# My keets are here!!



## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

Here are a couple of pics of my new baby guineas. We just got them this morning from a local breeder. Not sure what color they'll be (probably pearl?) as he had lots of different colors all in together. They're two weeks old today. They'll stay in the brooder for another two weeks, then they'll go in a pen my husband is building (it will be located in the garden). They're a little nervous now, so they're all huddled up together, but I couldn't resist sharing.  
-Tina


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

they are cute....congrats.... :thumb:


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## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

Thanks, Pam!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Your welcome... :thumb: :wink: :hi5:


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## logansmommy7 (Nov 11, 2009)

GOtta love those little fuzzy babies. They grow SO fast!


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## farmergal (Jun 19, 2009)

They are cute! Congrats. You are right, they are Pearls. I've raised guineas but a while back I admit that I sold my guinea flock because the noise got too darned annoying! TOO-WHEET! TOO-WHEET! I figured I had plenty of noise between the goats, the sheep, the dogs and the roosters  

They do lay the most delicious eggs tho (with the strongest shells!), so I kept one hen around  She was hatched and raised by a chicken so she's bonded with the chicken flock.


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## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

Thanks, Hunter and Lynda,
Hunter, they do grow fast! Hard to believe the cute, little fuzzy things become guineas, right? It's like everytime my Dad hatches out a group of turkey babies - they're SOO cute as babies and SOO, well, turkey-lookin' as adults.  
Yep, Lynda, we've been warned about the noise. I doubt we'll even hear it, though, over the kids, goats, turkeys, dogs, and horses. :wink: What I'm looking forward to is the work they can do in my garden. We live in a really bad area for ticks, Japanese beetles, and squash bugs. Do they eat the flies, too? This year seems to be particularly bad with the flies. How do the eggs compare with free-range chicken eggs? We'd heard that it takes about two guinea eggs to equal one chicken egg. Is that about right?

Thanks!
Tina


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Awwww...cute!


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## farmergal (Jun 19, 2009)

Yup, that's about right in terms of the egg size. But the guinea eggs PACK a PUNCH. They are the richest, orange-est yolks you will eat... soooo yummy.... even though my chickens are free range and eat weeds, veggie scraps, and bugs, the guineas are just such amazing foragers that they have the most delicious eggs ever. And you will laugh the first time you try to crack a guinea egg because it's like trying to break through wood or cement! The shells are so thick, I don't know how the babies ever hatch out (but they do... tough little things.) They don't have as long of a laying season as chickens do, but when they're laying, it's an egg almost every day.

I've never seen mine eat flies, although they will scratch around a bit and eat maggots, just like chickens will. 

Also... if you are planning on integrating them with turkeys or chickens, and you end up with excess males (which you probably will since nobody sexes guinea keets!), I'd recommend selling (or eating) them. Keep the hens, who are the ones who make the "Too-wheet" noise. (The males just sound like machine guns.) Most of the males that I had were quite aggressive towards my chickens. They would chase roosters and hens around the yard, and then hold on their tailfeathers for a good several minutes until they finally gave up (or they pulled the tailfeathers out). Also, they took up an entire perch in the 10' by 10' coop -- they were so mean they wouldn't let any chickens at all on it. So the guinea cocks aren't the best members of a mixed flock (I just kept 1 for breeding), but the hens seem to be fine -- and also seem to learn from the chicken hens that they're supposed to lay in the nestboxes, instead of the grass. :thumb: And if they're kept separate you won't have any of those problems anyway.

I was also warned about the noise... but didn't really get it until I was up to 8 or so of them... I think it's the pitch as much as the volume... none of my other loudmouths on the farm (of which there are many) are quite as shrill as guineas  But they are fun, make great eggs, and they have hilarious little personalities too!


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## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

Thanks, Kylee!

Thanks for answering my questions, Lynda. The turkeys are my dad's (my parents live next door and our pastures border each other's), but they just don't quite understand the whole "property line-thing," so they're frequently down here during the day. :wink: We got some extra keets thinking that about half would be male and end up in the freezer. So sound is the best way to sex them? At about what age should we be able to tell the difference? Are the guinea cocks as bad about being aggressive toward children as roosters? We had to dispatch two roosters last year because they went after my four year-old daughter (they worked together to corner her, poor thing).

Thanks again!
Tina


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## farmergal (Jun 19, 2009)

Mine were never aggressive towards me, just other birds. And they might not be bold enough to take on turkeys -- I've only ever had them with chickens.

Yup, sound is the best way to sex them. Even when they're fully fully mature (1 year+) it's really hard to tell them apart by looking at them... and you can sex them by sound much earlier (I forget exactly when, but I'm thinking around 2 months or so).

Have fun with them! They are sooo cute as youngsters... and downright funny looking when they're older... they remind me of beetles the way they shuffle around with their oval-shaped bodies. Also, they are super hardy and great defenders. One of my guinea hens tried to defend a broody chicken hen against a raccoon. The broody was killed but wherever I found her feathers, I found guinea feathers... the guinea was attacking the raccoon even as her friend was being dragged away! I sure would have liked to see what the raccoon looked like, I bet he had some guinea hen scars!! And the guinea hen was none the worse for wear, I could only tell which one it was by the fact that her feathers looked oh-so-slightly ruffled the next morning...


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## farmgirl1 (Mar 14, 2010)

I have never tried their eggs, bet they are good, we just eat the chicken eggs and sometimes the ducks if we get them really early


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## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

Thanks, Lynda and Bree!


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## mrs. lam (Apr 20, 2010)

Duck eggs make great cakes and the best cornbread! It makes it taller and oh so moist.

I also like fresh quill eggs. Very good yolk.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

My mom had Guineas, RIR, Banty's as well as ducks and geese...we ate the eggs from all...my favorite was the duck eggs, they made AWESOME noodles and the goose eggs with tennis ball sized yolks were a meal in themselves!

Adorable little fuzzy's you have!


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## maple hill farm tina (Mar 14, 2010)

Thanks, Liz and Mrs.Lam, 
Darn, though, ya'll are making me hungry now...  

-Tina


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