- Feb 26, 2008
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I'm farm sitting for a friend this week. Yesterday he recieved 20 guinea keats from a neighbor that had incubated some eggs for him. While he raises chickens as well as anyone I know, I found out he doesn't know squat about raising guineas. He fed up this morning before he left, but I decided to go and make sure all of the animals had water at midday. I looked in the brooder box and my heart hit the floor. All of his guineas lay dead. I immediately saw several problems. He had set up the brooder as if for chicks, but it was not appropriate for guineas.
I heard a sound and looked in the back. There was two on their feet, soaking wet and not in good shape, but standing. One was flopping around on the floor of the brooder. I pulled them out of the mess and put them in a box. I then starting making a pile of the dead ones. There was a few that felt as if they had died just moments before I got there. I put them all in a little bucket and started to take them out when my son said one was moving.
I went through them and found three that were still alive, but just barely. They were having some twitching and gaping, but no voluntary movement. I didn't just want to throw them in the pile to die suffering and knew they could not recover. I decided the easy thing to do was break their necks. My ds is very sensitive, so while he looked the other way I attempted to put an end to their suffering. Their necks were like rubber and wouldn't break. I couldn't find anything sharp enough to cleanly kill them, so I put them in the car seperate from the live ones and brought them home where I had the tools I needed.
When we got home they had been lying in the backseat. The sun was shining on them through the window and my little boy said "Mom, they look much better." I told him that the sun had just dried them, making them fluffy again, but I did notice their eyes were opening and closing. He begged me to give them a little longer, I reluctantly agreed, but told him there was no way they would make it.
I set up a proper brooder and put all of the chicks in. I then had to head to town for several hours. When I got home and walked towards the back where the brooder was, I could hear a couple of chirps and was relieved that the strongest ones survived. I opened the door and could not believe my eyes. All six, the two strongs ones, the weak one and the three all, but dead ones were up eating and drinking sugar water.
I've never seen such a recovery and won't be so quick to cull chicks in the future.
I heard a sound and looked in the back. There was two on their feet, soaking wet and not in good shape, but standing. One was flopping around on the floor of the brooder. I pulled them out of the mess and put them in a box. I then starting making a pile of the dead ones. There was a few that felt as if they had died just moments before I got there. I put them all in a little bucket and started to take them out when my son said one was moving.
I went through them and found three that were still alive, but just barely. They were having some twitching and gaping, but no voluntary movement. I didn't just want to throw them in the pile to die suffering and knew they could not recover. I decided the easy thing to do was break their necks. My ds is very sensitive, so while he looked the other way I attempted to put an end to their suffering. Their necks were like rubber and wouldn't break. I couldn't find anything sharp enough to cleanly kill them, so I put them in the car seperate from the live ones and brought them home where I had the tools I needed.
When we got home they had been lying in the backseat. The sun was shining on them through the window and my little boy said "Mom, they look much better." I told him that the sun had just dried them, making them fluffy again, but I did notice their eyes were opening and closing. He begged me to give them a little longer, I reluctantly agreed, but told him there was no way they would make it.
I set up a proper brooder and put all of the chicks in. I then had to head to town for several hours. When I got home and walked towards the back where the brooder was, I could hear a couple of chirps and was relieved that the strongest ones survived. I opened the door and could not believe my eyes. All six, the two strongs ones, the weak one and the three all, but dead ones were up eating and drinking sugar water.
I've never seen such a recovery and won't be so quick to cull chicks in the future.
