# For Anyone Who Has Hatched Guinea Keets



## B Taylor (Nov 24, 2017)

Hi! I’ve come here (of all places, I know) because Google won’t give me a straight answer and I’m also a bit impatient. I have two guinea hens and recently, one had five babies (unbeknownst to us) and she is known to abandon the nest before all the babies hatch. Last time she hatched little keets, they all disappeared within the time span of a week, so we got the five, and candled the last seven eggs. We put the five eggs that looked okay in the incubator, and while I was candling one, I could feel a tapping and could hear a scratching as well as chirping. I figured there would be a little keet out this morning, but nope. The scratching and thumping is still going on at about thirty-six hours. The baby hasn’t even pipped. The scratching that I hear is kinda consistent and is to the beat of a heart beat. Should I step in or wait for the baby to come out on its own?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good question. I'm sure someone here can answer you.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

I would wait. If we step In and help chicks hatch..they won't be strong. We put guineas eggs under broody chickens to hatch for us lol. Guineas are the worse moms ever. If they do hatch their own babies we steal them and raise them ourselves. We started doing this when a group hatched out 37 chicks and all but one died some way or another. The last one took every guinea to raise it to adulthood. Crazy!


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

We helped one out of its shell one year, and it was weak and didn't live long. It is best to let nature take its course there, I think.
Guinea keets are quite fragile. We try to keep a close eye on the nest when the guinea hen begins to set, and catch the keets as soon as possible after they hatch. Otherwise, they do not survive.
One lady I met told me that she hatched her guinea keets using broody bantam hens, as @happybleats mentioned. I think I want to try that sometime, when I get a variety of hen that will set reliably. It would be much easier to catch the keets out in the chicken run than in the brush, with angry guinea parents trying to peck your eyes out.


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## B Taylor (Nov 24, 2017)

The little keet hatched fine in the middle of the night. I’m not sure if any of the other eggs will hatch, as there are no signs of live chicks inside the eggs, but I’m gonna leave them in the incubator until tomorrow just in case, and probably throw them out if there are no chirps or pecks on the shell. I’ll probably get some eggs to put under our hen who is setting now. Thank for all your help!!


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## B Taylor (Nov 24, 2017)

Just a little update:

All the little babies are doing just fine! I was actually going to throw the other two eggs out a couple of days ago and forgot. I’m so glad I did, because another little baby decided to start pecking at its shell. It pipped yesterday evening, so I expected to see a little baby this morning, but it’s still pecking away, chirping. It hasn’t started zipping, but I’m gonna try to leave it alone and let it do its thing.


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

That's great!


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## B Taylor (Nov 24, 2017)

Hi! I’ve come here again to ask yet another question. A couple of my baby guineas (that are about 1-2 weeks old) have poop stuck to their bottoms. Should I pull it off gently, or let it come off on its own? Does this mean something is wrong with the little thing, or is it normal?


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

That's what they call pasty butt. You should clean it off with a warm wet washcloth.


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## B Taylor (Nov 24, 2017)

MellonFriend said:


> That's what they call pasty butt. You should clean it off with a warm wet washcloth.


Thank you! Will do!


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