Raising keets & chicks with no electric, need advice

[R2elk]

I use sand in my brooder for all whether they be chicks, keets or poults.

I have no issues with any of them eating the sand. With the keets and poults in particular the ability to sprinkle the starter feed on top of the sand makes it very easy to get them to start eating.

Their instinct is to pick feed up off of the ground.

 

[Backroadlogic]

We use warm water bottles changed out regularly. This works well for small groups. I have used leaves from the woods or just dried standing grass many many times.

 

[C Siena]

I use sand in my brooder for all whether they be chicks, keets or poults.

I have no issues with any of them eating the sand. With the keets and poults in particular the ability to sprinkle the starter feed on top of the sand makes it very easy to get them to start eating.

Their instinct is to pick feed up off of the ground.

Though I have not used sand for chicks, but I have always put feed on the bottom (not container) and day 2 they are all pecking away. The broody hen, for the first 2 clutches, would peck the ground, so I thought to do the same, tapping. I guess the broody taught me.

 

[Sydney65]

The story is great, thank you.

The dusty shavings are not great, coarse wood chips are fine. I use hay a lot because I can get it free, but it does get stinky quick since poop just sits on top. They wouldn't need grit until they're eating bugs and stuff outside, and they'll get it just being outside anyway. I've used sand a couple times and never liked it at all. Besides them eating it, it sticks to the poop on their feet like crazy and gets caked on in hard little balls you have to constantly pick off. I love my guineas, but they're the dumbest birds I've ever had. And I've had a lot. When I go outside my hen just comes up to me and pecks my boots. Nonstop until I move. She's like obsessed. I don't know if she just likes the sound or if she really thinks eventually she'll be able to eat them, but just really not smart. If I took my boot off and sat it in the yard she would stand their and peck it all day. She can't figure out how to get out of the run because I sit the water bucket in the doorway, if I don't move it she'll pace all day and never figure out how to leave the run by just going around it. So if they can eat sand and eat enough to impact their crop and die, they 100% will. You have to completely baby proof everything. I always joke they love to die. It's their life's mission. I've raised many keets and even if it's the safest brooder in the world you'll still lose some. One gets a little damp, dead. Gets bullied away from the feed, dead. Too chilly, dead. Too hot, dead. Etc. etc. etc.

Edited to add -

It's not that she CAN'T get out, it's that you've disturbed her environment by putting the bucket where it doesn't belong. Guinea do not like change & proceed with caution. Think abt it; if a strange package were unexpectedly left on your porch with no markings, would you use caution, examine it, or just rip it open without suspicion? Heck, my neighbor sees someone walking down the road, she locks herself inside, calls me, asking if "we" should call the sheriff. (I have to remind her that "we" don't own the road.)
I just finished spring cleaning out there, Buckets, brooms,the power washer,the hose- anything that was left in their pathway was suspect and avoided, making that pathway unusable as far as they were concerned. Likewise, though they eventually adapt and actually enjoy some things, like a fresh pile of hemp or freshly tilled sand, they will circle it for a long time before spreading the hemp out or scratching in the sand, bc it wasn't there when they went outside, so how did it get there? Mud puddles? Forget abt it.
I'm convinced keet feet stick to everything. Paper towel and puppy pads they love to shred. I bought a partial bolt of clearanced heavy weight fleece that I cut into pieces to fit the brooder that I soak and wash. For the early days, that worked well. Now, I had an extended stay one year, and I will attest that this won't go well when keets are older. But for the early stages when droppings are small & everything goes in their mouth, it's a good alternative.
As for the death rate, I learned the hard way when starting out that though probably the most resilient as adults, keets are by far more fragile than other birds. That's how I ended up in this group. A starling has her nest in the bottom of my potting bench. Her eggs/chicks have been through torrential downpours, low temps, hot sun, high wind-and are flourishing. I think they & she are almost getting used to me being around. Just one of those things would doom a keet.
None-the-less, I have to take up for my tiny dinosaurs when ppl question their intelligence. I've lived here for most of my life & had seen mb 3 snakes? They've alerted me to more than that in the past week before I stepped on them. Their parenting skills are often questioned, but I've watched a communal effort to protect and care for keets that some humans could learn from, even by older keets. Though not as docile as I hear chickens are, partnerships can be formed with them. One lady takes hers to school on a leash to visit school kids, and he tolerates the petting, cooing, fast movements and squeals as well as any therapy dog.
This is not intended to be a lecture, merely a different perspective. They've yet to fail to fascinate me.