I have the worst luck with guineas - this is either my 3rd or 4th try with them. They are about the dumbest things I have ever dealt with :lol: BUT now that my chickens are no longer free ranging (due to gardens and the sheer amount of poop they left behind in the highest traffic areas including under the playset :roll: ) I need some pest control. The fleas and ticks are ridiculous, and I have never had japanese beetles and this year they are devouring every green thing in my yard - there are swarms of them! I don't see it as a coincidence that the year the chickens are fenced in is the year I have major troubles with insects...
So, here we go! 6 keets... Trying to decide what I want to do with them. I can do a traditional brooder box, but they are a pain (after years of broody hens I really dislike dealing with a brooder box and heat lamp). I have the chicken's old hoop coop still ready to go so I am contemplating a spare rabbit cage on a wooden stand... that way maybe, just maybe, if they are raised in that spot from day 1 they might come back to it at night. I did stick one under a broody hen last year and initially it bolted into the woods (thought it was a goner... it was a mercy purchase, the lady sold it to me for $2 b/c it was the only thing left at Southern States and she just wanted it gone. Original price was $5 - I told her I didn't want to pay that much for snake food :roll: ) but once it found it's way back it stayed with the flock. I was so excited! It actually made it to a full size bird, and I loved hearing it as it meandered around the yard. A constant noise, but it was cute, not annoying. Then... it flew into the dog lot :evil: . The kids found the dog with a mouthful of polka dotted feathers (she normally doesn't both the chickens unless they eat her food, then all bets are off... who knows what happened though. Maybe b/c it was noisier?).
I have 3 of the "traditional" pearl, 2 white, and one that's white with a little bit of shading on it's head and back (in a definite pattern) so not sure what it will look like. The closest description I have found is for an opaline, but I don't see Southern States selling any "rare" colored birds. There were actually two of them with light shading, but I didn't like the looks of the other one the more I watched it. You can see the shaded one's back peeking out from the pile...
So, here we go! 6 keets... Trying to decide what I want to do with them. I can do a traditional brooder box, but they are a pain (after years of broody hens I really dislike dealing with a brooder box and heat lamp). I have the chicken's old hoop coop still ready to go so I am contemplating a spare rabbit cage on a wooden stand... that way maybe, just maybe, if they are raised in that spot from day 1 they might come back to it at night. I did stick one under a broody hen last year and initially it bolted into the woods (thought it was a goner... it was a mercy purchase, the lady sold it to me for $2 b/c it was the only thing left at Southern States and she just wanted it gone. Original price was $5 - I told her I didn't want to pay that much for snake food :roll: ) but once it found it's way back it stayed with the flock. I was so excited! It actually made it to a full size bird, and I loved hearing it as it meandered around the yard. A constant noise, but it was cute, not annoying. Then... it flew into the dog lot :evil: . The kids found the dog with a mouthful of polka dotted feathers (she normally doesn't both the chickens unless they eat her food, then all bets are off... who knows what happened though. Maybe b/c it was noisier?).
I have 3 of the "traditional" pearl, 2 white, and one that's white with a little bit of shading on it's head and back (in a definite pattern) so not sure what it will look like. The closest description I have found is for an opaline, but I don't see Southern States selling any "rare" colored birds. There were actually two of them with light shading, but I didn't like the looks of the other one the more I watched it. You can see the shaded one's back peeking out from the pile...
