[Update!] Moving Onto Bigger and Better Things?

[RainbowHen]

I just went to check on them and they seem to have calmed down and cooled off a bit. They’re really liking the shady house lol. I got worried they may not be coming out to eat or drink much so I moved their food and water closer to the shaded areas so they have more access to it and are still able to stay cool. On some of the hotter days I might add some ice to their water like you suggested. It’s pretty warm here lol but hopefully they will adjust alright. I think they’re still nervous to the outdoors.

Rightly so! It's a big change for them! Sounds like you've got a good handle on everything

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I just went to check on them and they seem to have calmed down and cooled off a bit. They’re really liking the shady house lol. I got worried they may not be coming out to eat or drink much so I moved their food and water closer to the shaded areas so they have more access to it and are still able to stay cool. On some of the hotter days I might add some ice to their water like you suggested. It’s pretty warm here lol but hopefully they will adjust alright. I think they’re still nervous to the outdoors.

I hear you - I’m in Oklahoma! I always say that guineas are heat tolerant, and I do think that they are, but they do show that they are hot quite often. Mine will hold their wings out and pant quite a bit, with a really fast rate of panting. If a chicken looked as hot as they do I’d be concerned, but my guineas so often look like that, so I think it’s just how they look when they are dealing with our heat. As long as they have shade and water I think that they are fine with most US temperatures.

My tiny keets have been in the coop in these hot temperatures and they’ve been fine too. The only time I’ve seen one with heat exhaustion was when a hen got tangled in the net covering my run in the heat of day and full sun. I don’t know for how long she’d been caught, but when I released her, her casque was very pale and she was panting so hard. I brought her a pan of ice water in some nearby shade and thought about bringing her inside, but she took off and headed to some shady areas. I figured that if I couldn’t catch her she’d be ok, and that chasing her would just get her hotter. She was still pale that evening and a little off the next day, but fine after that. So, when I wonder if our guineas are too hot, I compare them to how she was and usually decide that they are ok. I do put pans of cool water out when it’s really hot (over 100 F).

 

[newb1rdmom]

I hear you - I’m in Oklahoma! I always say that guineas are heat tolerant, and I do think that they are, but they do show that they are hot quite often. Mine will hold their wings out and pant quite a bit, with a really fast rate of panting. If a chicken looked as hot as they do I’d be concerned, but my guineas so often look like that, so I think it’s just how they look when they are dealing with our heat. As long as they have shade and water I think that they are fine with most US temperatures.

My tiny keets have been in the coop in these hot temperatures and they’ve been fine too. The only time I’ve seen one with heat exhaustion was when a hen got tangled in the net covering my run in the heat of day and full sun. I don’t know for how long she’d been caught, but when I released her, her casque was very pale and she was panting so hard. I brought her a pan of ice water in some nearby shade and thought about bringing her inside, but she took off and headed to some shady areas. I figured that if I couldn’t catch her she’d be ok, and that chasing her would just get her hotter. She was still pale that evening and a little off the next day, but fine after that. So, when I wonder if our guineas are too hot, I compare them to how she was and usually decide that they are ok. I do put pans of cool water out when it’s really hot (over 100 F).

Yeah, jeez it gets so hot down here in the south! I make sure to refill and cool off the chickens water during the hottest parts of the day because it’s just ugh. So hot here lol

I don’t think its supposed to get up into the 100’s anytime soon but its still gonna be pretty hot.. I’ll just make sure to cool their water when I cool the chickens water!

Everytime I’ve gone to check on them they’ve been in the shade.. I don’t think they like this heat much lol. They’re used to their cozy little room.

 

[newb1rdmom]

Sigh... sad news. We went ahead and left them in their pen overnight because we wanted them to get comfortable and felt it might be pointless to bring them in after only be outside for a day —and when my grandparents had their keets they didn’t have any issues with them being in the pen overnight— and this morning we were missing one and found two more dead..

It looks like we may have a snake problem. I should have known when I didn’t have any chicken eggs yesterday but it’s been hot and they’ve slowed on egg production recently it seems but.. Now we know.

