The Middle Tennessee Thread

[DMRippy]

OK I forgot to mention..... THE GUINEA ARE LAYING and some are laying in the pen! I managed to get almost ALL of them penned up today so hoping for lots of eggs tomorrow. I have found 3-4 eggs most days. I know they are laying somewhere just have not found where yet. When I do find it I will be FLOODED with eggs. I am going to do a test hatch to check fertility and then I will have eggs on the BST! YEAH!

 

[RedRidge]

Oh yeah... And they all like to lay in the same nest. I never have room in my bator for their clutches of 50-60 eggs so I just let the guineas hatch their own keets. .. much easier that way.

 

[JennaLynn122]

Well I have 3 pips so far. All on the wring end but they all 3 have beaks out breathing. The only one I'm concerned about at this point is the one that pipped and now I can see beak and yolk sac.don't know if that should be worry some or not but it just seems strange to me

 

[BlessedFeathers]

Can anyone tell me the benefits of guineas? Do they need a separate pen from the chickens? Do they need to free range more? I've never had any but you all have me interested!

 

[RedRidge]

The ONLY benefit is that they eat bugs - they love ticks. They are noisy and make great alert systems IF you need one.
We got ours specifically for tick control... We were pulling 20-25 ticks a night off each other when we moved here. We kept them in a stall in the barn until they were 8 weeks old. I continued to feed them in that stall for another week after I let them out. Then I simply quit feeding them and they went to town ridding us of ticks. The sleep in the rafters of the barn at night. They are not as noisy as they were as teenagers (everything set them off that first year). But they are periodically noisy.
I've had them for 3 years now and haven't fed them since they were a few months old. I might "accidentally" leave a little old fermented feed out when the ground is frozen or something ;-) , but they are very self sufficient.
They all lay in the same nest - although they move their nest around if you disturb it. I gathered eggs and hatched several clutches last year - Always leaving at least one egg when I collected each day. They also have raised very large clutches on their own if left to their own devises. One clutch had 54 eggs and they hatched more than 2/3s.
So... In general I don't like them for the noise but they are easy and free and do keep the ticks down.

 

[msmeower]

Last chance for adult turkeys! I am taking my remaining adult (11-12month old) turkeys to the processor Weds for Easter turkeys. Today is the last chance to buy them alive! I have several pairs of Black Spanish, 1 pair of Bourbon Reds, 1 Sweetgrass male and 2 Royal Palm males. $75 per pair, $50 for hens, $40 for toms. PM me if interested. You don't have to pick them up today or tomorrow, but I need to know if I should reserve any before midnight tonight (Tues).

 

[DMRippy]

Oh yeah... And they all like to lay in the same nest. I never have room in my bator for their clutches of 50-60 eggs so I just let the guineas hatch their own keets. .. much easier that way.

I have always heard guinea are the worst mothers ever. They don't keep up with the keets. They will hatch them ok but go out to eat with 15 keets and come back with NONE. I have never had one go broody so no idea if that is true.

 

[RedRidge]

Oh yeah... And they all like to lay in the same nest. I never have room in my bator for their clutches of 50-60 eggs so I just let the guineas hatch their own keets. .. much easier that way.

I have always heard guinea are the worst mothers ever. They don't keep up with the keets. They will hatch them ok but go out to eat with 15 keets and come back with NONE. I have never had one go broody so no idea if that is true.

Oh they hatch them by the ton, but unless we round them up and give them away they don't make it beyond the first week.
And I have no intentions of confining them. That would mean feeding them and then they could not do their job. And remember, we have only 2 rules at Red Ridge Farm... You must have shoulders and you must have a job. ;-)

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: Oh they hatch them by the ton, but unless we round them up and give them away they don't make it beyond the first week.
And I have no intentions of confining them. That would mean feeding them and then they could not do their job. And remember, we have only 2 rules at Red Ridge Farm... You must have shoulders and you must have a job. ;-)

I feed mine even when they free range. I want them to come back home so I can get eggs.

They sell great! So do the keet in the early spring. Not going to hatch too many this spring.... thinking I MIGHT add some new ones but that is so hard to introduce new birds. I do want some more colors......

@heirloomorps You finding any eggs yet?

 

[RedRidge]

 

 

Oh yeah... And they all like to lay in the same nest. I never have room in my bator for their clutches of 50-60 eggs so I just let the guineas hatch their own keets. .. much easier that way.

I have always heard guinea are the worst mothers ever. They don't keep up with the keets. They will hatch them ok but go out to eat with 15 keets and come back with NONE. I have never had one go broody so no idea if that is true.

Oh they hatch them by the ton, but unless we round them up and give them away they don't make it beyond the first week.

And I have no intentions of confining them. That would mean feeding them and then they could not do their job. And remember, we have only 2 rules at Red Ridge Farm... You must have shoulders and you must have a job. ;-)

I feed mine even when they free range.  I want them to come back home so I can get eggs.    They sell great!  So do the keet in the early spring.  Not going to hatch too many this spring.... thinking I MIGHT add some new ones but that is so hard to introduce new birds.  I do want some more colors......

@heirloomorps
  You finding any eggs yet?

Trust me, I haven't fed mine for 3 years and can't get rid of the darn things. ROFL