Baby Gineas

[sail2617]

Hi All,
I called around yesterday and found a man who is hatching out keets. So when he's got a dozen he's gonna give me a call. I've been thinking about getting some keets for awhile, but wasn't sure till this weekend. We have bad ticks here and now this weekend, we found a baby copperhead in our yard, way too close to the house for comfort and I know since it's a baby there'll be more. (Somebody with shoes on stepped on it and killed it without even noticing and then my 7 yr. old son (barefoot) found it later) It's a wonder somebody didn't get bit. My friend told me that gineas will eat snakes and ticks so, I decided to go ahead and get some.
I don't know much about keeping gineas but my plan is to keep them in a brooder then put them in a fenced area to keep away from the dogs till they're big enough to fly out. Then they're on their own (mostly).
I imagine they'll get eaten by predators but hopefully they'll git rid of some ticks and copperheads before that happens.

Any ginea advice would be welcome now.
Thanks,
Sail

[Henry]

Hi Sail, I have the same idea about getting keets for my land. We have TONS of ticks in all the high grass on our 4acres. The dog has 15-20 on her everyday and Frontline is not effective...

anyway - I am looking forward to seeing the advice folks give you! Some of my questions are :

Do they need a coop? Could they survive a hungry neighbors' dog on their own? (he eats willd rabbits regularly..) About how long from egg till they can be left outdoors on their own? How do they do in the winter?
Thanks!

[Heidicat]

I found that they like to be in a coop of some type or another. I have tried to lock them out, and they just scream and scream till I let them in. I got mine as keets, and lost 3 before they even got half way grown. Owls love them. They make great watch dogs though. Bug eaters too. I haven't heard anything about them eating snakes, but then again, I haven't seen ANY snakes since we got them. My cats ued to kill them and bring them up for me. YUCK! But, good kitty. Very funny to see a Hymie walking and tripping over the length of the snake, up the driveway. 8O Charlie was so proud of himself! So was I!

[cguardsman]

Sail i hear you on the copperheads i have killed 2 so far this year both with the mower and my fox terrier got bit by a western pigmy rattlesnake. i am looking to get some guineas but have yet to do so. Ticks seem real bad this year hopefully i will be able to keep them at bay.

[msodooly]

If guineas don't have a secure enclosure to roost in at night time, there will be some losses. But losses can occur during the daytime as well. During the day, hawks kill the guineas and at night, owls and coons get them. I have had some flocks roost in the trees, but the flock I have now is trained to go in their secure pen at night, and I have had a much higher survival rate.

I have not heard of them killing snakes either. My husband killed our first copperhead of the season today. :?

[DaveJZ]

Funny thing... I was watching my daily TV judge shows yesterday (Judge Hatchet) and a neighbor was suing the other because there guineas tore up there flower bed... ooh.. needless to say they both loss. (the other was suing for an oak tree with a nail and goats in there yard)

The owner of the guineas defense was how they are doing good eating bugs and snakes.. even showed red it outta a book... I saw that and chuckled....

[newbrunswick]

This must be a southern thing, but what are Keets?

[cguardsman]

guinea fowl- keets are the chicks.

[Heidicat]

Ok, now I have been asking around about the snake thing. So far almost every older person, said heck yes, they are great for killing snakes! 8O So I would assume that is a big yes on that question. Standing up to the neighbors dog,?? havn't been as successfu; on that question, some say yes, no troubles, and then others say, it would depend on the size and breed?

They do and have in front of me, defended my flock, from foxes! They will stand their ground, till we get out with the gun. If the fox is dumb enough to run, they will give chase. My guneias have saved my chickens, more than once. Totally great guard dogs!!!!

My oldest male guneia, Gary, even rounds up the hens, at dusk, and puts them in the coop. Then he will go in and roost on top of the coop. I have a top on my coop, inside the barn. He is defenitly a keeper

Hope this helps, Heidi

[sail2617]

I got my keets yesterday! They just hatched and were out of the incubator yesterday morning and I picked them up in the afternoon. There are 12 and they are soooo tiny, and cute too. My cat is very interested. It's gonna be a job just keeping her away from them.
I'll try to post some pix soon, but it's been raining here all morning so I haven't tried today.

[msodooly]

Congratulations on getting your keets! We just hatched some in the incubator. They are really cute when they are little. :D

[newbrunswick]

I looked these up and they are quite an interesting bird. I've never heard of them before. You learn something new everyday!

[sail2617]

Thanks,
Yes they are interesting. I had called around and found out about an old man in the area that was hatching some eggs and I called and his wife said they'd call when they hatched some more and I could go get them then.
So yesterday they called and I went out there with a neighbor lady who also was wanting to buy some.
It was pretty amazing. This guy had ALOT of birds. When we drove up, there was a peacock strutting outside. Then I asked if we could look around at their birds and she said yes and showed us around a little. They also had lots of Big Turkeys, gobbling like crazy the whole time we were there. And chickens and quail and pigeons and ducks and geese and guineas.
I would kill my husband if he did that to my yard, but it was interesting.