Why are Guinea shells so hard?

[ChickieBooBoo]

I don't feed any of my free ranging birds during the summer, they free range and eat forage for their food. The guinea shells have always been very hard, I have 2 pearl and 1 lavender

 

[PeepsCA]

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Just seeking a lil clarification here... Did you mean that Guineas don't need the supplemental calcium source in order to produce their thick shelled eggs, or did you mean that they don't need any Calcium supplement in their diet at all, period?

I have never given mine any and I do not have any problems, but maybe I just have super guineas

I know the topsoil and water tables in some areas in the US are naturally high in calcium, mine is one of them, maybe yours is too and maybe many of the others that get away without supplementing their Hens' Calcium intake during breeding/laying season live in areas with naturally high calcium levels... but I still supplement as recommended for all my birds during breeding/laying season. They may in fact not need it, but I tend to think they actually DO (why else would feed manufacturers make a layer ration?). I provide it mainly for the longevity of my birds' lives. I'd rather have a Guinea Hen live 8-10 years because she was fed properly from the time she hatched, rather than just have her for a few years because she survived on what was available. (Just to clarify, these are just my own personal views on my own animal husbandry as it pertains to my own flocks, I'm not trying to down anybody for how they choose to take care of their own flocks).

I had a pure bred cocker spaniel when I was a kid that got Eclampsia after a hard delivery of litter of 9 pups, (which I was bottle feeding every few hours for over a week while the momma dog recovered), and we almost lost her, so it's been kind of a personal hang up of mine all of my life to make sure none of my animals go without the nutrients that are recommended for good health, especially during reproduction...

. I know many poultry keepers and hobbyists get by with their flocks surviving fine on just the bare minimum, but I just can't in good conscience try to get away with that with my animals. I've always felt that if you are going to take on the responsibility of raising and confining one of Mother Nature's creatures, you should care for and feed it properly in order to give it the best life you can.

And...... with all that being said, I'll shut up now, lol.

 

[9farmgirl9]

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When you had your birds penned and got the thin shelled egg from them, what was their main diet? Layer pellets, all purpose poultry feed or just scratch? While free ranging they are getting a well balanced diet overall (bugs, seeds and greens) instinctually eating what their bodies need, so it's probably not just the calcium from the grass that corrected the thin shell issue.

I always pick my penned breeding flocks armloads of weeds and dandelions plus greens from my garden every day (chard, spinach and lettuces). They also get a flake of fine stem leafy alfalfa tossed in their pen every few days, and always have free choice to 20% protein layer pellets and crushed oyster shell (plus treats of sweet feed and wild birdseed mixes). I've never had a problem with thin shelled eggs.

Well i could see why you spoil your guineas, i wish i couldmine. mine only get all purpose feed and scratch, when i can find the i pik them stiker weeds which they love, but then again i pay for every animal i have and i dont have a job + i am 15

 

[PeepsCA]

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Their feed is definitely costly, and it gets worse every year. Not just for poultry

Luckily I'm able to hatch enough keets to pay for the year's worth of feed for my adult flocks and all my baby keets. (I always aim for sustainable yield with my Guineas each year, tho it does get out of control at times... especially when I want to keep all the extra pretty keets I hatch, lol).

 

[SuperPeacockman]

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Their feed is definitely costly, and it gets worse every year. Not just for poultry

Luckily I'm able to hatch enough keets to pay for the year's worth of feed for my adult flocks and all my baby keets. (I always aim for sustainable yield with my Guineas each year, tho it does get out of control at times... especially when I want to keep all the extra pretty keets I hatch, lol).

Are they free ranged?

 

[9farmgirl9]

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Their feed is definitely costly, and it gets worse every year. Not just for poultry

Luckily I'm able to hatch enough keets to pay for the year's worth of feed for my adult flocks and all my baby keets. (I always aim for sustainable yield with my Guineas each year, tho it does get out of control at times... especially when I want to keep all the extra pretty keets I hatch, lol).

How many guinea do you have?
And how many males/females do you have?
Also abou how many keets you hatch?

This is my first year hatching

 

[PeepsCA]

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Are they free ranged?

