This year, we are trying to establish a Guinea Fowl flock in Zone 2. The area is ideal for them because it is further into our farm (less chance of a dog attack), and there are less cliff edges - so they are much less likely to accidentally fly down the ravine, only to get stuck and spend a very noisy few days trying to return to their flock. There will also be an abundance of food for them (earwigs, caterpillars, slugs, weed seeds), although we may never be able to grow corn in the area as that is warned to be a favourite of Guinea Fowl.
Our current set of 16 keets are over 3 weeks old. We have roughly half lavender and half brown/grey, with one that is a mix with lavender wing tips. The brown/grey genetics seem to be slightly weaker in the first week of hatching. One had splayed legs that had to be fixed, and two others had crooked feet that also needed to be isolated and corrected. All have survived and are doing well, even the weakest one which is still half the size of its siblings.
As Guinea Fowl are quite stupid, we knew the keets would try and eat any type of flooring we put down for them. Ordinary towels and paper towels do not work. So, we bought non-slip shelf liner fabric to ensure there is no risk of spraddle leg
They lived in our bedroom for a week, until they got moved downstairs for another week, and now they live outside in a make-shift pen where we can keep an eye on them from our windows. We used materials we had on the farm, and it is worked perfectly. Their first two days outdoors just happened to be quite stormy and very wet, but the keets are all fine and well. The trick is to keep them always dry, sheltered, and warm. Mittens chased them at first, but after being warned off with a bucket of water, he now wants nothing to do with them.
We will be hatching another set of keets in 2/3 weeks, when we will hopefully have a larger brooder. We don't use heat lamps, and instead prefer heated plates. .
Belinda, our eldest and most fluffy chicken, did not hatch any eggs, and is now enduring a few weeks of TLC (lots of food and chicken weed, and a foot bath or two). We intend to move her to the fenced pen in Zone 2, where she can be a 'mother' to the keets and enjoy a more sheltered life. After 5+ years of enduring Flores elements, she needs a lot of love 💛
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