BYC Guinea hen club

[gander007]

Guess what I found when we got back from a weeks vacation? I locked up the guineas so my daughter didn't have to worry about them when she feed and watered. I found in the bird house a guinea nest with 35 eggs!!!!

Wow now that is a clutch for sure .....

Any photos ????????






And this one had 20 in it so your talking a huge clutch .......

 

[ducklucky]

Is that big momma there? Are you going to try to let her hatch herself or incubate some? Just keep an eye on them, they are poor mothers really, have no common sense when it comes to their babies and just expect them to follow her wherever she goes, leaving them at great risk to any predator, by land or by sky. As they hatch, you might want to gather them up and bring them in where they will be safe. She may well tire of setting too, 28 days is a loooong time. Good luck! And yes, a very handsome clutch of eggs! They are still in demand, so you might want to incubate and sell some, advertise first and see what interest you can garner, that's the way I did it and everyone on my list got their keets!

 

[ducklucky]

Hi Busy, and congrats on your new babies! We just kept ours in the sunroom where it's pretty much constant 80-85, never put a light on them, put had a little space heater we would place safely away from their box at night when it cooled down, they did just fine. Plenty of fresh fluffy shavings, and we had a little side box that had a doorway cut out attached to the larger brooder space, so they could run in and hide and sleep, that was totally enclosed.

You will know when it's time to put them out in a pen for a few weeks. Must be well feathered, usually around 6 weeks or so? Make sure they have perches to fly up to and a covering to keep them out of weather. We have ours in a chain link enclosure with the chicks who are all the same age, and they get along fine. We knew it was time to go out when they started making noise. Also give them some boxes or old dog crates, anything they can run into when they feel threatened. You want to gain their trust and start talking to them with a call right away, like chickie chickie or guinea guinea or whatever you choose, in a high voice. Mine come running to me and allow me to pet them when it's bedtime and they are perched, so hope I will have them tame enough to come in at night. Supposedly they like pearl millet as a treat, but I don't know for sure. When I gave mine some, they circled it for an hour, very suspicious, but eventually ate it. They are funny birds for sure, don't trust anything that is different. T

hink ours were about 6 or 7 weeks when we put them out in the pen and "they" say not to let them out to range until about 10 weeks at earliest. Do believe training them is key, and the keets do not like to be handled, so don't think you are doing anything wrong. They are wild things after all. But it doesn't hurt to handle them. Just get them to know your voice as you feed and water them, talk to them a lot in a higher voice. We just love ours, they are actually pretty quiet except when they see me or I have been talking to them and then walk away, they put up a racket! Otherwise, they are quiet, so they must feel safe. Good luck with your new babies, please let us know how they are doing!

 

[gander007]

Just need a commanding roost ...

 

[ducklucky]

He looks pretty darn happy up there!!!

 

[silkielover5]

my 6 year old girl Aria! Our only guinea the calmness guinea ive ever met

 

[gander007]

This is our lady with her last clutch and no hatches but undeterred did another nest of 26 and started sitting 3 days ago and this evening I went out in the front yard and all the Ducks, Geese, Guinea & chickens are on or around the front porch and ever so quiet and I thought something was wrong so I got a flash light to walk around the yard and check the cage traps as the State Fish and Game man came by last Fall and informed me that leg trap can no longer be used in the State of California but my argument was these were Family traps and they have been handed down from the late 1800's and work ever so nicely but to avoid a ticket that would take me to court I picked up all the trap's in protest of course and purchased some box traps,, so off I went a walking around the property looking at the box traps and they were all empty even with live roosters in a separate cage behind them and all covered so I filled their water containers and went walking and thought I should check on my little lady and as I approached her nest I turned on the flash light and all I could see around her opening to her nest were her feathers AAhhhhhhhhhh @#&^% mad ,,, so to the house to turn on all the yard lights and get a big flashlight and I found more carnage three more of my EE hens were half eaten and up the center with no bottom end and the funny part was they were in a large hole in the ground I dug out to put a tree into last summer before I got very ill the worst part was if I had the leg traps out I am willing to bet I would have gotten it as it came through the small gaps where I caught most of the predators before ......

