To order keets? Plus tick infestation!

[Bicoastal]

I have been bitten by the guinea bug! I have seven guineas that were born around February. I have learned I like them. They are hysterical! Unfortunately, they are not making a dent in my tick infestation. See photo of a cereal bowl full of nymph ticks. I get a bowl full of ticks like this on every warm day. Cooler days there are only a bit less.

I would like to purchase more keets in assorted colors.

Is it problematic to order keets now? (Cackle has them available!)? The person I purchased mine from as feathered-out youngsters will order more in the winter and said that would be a good time to integrate new ones, but I don't know enough to know the why behind that.

Should I wait until my seven are older or add more now? I'd prefer to brood keets in warm weather than cold. Mostly, I'm just excited! Will more guineas start reducing the ticks? I guess I have already missed this season? The tick load is horrifying. Kinda makes me dread walking my dogs.

 

[R2elk]

The younger that your guineas are when introducing new guineas the easier it seems to be. Older more established flocks can be less accepting of new additions.

 

[Isadora]

Where are you getting all those ticks? Is the bowl some kind of trap or are you pulling them off yourself?
That is horrifying. We have quite a lot of ticks here but not nearly that many at once. I check the kids twice per day and they usually have a few. I don't usually get them but I am a little paranoid and avoid any overgrown areas.
Have you checked craigslist for guineas? I will occasionally see ads for hatching eggs, keets and even adults.

 

[southwind00]

I have been bitten by the guinea bug! I have seven guineas that were born around February. I have learned I like them. They are hysterical! Unfortunately, they are not making a dent in my tick infestation. See photo of a cereal bowl full of nymph ticks. I get a bowl full of ticks like this on every warm day. Cooler days there are only a bit less.

I would like to purchase more keets in assorted colors.

Is it problematic to order keets now? (Cackle has them available!)? The person I purchased mine from as feathered-out youngsters will order more in the winter and said that would be a good time to integrate new ones, but I don't know enough to know the why behind that.

Should I wait until my seven are older or add more now? I'd prefer to brood keets in warm weather than cold. Mostly, I'm just excited! Will more guineas start reducing the ticks? I guess I have already missed this season? The tick load is horrifying. Kinda makes me dread walking my dogs.
View attachment 2702137

You ask a lot of questions, with out giving much detail. First of all, seven month old guineas are just starting to figure out what and where to forage. Ticks like most bugs go in cycles and the guineas have to( without older birds showing them) learn these things on their own. How big of an area do you want the guineas to cover. I have 14 ranging in age from 4 years to 1 year. They cover about 3.5 acres pretty good, would do better if they stayed closer. How big is your coop, they say 4 sq feet of floor space per bird, that's kind of a minimum , and you'll want hiding places when the picking of mates starts. If you get more birds they would probably be their own flock until ,again mating starts and the chasing starts. Guinea life is a journey that gets better the older the birds are and the more routine they have.

 

[Bicoastal]

Where are you getting all those ticks? Is the bowl some kind of trap or are you pulling them off yourself?

I am getting dozens of ticks in my mowed front and backyards. It's disgusting and so discouraging! I put them in a bowl throughout the day as I pull them off of my wo dogs with a flea comb and tweezers. I also have hay fields and a wooded area.

How big of an area do you want the guineas to cover. I have 14 ranging in age from 4 years to 1 year. They cover about 3.5 acres pretty good, would do better if they stayed closer. How big is your coop

I have 19 acres. Coop is 7 x 11. They forage around the front and backyards, generally working their way in a loop around the house stopping into the coop for lunch . They are eager and consistent about returning to the coop each evening.

Originally I had nine. After I lost two, the seven split into two flocks, with one rooster keeping three hens to himself. I have a belief they would be safer and less quarrelsome in larger numbers. What do you all think? When there were nine, they stayed together.

The other group stays closer to the coop and their "porch" that I used during the introduction to free ranging. I haven't had the heart to remove it because the gimpy guinea loves his porch. (In the photos, you will see accommodations for one guinea born with a deformed foot.) So its mostly a group of just four ranging out.

 

[Sydney65]

I am getting dozens of ticks in my mowed front and backyards. It's disgusting and so discouraging! I put them in a bowl throughout the day as I pull them off of my wo dogs with a flea comb and tweezers. I also have hay fields and a wooded area.

