The Unexpected

[Yooper]

Well, good grief! It has happened again! We found a guinea hen sitting on a clutch of eggs this morning. It is freezing temps at night and she has been faithful these past almost four weeks. (we thought that since she's been MIA, that she had been fox food)
So we are having to fire up the incubator yet again! Last year in October, a guinea walked out of the woods with 9 brand new keets. By the time I saw her, two of them had frozen to the ground. DH and I risked life and limb by chasing the poor new mother from them and grabbing the near-frozen keets to get them under a heat lamp in the house. We felt sorry for her losing them, but we wanted to save their little lives.
This afternoon we will be doing the same with this setting gal. She will NOT be happy and try to attack us, but from what we can see, there are at least a dozen guinea eggs and at least two chicken eggs under her.
At least we'll be able to put the new keets/chicks in with our order of layers coming in 10 days!
It's always something, isn't it?
Darlene (now on tick-free property!)

[Salal Sue]

You gotta love farm life! Where did you find her, being that she has two chicken eggs?

I've thought about getting guineas--how do they get along with the chickens? Do they all become one common flock?

[Carpenter]

they get along together in the same area/ same barn for us, but each group runs together and do not "solcialize"

[momof23goats]

Well, good grief! It has happened again! We found a guinea hen sitting on a clutch of eggs this morning. It is freezing temps at night and she has been faithful these past almost four weeks. (we thought that since she's been MIA, that she had been fox food)
So we are having to fire up the incubator yet again! Last year in October, a guinea walked out of the woods with 9 brand new keets. By the time I saw her, two of them had frozen to the ground. DH and I risked life and limb by chasing the poor new mother from them and grabbing the near-frozen keets to get them under a heat lamp in the house. We felt sorry for her losing them, but we wanted to save their little lives.
This afternoon we will be doing the same with this setting gal. She will NOT be happy and try to attack us, but from what we can see, there are at least a dozen guinea eggs and at least two chicken eggs under her.
At least we'll be able to put the new keets/chicks in with our order of layers coming in 10 days!
It's always something, isn't it?
Darlene (now on tick-free property!)

MY guinea's were doing the same thing. and I have one banty sitting. Don't know why, it is so cold.
I left my brooder up, for just in case, I will take the babies and put them in the brooder. I just took out 15 and put them in the hen house.
oh well. at least we won't have any bugs around next year. for sure.

[Freeholder]

Can the moms go with the babies into the brooder? Seems like it would be a good thing for them to have a hen with them?

Kathleen

[Yooper]

Well, we just found one pip so rushed out to get the brooder together. Yes, our guineas, chickens and ducks all live together in one large coop all winter long.
Guineas are such bad mothers tho. At least ours have been. They have rarely stayed with the keets for more than a day or so, then leave them in the tall wet grass to get chilled and die. For this reason, we always take them away when we find them newly hatched.

Two months ago we had gone into town for the afternoon and came home to absolute carnage. One guinea hen lay dead in the middle of the driveway, all four ducks had their heads snapped and were floating in their pond, the coop was littered with laying hens, about 20 or so. Several were suffering and DH put them down right away. We were just devasted. Dog prints in the mud everywhere. This is the first time anything like this has happened to us. We called the DNR and animal control. Nothing could be done unless the dog is caught in action.
At least a fox or coyote would kill for food and not this sensless killing for sport.
With the times the way they are, now we are doubly uneasy leaving home for too long! And we live in the middle of nowhere, very rural.
The biggest surprise was the dead guinea. They are such good watch dogs and make quite a racket when anyone/anything is unusual. And they can fly away pretty quickly too. But this one took one for the team, I guess.
Sorry for the ramble...it still gets me boiling!

[DreadPirate]

Know how ya feel. We have had the same thing happen. i just got 90% of the pin hot wired. Bad thing is is that 50% of the chickens are still running loose.

[Betsy Ross]

We had a broody hen hatch out 4 chicks three weeks ago and they seem to be doing just fine outside. The babies snuggle under mama hen when they get cold, but otherwise the cool temperatures do not seem to bother them. The temperature went down into the mid-30's two nights ago, and the babies have not suffered any ill-effects. They are busy hunting and pecking all day long and seem to be early featherers as they have very little down left. They are mixed breed though, and boy are they ugly!