Even with the box traps last year I got more with the shoot gun or just over 2 dozen Bob-Cats and one fox but what ever this was it was not a domestic animal as domestic pets do not eat that much in one sitting and normally just go on a killing rampage .....



Little lady RIP

I did pick up her egg's and put them in the incubator

 

[margaret8]

I am so sorry, to h--- with the game ranger I'd do what I had to to protect my animals! This is our lady with her last clutch and no hatches but undeterred did another nest of 26 and started sitting 3 days ago and this evening I went out in the front yard and all the Ducks, Geese, Guinea & chickens are on or around the front porch and ever so quiet and I thought something was wrong so I got a flash light to walk around the yard and check the cage traps as the State Fish and Game man came by last Fall and informed me that leg trap can no longer be used in the State of California but my argument was these were Family traps and they have been handed down from the late 1800's and work ever so nicely but to avoid a ticket that would take me to court I picked up all the trap's in protest of course and purchased some box traps,, so off I went a walking around the property looking at the box traps and they were all empty even with live roosters in a separate cage behind them and all covered so I filled their water containers and went walking and thought I should check on my little lady and as I approached her nest I turned on the flash light and all I could see around her opening to her nest were her feathers AAhhhhhhhhhh @#&^% mad ,,, so to the house to turn on all the yard lights and get a big flashlight and I found more carnage three more of my EE hens were half eaten and up the center with no bottom end and the funny part was they were in a large hole in the ground I dug out to put a tree into last summer before I got very ill the worst part was if I had the leg traps out I am willing to bet I would have gotten it as it came through the small gaps where I caught most of the predators before ...... Even with the box traps last year I got more with the shoot gun or just over 2 dozen Bob-Cats and one fox but what ever this was it was not a domestic animal as domestic pets do not eat that much in one sitting and normally just go on a killing rampage ..... Little lady RIP I did pick up her egg's and put them in the incubator

 

[Sylviaanne]

This is our lady with her last clutch and no hatches but undeterred did another nest of 26 and started sitting 3 days ago and this evening I went out in the front yard and all the Ducks, Geese, Guinea & chickens are on or around the front porch and ever so quiet and I thought something was wrong so I got a flash light to walk around the yard and check the cage traps as the State Fish and Game man came by last Fall and informed me that leg trap can no longer be used in the State of California but my argument was these were Family traps and they have been handed down from the late 1800's and work ever so nicely but to avoid a ticket that would take me to court I picked up all the trap's in protest of course and purchased some box traps,, so off I went a walking around the property looking at the box traps and they were all empty even with live roosters in a separate cage behind them and all covered so I filled their water containers and went walking and thought I should check on my little lady and as I approached her nest I turned on the flash light and all I could see around her opening to her nest were her feathers AAhhhhhhhhhh @#&^% mad ,,, so to the house to turn on all the yard lights and get a big flashlight and I found more carnage three more of my EE hens were half eaten and up the center with no bottom end and the funny part was they were in a large hole in the ground I dug out to put a tree into last summer before I got very ill the worst part was if I had the leg traps out I am willing to bet I would have gotten it as it came through the small gaps where I caught most of the predators before ......

Even with the box traps last year I got more with the shoot gun or just over 2 dozen Bob-Cats and one fox but what ever this was it was not a domestic animal as domestic pets do not eat that much in one sitting and normally just go on a killing rampage .....



Little lady RIP

I did pick up her egg's and put them in the incubator

I am so sorry you lost your girl. I'm with Margaret. Keep silent and do what you must.

 

[gander007]

Quote: Thank you !!!!!

Quote:

I got the cat last night at 1:30 AM and the Sheriff's Deputy came buy just after 4 AM to check out a report of gun fire and they are use to it now and all the back info is in there computer so it was just a pick up of the cat and a small report that took 20 minutes as my property touches the edge of the city limits well really the road is the dividing line and I am county and I was tagged last year by the State trapper for using leg traps and I guess California out lawed some years ago so I was told to use a .22 or shotgun or box traps so I use a 12 gauge shotgun with 3 & 1/2 inch #4 shells and the cats turn to well I use a shovel to put them in the bag .....

But I really thank you booth .....

Oh it is not over as the cat's live and multiply on the Military bombing / gunnery range just the other side of the mountains .....