Rehoming Guineas - what age is best?

[featherz]

I hatched out a LOT more keets than I expected

. Would love to keep them but I just don't have enough room - I notice on craigslist that people are selling keets at about a week old. Isn't this too early? Or do they need to go early so they will 'imprint' on their new homes? I am not planning to ship them, of course. Lots of ticks out here in upstate NY so I hope I can rehome around 20 of em but I want them to have the best chance!

 

[bald k9]

day old is fine the younger the better for imprinting

 

[cpegram]

I got mine as day olds....a farmer up the road incubated 40 eggs...they hatched july 3rd I picked mine up July 4th!........they are alot like chicks....I have mine in a brooder till they feather out then i will have to keep them in a coop for another 5-8 weeks so i have seen on here so they will come back but i am new these are my first keets....but did some reading on here

 

[zazouse]

I sell mine at 5 days old .

Just remind who ever is comming to get them that they can get threw a 1 inch hole, cant tell you how many people show up with a wire cage with big holes and the guineas go threw the holes just as fast as you put them in the cage

What color do you have?

 

[featherz]

thanks guys! I will probably keep them for a week before putting the ad here and on craigslist. That will be enough time to weed out any non thrivers so no one gets a sickly little one. My guineas are so cute but I have 36 of them!!

(Also, I have to convince hubby that we don't need that many!!!!!

)

Good idea on the cage. I'll remember that. I have pearl (lots of those), white and lavender. I think I'll keep 5 of each plus there's one that looks like a lavender/pearl cross so will probably keep that one too. So that's 20 to rehome! I notice non-pearls seem to sell for more but really I'm not looking to make anything, just can't keep all these silly little birds.

 

[Cattitude]

Aye, I found out about the one inch poultry wire holes after a keet sped thru the hole and dropped to his death. I wrapped the brooder with 1/2 inch plastic mesh after that, and secured the mesh to the poultry wire so that none could get in between the two and be trapped and die. It has worked so far!

The first guineas we had, we bought from a local couple who hatch geese, ducks, guineas, and sometimes chickens. We've also hatched some, and three guineas built a HUGE nest in the brush near the road. I've seen people slowing down to look at them. The male guards them with a determination I hadn't known they had. Unfortunately, the few keets they hatched have disappeared. We keep watching the nest, hoping to snatch any new ones who hatch before they succumb to dampness or predators.

 

[featherz]

keets are crazy. I have 6 chubby chicks in with them now and the guineas just run non stop while the chicks relax.

I had problems with my hatch since I had to get the keets out during the hatch - they were speeding around pecking the unhatched eggs and generally being nutty.

 

[fgdiii]

I sell them when they are as early as 2 days old. I do not let them out until they are 3 months old and then only late afternoon for about an hour with me around to keep them close by. After a month of that and feeding them when I put them back up, they stay pretty close to home and the area of home I want them to stay in. Once they free range, I just throw a little cracked corn in their pens or the area of the barn where they roost in the morning and then again late afternoon. When they see me walking to the barn, they come running.

 

[featherz]

Look at them go!! (the white ones have not yet arrived)..

keet playtime!

I'll pass on the three months thing to hubby. That's one reason why I need to decrease the 'flock' - 15 or so keets I have room to hold for three months, but no more than that!