She did it!

[lcw1995]

ya just be careful keeter, for the first 2 weeks they are very vunerable to the wet grass as they are from Africa.
after 2 weeks theyre hardier then most fowl.

goodluck

cole.

 

[Keeter]

We're in good shape, then. We've relocated them all into a partition of the big chicken run. Grassless, except for dry hay we've placed under a big shelter. They have lots of room, overhead and wind shelter, and sandy soil. There's no place like home!

 

[cracking up]

Sounds perfect. Keep us updated on how they do.

 

[fledgling]

She's down to three now. She lost one yesterday. Here's a picture from yesterday:

The 14 in our brooder:

 

[PeepsCA]

Nice brooder

Glad you have 14 keet safe and warm in there! Sorry to read that the Momma Hen lost another keet, it's too bad when we give them a chance to prove themselves, hope for the best but they just go ahead and live up to their bad Momma reputation anyway

 

[Keeter]

Fledgling, it's interesting to see you split the group and leave some with Mom. I wondered if any would make it in the wild. Do you have any idea what has taken the others from mom? When we found ours in the yard, I assumed the cats would have them cleaned out in no time if we had not gotten them protected.

 

[fledgling]

She's down to two tonight.

At this point, I will just leave the last two with her. She is rather protective and I'm not sure how high she can count. I think if only one makes it, she'll be happy someone is answering her calls. I'm not sure our barn cats are that brave and I know our dogs have been read their rights already by vicious mama guinea. I still think it's crows. We also have a hawk's nest in the woods by the chicken coop.

 

[Anianna]

Quote:
Purple martins can help with that.

 

[fledgling]

Okay, sad news. She lost the last two yesterday. I didn't see it happen, I just saw a very forlorn guinea mama walking around separate from the others. No happy 'buckwheats' from her, just silence.

This morning, it got weird.

I walked out to the back porch to feed the keets in the brooder and, lo and behold, there is mama guinea holding a vigil and threatening me! No, "thanks for watching over my youngin's", no "wow, they look healthy". Nope. Just a bunch of glaring and puffing at me. Great. Now what? Luckily, I had a tupperware top handy so I used it as a shield as I backed her off the top of the brooder so I could open it. She outmaneuvered me and hopped right in. Oh boy. So, I gingerly reached in to remove the feed and water so I could freshen it and then returned it among threats, closed the top, and backed away. Good thing we have a nice big brooder.

My next step is to carefully carry the brooder into the henhouse and open it up. She will be able to fly in and out but will still be contained and the babies will be stuck inside the brooder.

How long will she care for them? Eventually, I would like to separate her from them again so they can go to their new home.

Such drama!!

Here she is, glaring at me from inside the brooder. On a good note, she's 'buckwheating' away quite happily in there, LOL!

 

[Anianna]

Aw, such a determined momma. What a sweetheart.