No, yes and part time, lol (I have 3 separate flocks, my land is fenced and cross fenced, so each flock has their own area). All but a flock of 15 birds are free ranged (they are my youngest flock and I was aiming for specific colored keets from them, which has been successful). I also have a flock that are full time free rangers (that roam about 6 acres, keep the ticks and snakes under control, roost in the trees and lay in the bushes, so I have to hunt down their eggs and usually collect them strictly for consumption), and then to avoid having to do a lot more of the egg hunting chore I only let my main breeding flock out to free range in my uphill goat pasture after the majority of the Hens have laid their eggs for the day.

Once laying season is over the 2 penned flocks will get let out every AM and put away every PM, unless the weather is really bad or I'm not around to keep an eye on them.

 

[PeepsCA]

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I have 42 adult Guineas - 24 Hens, 18 males. Plus I've pulled aside about 50 keets so far for another breeding flock for next year that I'll weed thru as they mature and keep only the best looking birds from. I'll probably sell about 20 of my adults that are breeders this year tho, to make room for the new additions. I hatch between 30 and 40 keets every 4 days or so.

 

[9farmgirl9]

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I have 42 adult Guineas - 24 Hens, 18 males. Plus I've pulled aside about 50 keets so far for another breeding flock for next year that I'll weed thru as they mature and keep only the best looking birds from. I'll probably sell about 20 of my adults that are breeders this year tho, to make room for the new additions. I hatch between 30 and 40 keets every 4 days or so.

I have 21 adult guineas-4 lavendar, 1 white, 3 purple, 1 brown, and 4 pied( pearl and white) and the rest are pearl, 12 keets- all pearl though.

I have 12 males 9 females- how many females should i have per male, i have plenty of room, we live in the country. Id like to get buff and other colors i dont have. And how many eggs do you get a day? Im only getting about 6-some of my hens were on nests. the most eggs ive hatched at a time is 7, what do you doo to them, whats your rutine, do you have a high hatch rate? Because i sure don't but ive only hatched 2 times before. Id like to hatch enough keets that i could buy some keets from a hatchery.

 

[PeepsCA]

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The male to female ratio varies from flock to flock, you kind of have to find your own happy medium for getting fertile eggs and keeping a peaceful flock. Some say 1 male to 1 Hen, some say 1 male to 5 Hens, it just depends on how things work for your flock and your coop/yard/property situation. I prefer more Hens than males (at least 3 to 1), it just works out better for me and them with my coop/run/free ranging situations.

My routine...
I collect my eggs 3 times a day since not all my Hens lay at the same time. I get on average 20 eggs per day, sometimes I get 24 per day. (I do not let my Hens sit on nests too many predators and it's too much of a hassle taking the keets once they hatch, so I incubate the eggs and raise the keets in brooders). I mark the date on the freshly collected eggs each day with a sharpie permanent marker and store them in egg cartons, large end up, in a cool dark room (or in the garage if it's cool enough). I make sure to tilt them once or twice a day (I elevate one end of the egg carton by sitting it up on thick book or a piece of 2"x4", then switch ends next time I tilt them). I try to only store them for a maximum of 10 days before incubating them, because they start losing their viability if they sit too long (but I have set eggs 16-18 days old before and had decent hatch rates. 10 days old or fresher seem to work best tho). I do not wash the eggs before setting them, so I only set clean eggs, the dirty eggs get cooked and fed to my dogs, my Peachicks and the keets. When I am ready to incubate a batch of eggs I always set them out on the kitchen counter to come to room temp while I pre-heat the incubator and adjust the humidity, letting it stabilize several hours before I set the eggs. I also make sure that where I have the incubators set up always has a pretty stable room temperature, no drafts and no direct sunlight so the temps in the incubators stay more stable as well. I use automatic egg turners in each incubator and I keep my temp at 99.5 degrees for forced air, (101.5-102 degrees for still air) and I try to maintain the humidity level around 45%-55% for the first 23-24 days, then I drop the temp one degree and bump up the humidity level to 65%-75% for lockdown. (Lockdown for me is moving the eggs to a separate pre-heated stable hatcher incubator tho). Sometimes I have to add wet sponges to keep the humidity up during the last 3 days. I leave the keets in the hatcher until they are fluffed, dried and moving around well. I usually get a 75% or better hatch rate, sometimes I get 100%. I average around an 85% success rate.

Hope that answered all of your questions.