[Yooper]

Goodness! Well, we've tossed the idea of penning them up back and forth. Up side is they are protected. Down side is they don't get to roam and free-range as much. But then if they all get nabbed, there'd be no chickens to free-range anyway. sigh.
Yup, liking your way better and better...
Yooperwife

[Yooper]

Betsy R, I think that chicks raised outdoors by their moms are the very healthiest and happiest too! Hens are awesome mothers! It's the guinea moms that need to get a clue...maybe the hens could hold a "mothering" seminar this winter when they have some downtime.

[ouchstop]

Well, we just found one pip so rushed out to get the brooder together. Yes, our guineas, chickens and ducks all live together in one large coop all winter long.
Guineas are such bad mothers tho. At least ours have been. They have rarely stayed with the keets for more than a day or so, then leave them in the tall wet grass to get chilled and die. For this reason, we always take them away when we find them newly hatched.

Two months ago we had gone into town for the afternoon and came home to absolute carnage. One guinea hen lay dead in the middle of the driveway, all four ducks had their heads snapped and were floating in their pond, the coop was littered with laying hens, about 20 or so. Several were suffering and DH put them down right away. We were just devasted. Dog prints in the mud everywhere. This is the first time anything like this has happened to us. We called the DNR and animal control. Nothing could be done unless the dog is caught in action.
At least a fox or coyote would kill for food and not this sensless killing for sport.
With the times the way they are, now we are doubly uneasy leaving home for too long! And we live in the middle of nowhere, very rural.
The biggest surprise was the dead guinea. They are such good watch dogs and make quite a racket when anyone/anything is unusual. And they can fly away pretty quickly too. But this one took one for the team, I guess.
Sorry for the ramble...it still gets me boiling!

Have you considered setting a live trap for the dog? Once he's trapped, a 22 round in the back of the head and no more problem.

[Summerthyme]

We haven't lost a chicken, free range or in their pen in over a decade... since we were adopted by a rescue English Shepherd pup. We have had Australian Shepherds, Akitas, a Border CollieX out of an Australian, but I've never seen a breed for taking care of *every* species of animal on the farm like the ES. When Lucky was killed on the road 2 years ago (because he insisted on visiting his "friend", a Golden Retriever who was always chained in a yard down the road... some moron was driving on the wrong side of the road, apparently looking over his shoulder at something, and hit him- we saw the tracks, etc, later, and realized he was NOT "in the middle of the road" like the cretin claimed. It didn't sound right... the dog was traffic savvy, although we get more horses and buggies than cars out here), we looked for another ES.

We got a purebred pup, who has turned out to be the "Anti-Lucky" in every way but one- he's got the same, fabulous, "babysitter" temperament. He ADORES babies... when calves are born, he licks off their mouth and noses during the birth. I've watched him midwife two cat's births, including gently nosing every inch of the still-wet kittens and letting the mother "hug" him during contractions (yeah, I have WEIRD animals).

And they absolutely insist on being outside all night... although they never leave the property.

Before we got an ES, we lost 122 chicks one night, while we were away at a school function. The next morning, we discovered the loss, although we've never figured out WHAT got them. We found one dead chick in the pen (these were not tiny babies, either- they were mostly CornishX, with 25 laying pullets mixed in, and were about 12 days old... they weighed well over 1# each!), one outside along a fence about 100 feet up the line... and not a single sign of anything else! How ANYTHING (even a pack) could take that many chicks in one night still boggles the mind. Our Aussie at the time looked very sheepish (but it wasn't her... she was apparently feeling guilty that she hadn't stopped- WHATEVER- it was), and when we got replacement chicks, she slept in front of the pen every night.

But since we have had an ES, we've found fox fur (big clumps, with skin attached) in the driveway in front of where the chickens roost, and we hear coyotes singing in the field above the barn... but we never lose a bird.

I've heard of English Shepherds chasing off hawks that threaten "their" birds!

Obviously, one dog (without a human around to back them up) isn't going to be much use against a pack of feral dogs, or even a big pack of bold coyotes, but we don't have that problem around here. Worth their weight in gold.

Summerthyme

[momof23goats]

I had a neighbors dog, chase my hens, and killed 15 of them before we plugged them, yes ,we shot them. Guineas, are so much fun. an so loud. all of mine live together in the winter months in th coop. I have to get me a male, for sure, I think i will go this sat, to the auction, and get me one, and a couple more turkeys.

[ouchstop]

Once a dog starts going after livestock there are only two options. A meaner dog that will run him off or a bullet.

[momof23goats]

bullet, once they start eating your animals, and killing for sport, you might as well shoot them. they are hard to break of that. for sure.