It seems the snake ate one and just killed the other two or maybe one of the two died of shock but.. They’re gone. I’m so.. idk if heartbroken even explains it. Every step forward these babies take we end up two steps back. I can’t catch a break with things. It’s so frustrating.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Sigh... sad news. We went ahead and left them in their pen overnight because we wanted them to get comfortable and felt it might be pointless to bring them in after only be outside for a day —and when my grandparents had their keets they didn’t have any issues with them being in the pen overnight— and this morning we were missing one and found two more dead..

It looks like we may have a snake problem. I should have known when I didn’t have any chicken eggs yesterday but it’s been hot and they’ve slowed on egg production recently it seems but.. Now we know.

It seems the snake ate one and just killed the other two or maybe one of the two died of shock but.. They’re gone. I’m so.. idk if heartbroken even explains it. Every step forward these babies take we end up two steps back. I can’t catch a break with things. It’s so frustrating.

Wow, it’s the day for guinea keets eaten by snakes!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ts-and-1-beautiful-black-snake.1401535/unread
That’s so awful! I’ve had a lot of problems with black rat snakes and my keets too! I’ve had to eliminate any gaps over 1/2 inch.

 

[My2butterflies]

Oh dear
Them snakes seem to be very skilled at finding young ones

 

[newb1rdmom]

Wow, it’s the day for guinea keets eaten by snakes!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ts-and-1-beautiful-black-snake.1401535/unread
That’s so awful! I’ve had a lot of problems with black rat snakes and my keets too! I’ve had to eliminate any gaps over 1/2 inch.

We have so much wiring around the pen —plus some wild berry vines w thorns around the outside— I honestly don’t know how it even got in and it had to be big enough to eat them because they’ve gotten to be a pretty good size It’s so frustrating. Idk how to prevent them. We’ve done just about as much as we possibly can. We are gonna keep them inside for now until the younger keets are ready for the outdoor and we might invest in a different type of pen it’s just difficult because we don’t really have anywhere to put it that’s safe from predators

I think whats the craziest is we had just killed a 7ft snake like 3 weeks ago because it got in the coop and ate up 5 of our eggs and now we have another big one lurking around eating up our guineas

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

We have so much wiring around the pen —plus some wild berry vines w thorns around the outside— I honestly don’t know how it even got in and it had to be big enough to eat them because they’ve gotten to be a pretty good size It’s so frustrating. Idk how to prevent them. We’ve done just about as much as we possibly can. We are gonna keep them inside for now until the younger keets are ready for the outdoor and we might invest in a different type of pen it’s just difficult because we don’t really have anywhere to put it that’s safe from predators

I think whats the craziest is we had just killed a 7ft snake like 3 weeks ago because it got in the coop and ate up 5 of our eggs and now we have another big one lurking around eating up our guineas

Can you post detailed pics of your pen and coop? Maybe we can help you find the gaps... For my guinea coop, I think that the doors were my weak spot. I needed to place jams all the way around to fill those gaps and keep the snakes out. Again, I’m so sorry that you lost those keets! They are probably pretty traumatized now so may need some time to recover...

 

[newb1rdmom]

Can you post detailed pics of your pen and coop? Maybe we can help you find the gaps... For my guinea coop, I think that the doors were my weak spot. I needed to place jams all the way around to fill those gaps and keep the snakes out. Again, I’m so sorry that you lost those keets! They are probably pretty traumatized now so may need some time to recover...

I can definitely post some pictures in a bit! I’m out at the moment but once I get back I’ll take some photos and see what you guys think and maybe I’ll find some weak spots myself. Never hurts to triple check anything.

 

[newb1rdmom]

So, I forgot to take pictures but we finally found the snake! He was hiding in the chicken coop — which is directly next door/connected to the guinea pen— and he was clearly full of baby guinea.. We turned him into turtle food and tossed him in the lake for the turtles and fish to make a meal of him.

I’m not sure how long he had been hiding in the coop to eat the eggs because he was buried under the hay pretty good. We had another big snake about 2 1/2 weeks ago and he was curled up in a corner under the nests full of eggs.

I think that’s how they’re getting in because there is a slight crack under that corner into the coop but how they’ve gotten from the coop to the guinea pen I’m not really sure.. But for now that’s one snake taken care of.

Hopefully we don’t run into anymore. I’m going to try and see if I can find something to fill the hole I found and maybe that will help.. I’m not sure.