Scratched Up Guineas

[newb1rdmom]

Last year I was brooding keets in my garage while building a new coop. I ended up leaving them in the garage brooder too long, and the brooder has a hardware cloth top. The guineas would startle about something ridiculous, like me walking past for the 500th time, and then one would fly into the wire top, startling the rest who would also all fly into the top... Their heads looked a lot like your pic and they were about the same age too. They also had some dominance battles that I’m sure contributed more to their banged up heads. Since they were already so panicky, I did not attempt to catch and treat them. Their head scrapes healed quickly once I got them into the new, larger coop space, and I did not observe them pecking each other at the scrapes.

Ah okay! Mine are very panicky as well so I maybe leave them alone but I’m not sure. When I checked on them last night they seemed a little more cut up but I’m not positive.. I don’t really have a larger space for them so I’m not sure what I could do.. We have chickens next door to them and their space is a little bigger but I’m afraid to mix them and I’m not sure my grandparents would agree with me housing them together....

 

[Jeanw]

They are cute!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Ah okay! Mine are very panicky as well so I maybe leave them alone but I’m not sure. When I checked on them last night they seemed a little more cut up but I’m not positive.. I don’t really have a larger space for them so I’m not sure what I could do.. We have chickens next door to them and their space is a little bigger but I’m afraid to mix them and I’m not sure my grandparents would agree with me housing them together....

Do you have some pictures of their pen? Maybe we can help you figure out how to keep them calmer or to cover key areas where they might be getting injured...

 

[newb1rdmom]

They are cute!

thank you!! they look a little funny right now because it seems they’re starting to lose their head feathers but they’re still too cute!

 

[newb1rdmom]

Do you have some pictures of their pen? Maybe we can help you figure out how to keep them calmer or to cover key areas where they might be getting injured...

I don’t right now but I will get some and post them tomorrow morning when its light out !!

 

[newb1rdmom]

Do you have some pictures of their pen? Maybe we can help you figure out how to keep them calmer or to cover key areas where they might be getting injured...

Okay! Here are some pictures of the pen area.. It rained last night so its a little bleh out there right now.. I think we need to put something over the top to not only give a little more shade but protect from the rain better because they don’t seem to like their building anymore.. —to be fair the ground is disgusting under there .. flies everywhere and i found maggots under the dirt— but yeah besides the point rn lol

i know whenever they fly up onto the boards sometimes they will fly onto the wire/fencing and kind of climb over and so some of the fencing is bent inwards from them doing that... not sure if that could be part of the problem?

— i feel the space as a whole needs some work its kinda pitiful imo lol but its my grandparents property so i can only do what they allow .. —

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Okay! Here are some pictures of the pen area.. It rained last night so its a little bleh out there right now.. I think we need to put something over the top to not only give a little more shade but protect from the rain better because they don’t seem to like their building anymore.. —to be fair the ground is disgusting under there .. flies everywhere and i found maggots under the dirt— but yeah besides the point rn lol

i know whenever they fly up onto the boards sometimes they will fly onto the wire/fencing and kind of climb over and so some of the fencing is bent inwards from them doing that... not sure if that could be part of the problem?

— i feel the space as a whole needs some work its kinda pitiful imo lol but its my grandparents property so i can only do what they allow .. —

Well, they have a decent amount of room for their size, and it looks tall enough. If they are bending the wire when they get onto the boards, that seems like a likely place that they are hitting the wire and getting hurt...

Is the coop floor dirt? Does the roof leak, so it’s wet? You could improve its hygiene a lot by digging out most (or at least and inch or two) of the dirty flooring then adding bags of pine shavings. Even the pin shavings on top of the dirty flooring would help.

 

[newb1rdmom]

Well, they have a decent amount of room for their size, and it looks tall enough. If they are bending the wire when they get onto the boards, that seems like a likely place that they are hitting the wire and getting hurt...

Is the coop floor dirt? Does the roof leak, so it’s wet? You could improve its hygiene a lot by digging out most (or at least and inch or two) of the dirty flooring then adding bags of pine shavings. Even the pin shavings on top of the dirty flooring would help.

The flooring is dirt and a small patch of grass but underneath the metal building we had put some pine shavings but since then they’ve gotten soggy, covered in poo and dirt/mud and just.. nasty lol....

I’ve noticed loads of flies hover inside the metal building and that’s where I found maggots just right on the edge where the dirt has stayed moist..

There’s not really a cover over the pen except maybe a 2-3 inch overhang from the roof of the chicken coop. I’ve been telling my grandparents we need to find something to add a roof to the pen because they really don’t have any protection from the elements and I also believe it would help with keeping them cool during the day because it’d add better shade for them.

Part of the ground stays wet/moist because along the edge that’s against the chicken pen the dirt is built up a bit more and we have their water there — because the hanging water dish busted somehow and won’t hold any water anymore — so whenever it gets filled it tends to spill and the water trickles and keeps the ground moist.

I’m thinking of finding some dirt or something to fill in the pen and make everything a bit more level than it is because it’s just super uneven and kind of gross lol.. The flies and maggots in the dirt are what get me the most :/