Where to get guinea from?

[robin416]

Momma can raise them but you will have to keep them up. I have an area in my Guinea coop that can be closed off from the rest of the flock, it has a door to the outside that can be opened but is fenced in so they can't get out.

If you raise them then you will have to carefully introduce the new keets to the flock. I put them in that brooder area for several weeks, as they get older I start opening that door to the main coop during the day. Gradually they venture out in to the outside main pen and from there slowly integrate in to the main flock. You can tell which are the newest additions through most of the Summer because they are never quite part of the group.

Finding a Guinea hen nest is daunting. Several things can give you a general location, the egg laying sound. If you stop and listen for the direction you can hunt it down. If there is a male hanging around a stand of brush, his mate is probably in there some where on a nest. If you have light colored birds and have a general idea of where she might be you can find them in the dark. I've done that a time or two.

Keets grow very rapidly and need a high protein diet. They do much better with a 26 to 28% protein level.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Your coop sounds like it's pretty handy for guineas! How long do I keep the keets in the coop after I move them to the main coop? And what if I get adult guineas, how long will I have to keep them up?

 

[robin416]

Are you referring to keets where the coop does not already have Guineas inhabiting it? And keets old enough not to need a heat source?

One thing I have is an outside covered pen. I have found that to make keeping them confined but still be able to go out an important part for making my life easier. When you take either keets or add adults you can leave the man door open and give them outside access but still maintain control of where they are. As they mature and learn where home is then the door to the outside pen can be left open through the day.

Having a pen also allows me to let the birds outside but under my control until the girls have established their nests and laid their eggs for the day. Then I'll open the outside pen door and let the flock go. After about a week of keeping them up until the egg laying is done the girls return to the coop to lay their eggs. But, that pen has got to be secure because sure as shootin' you'll have a girl who chooses to lay in the outside pen.

In the beginning I used millet to train them to come to their coop for bedtime. Before they were out wandering the property I went down to their coop in the early afternoon and just before their bedtime and gave them millet in a separate pan. Once they ate the millet, learned they loved it, I felt comfortable opening their door and letting them venture out. They would return then to their pen each night.

Sometimes there's stragglers but the moment they hear the sounds of delight coming from the coop when the others are noshing on millet the stragglers head in.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Well, I might get 5 full grown Lavender guineas from my friend, and I was wondering how long I would have to lock up the full grown ones, and how long I would have to lock up baby guineas if I got them!

 

[robin416]

If you train them to millet you should be able to open their door to the outside by three weeks if you don't have an outside pen attached. If you have a pen then they can have access to that from the get go.

Go down at least once during the day before you let them out and give them a treat, a bird seed with predominately millet is best. Have a word you will always use to call them when they're going to get their treat. Then they associate you going in the coop to getting the millet and calling them with that word they'll come. For me its just, birds come on. Mean Bird and Flock Leader will come running with whatever protege they have tagging after them for the day. Then the rest of the flock realizes what's going on and come running or flying up.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Very helpful info! So 3 weeks for adults and keets? Thank you SO MUCH! What color of guineas to you have? Have any keets right now? Thanks again Robin416!

 

[robin416]

Lavenders and Opalines. The opies are actually out of the original lavender flock. So if you go with the lavenders you might eventually have that color pop up too.

The next learning curve will be learning what the very subtle physical differences are between the boys and girls. My hubs still can't tell.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Cool! But, I may or may not get the Lavender guineas because my friend may eat them! AH!

Yes I was wondering the same thing,too! How do you sex guineas?

 

[robin416]

You don't. Not unless you know how to vent sex them. I've never needed to know that badly so never learned how.

Other than the very obvious call differences the physical differences are very subtle and can vary from bird to bird. Some go by the wattles, I've never found that to be a reliable indicator. Helmets on females are smaller. The girls don't show as much leg, it also appears they carry their wings a touch lower exposing more of their back. There is a raised roundness towards the tail that usually indicates a female. But since they never stay in one place for long you have to be quick to spot the differences.

After a time you will know your individual birds even if they are all the same color. Mean Bird and Flock Leader are two of my original birds. White Feather is their daughter, actually probably Flock Leader's daughter.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Well I for sure want to know how many guinea hens I have when I get them, so I'd know how many eggs I'd be getting! Thanks for the info Robin416! How many guineas do you have?