needed to vacate the hatcher, I had turkey eggs that need the hatcher now!

 

[perchie.girl]

Guineas are the toughest weak birds alive!


I just was throwing out my guinea eggs, I had 5 that did not hatch out of 82. I heard a peep. There was one way back in the hatcher. I moved him to the incubator.

I heard another peep. I candled the bad eggs. One had a living guinea in it! days after the others hatched..( except the one that was hiding that hatched today sometimes)..........

Amazing..

They needed to vacate the hatcher, I had turkey eggs that need the hatcher now!

Amazing arent they.... I stuck five pullet eggs in the incubator after I dont know how many days worth of soccer they were subjected to in the coop. Three hatched......

of course after the required amount of time. two pearls and one royal purple.

deb

 

[charid]

I took pics of the injured leg. It is his left hock joint. I see nothing except maybe the tendon is out.

Bad leg (left, he is upside down too)

Top of bad leg

Good leg

Both legs

I was going to splint the hock joint like this -

I tried to find and re-place tendon and failed because its only easy if you already know whats actually wrong and what you are already doing. Gonna seperate him. Mirror no longer consoles him though. I feel it causes even greater stress but he needs to heal. Any ideas based on pics??