I have 19 acres. Coop is 7 x 11. They forage around the front and backyards, generally working their way in a loop around the house stopping into the coop for lunch . They are eager and consistent about returning to the coop each evening.

Originally I had nine. After I lost two, the seven split into two flocks, with one rooster keeping three hens to himself. I have a belief they would be safer and less quarrelsome in larger numbers. What do you all think? When there were nine, they stayed together.

The other group stays closer to the coop and their "porch" that I used during the introduction to free ranging. I haven't had the heart to remove it because the gimpy guinea loves his porch. (In the photos, you will see accommodations for one guinea born with a deformed foot.) So its mostly a group of just four ranging out.

I have far less property, but my guineas stay close to the house/in our property in the winter & spring until mating season kicks in then want to wander in the fields until the fall, then return to being home bodies. I won't say we don't find ANY tics, but in comparison to what we had before the goons came, they're worth their weight. Although right now they have a craving for cicadas.
If you want keets, get them now. By the time you combine, your 3 mo olds will be 4-5 months and the keets 1-2 months. There may still be some aggression in line w/adjusting the pecking order but none will be sexually active thus less fighting. I actually had one much much smaller at one time, and the older birds seemed to protect it until he got bjgger (by then he was a brat and they chased him).the sooner they acclimate the better chance of being accepted to original flock. I added 2 hens last year and they pretty much lived apart from the others throughout the winter until spring's mating season.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I have been bitten by the guinea bug! I have seven guineas that were born around February. I have learned I like them. They are hysterical! Unfortunately, they are not making a dent in my tick infestation. See photo of a cereal bowl full of nymph ticks. I get a bowl full of ticks like this on every warm day. Cooler days there are only a bit less.

I would like to purchase more keets in assorted colors.

Is it problematic to order keets now? (Cackle has them available!)? The person I purchased mine from as feathered-out youngsters will order more in the winter and said that would be a good time to integrate new ones, but I don't know enough to know the why behind that.

Should I wait until my seven are older or add more now? I'd prefer to brood keets in warm weather than cold. Mostly, I'm just excited! Will more guineas start reducing the ticks? I guess I have already missed this season? The tick load is horrifying. Kinda makes me dread walking my dogs.
View attachment 2702137

That’s a terrifying number of ticks! We have 21 guineas on 10 acres of woods and prairie. I’ve been disappointed at the number of ticks I’ve found on myself this spring, but I’m only getting them when I traipse through the brush looking for guineas nests! No ticks from mown or maintained areas. In my experience, guineas work somewhat slowly over time to reduce tick burden, and more guineas do more tick control. I think that having them parent brooded in the coop is best for flock integration and to train keets from the beginning to eat your local pests.

 

[Bicoastal]

I found keets locally from an awesome fowl-crazy family. I fished out as much splash and flash as I could from a brooder full of week-old babies scurrying around like a school of fish.


Eating, drinking, pooping. Clean butts. Should I give Sav-a-Chick probiotic and electrolyte as a preventive/matter of course? Water has Poly-V-Sol no iron.

 

[R2elk]

I found keets locally from an awesome fowl-crazy family. I fished out as much splash and flash as I could from a brooder full of week-old babies scurrying around like a school of fish.


Eating, drinking, pooping. Clean butts. Should I give Sav-a-Chick probiotic and electrolyte as a preventive/matter of course? Water has Poly-V-Sol no iron. View attachment 2706549View attachment 2706550

Give the Poly-V-Sol or the Sav-a-Chick but not both.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I found keets locally from an awesome fowl-crazy family. I fished out as much splash and flash as I could from a brooder full of week-old babies scurrying around like a school of fish.


Eating, drinking, pooping. Clean butts. Should I give Sav-a-Chick probiotic and electrolyte as a preventive/matter of course? Water has Poly-V-Sol no iron. View attachment 2706549View attachment 2706550

Cute!!! Congratulations on your new keets!!! I use the sav a chick probiotics in water when the keets are young. I also give clean, long grass or edible weeds with root ball so they can inoculate their gut with good soil microbes. Long is important so they just pick at it and don’t get a grass impaction. Chick grit should also be given with it.