Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Guinea keets will never cease to amaze you with some of their predicaments. They
scurry rambunctiously, not paying attention to where they are going. They end up
trapped in corners of buildings if you have them running loose in a large area. They'll
pile into a water bowl, and if the light goes out, they'll heap up in a corner. Keets are
certainly amusing; in fact, they seem to have no idea what to do with themselves. Drop
a worm or small insect in the brooder with them and they go crazy chasing one another
and their prey around the brooder. They can act like little windup toys, zooming around
with no clear direction.
Heat
Guineas, like other species of fowl, need a constant ambient temperature of 95°F (35°C)
the first week. Adjust the temperature down after that, depending upon the season, your
locality, the number of guineas in the brooder, and other factors.
It is best to lay a thermometer on the floor of the brooder near where they will go to
keep warm. The general principle is to back the temperature off 5°F (3°C) a week. There
is no one-size-fits-all rule, as many conditions factor into the shift, such as building
temperature and number of guineas in the brooder. A box home in your basement with
a stable temperature is an entirely different situation than a cold building that may or
may not be drafty. The heating requirements for two-week-old keets in Louisiana, where
summer nighttime temperatures are in the 70s, are less variable and easier to maintain
than those for keets being raised in the mountains of Idaho, where summer nighttime
temperatures are in the 40s. The more fowl you have, the more quickly they adapt to a
rapid decline in brooder temperature.
Once you have raised guineas for a few years, you won't even need the thermometer,
as you will learn how to read the keets' signals of comfort and discomfort. When they
are too cold, they huddle under the light with their eyes closed and make continuous
peeping noises. When they are too warm, they move as far away from the light source
as is possible. Be observant and they'll show you what they need.
GUINEAS IN THE GROUP
Guineas can benefit from living with other types of poultry, although raisers must be
careful about whom they choose for cohabitants. Keets work best with chicks, fairly
well with poults, but poorly with waterfowl. Keep them with pheasants, but not with
quail.
The problem is that keets like to irritate their roommates. If they get bored, they
pick at the combs and new feathers on chicks. Turkeys are their favorite targets: they
