Farming Friends

This morning two of the guinea fowl eggs I have in the incubator were pipped when I went to have a look. It is exactly day 28 so the guinea fowl eggs are right on schedule to hatch out today.

It is always exciting to see the keets hatch out. I can hear chirping already. It is even more exciting as my new friend Sallyanne, who bought some guinea fowl hatching eggs recently and now as a result has two beautiful guinea fowl, is hoping to take some of the keets and foster them onto one of her broody Silkies so that she can extend her flock of guinea fowl.

Sallyanne has just been in touch to say that her guinea fowl are doing fine. Here are photos of Sallyanne’s two guinea fowl.

I will keep you posted on the hatching news as it breaks!!!

My friends and neighbours Rob and Margaret have 16 laying hens, however they wanted to find a new home for the hens so you guessed it they have arrived on our farm.

On Friday morning I went to collect them. Rob had locked them in their hut for the night although 2 had managed to do an escaping act and were running round their run. Rob carried the hens to the crates and then we popped them in the crates. One of the escaping hens was caught easily but the other dived into a thick nettle bush and every time Rob went to get her she disappeared. At the moment I am waiting for the 16th hen to arrive on the farm but the other 15 hens have all settled in well and have even started to lay in their new hut.

I kept them in their hut for the rest of Friday and Saturday but they will be allowed to free range from Sunday. I will post some photos of the new hens soon.

Hello,
I am currently waiting for my first clutch of 6 guinae fowl eggs to hatch. I have my brooder ready but have been given conflicting advice as to the shelter requirements for these birds. We have a tree/hedge lined acre plot surrounded by fields and originally believed that the adult birds preferred to roost in the trees. I am, however concerned as to how they cope with the British winters and wondered what the best form of shelter to offer them would be? Many Thanks,
Nadine

Hi Nadine,

Thank you for your enquiry.

You are right in thinking that guinea fowl like to roost in trees and this is what they would do in the wild in South Africa.

I was given 3 adult guinea fowl that had been put in a hut at night so all of my other guineas that I have reared have done the same.

Guinea fowl can be trained to go into a hut at night especially if you are rearing them from birth.

I tend to put mine in a brooder when they first hatch out and then move them to a covered run until 8 weeks onwards before I transfer them to their outdoor hut.

When I transfer them to their outdoor hut I don’t let them out striaght away so that they get used to the hut and know that this is where they shelter. I have read that if you let one guinea fowl out it won’t go far as it likes to stay close to the others.

I like to put mine in a hut at night so that the guinea fowl are protected from predators. It also keeps their food and water away from wild birds. The hut also shelters them from harsh weather and is large enough when the rain is very bad or it is snowing (guinea fowl hate snow) for them to stay inside all day as the shelter has a roof, a roosting area indoors and a run area so that they can see outside.

I have found that my guinea fowl learn very quickly where there hut is and will at times gather outside it if I haven’t opened the doors for them. They seem to prefer to go into the hut rather than roost in the trees.

I would not recommend keeping guinea fowl inside all the time but I certainly think a shelter for them at night means that losses to predators is kept to a minimum and shelter from bad weather is a good idea.

Hope this information is useful.

Kind regards

Sara @ farmingfriends

I want to hatch some eggs, are automatic egg turners better. also if you do get an automatic egg turner, can you not be in the house for a few day, like go on holiday? Bethan

Hi Bethan,
An automatic egg turner is useful if you don’t have time to turn the eggs yourself everyday. Eggs need to be turned at least 4 times a day so this can be very time consuming. An automatic egg turner saves you this time.
The egg turner is powered by electricity so as long as there isn’t a powercut, you can leave the egg turner running while you are away on holiday.
I have the Automatic Electric Egg Turner by GQF Manufacturing. This holds 42 eggs from quail to duck eggs and moves the eggs from side to side at regular intervals throughout the day.
Hope this information is useful.
Kind regards
Sara @ farmingfriends

A couple of weeks ago Sue contacted me wanting a couple of Saddleback weaners to fatten up.

She came and chose the two piglets and they are now happily living on Sue’s smallholding as the video clip demonstrates.

It was great to hear how the weaners are getting on.

Hello Sara,
Thanks for all this info – most useful. Piggies are doing really well and growing and having just the best time in their large outdoor playpen! Eating really well (like Pigs actually!) and very fussy, falling at our feet to have their tummies tickled and backs scratched! I have attached a short video clip, shot off my digital stills camera to amuse you – we still claim to have not given them names, more like labels in the form of ‘Sausage’ (no 18 with the larger saddle like his Mum ‘Cagney’) and ‘Bacon’ the better visual confirmation for meat pig out of your ‘Lacy’ but that could all change in time (bet it was your Stephen’s idea to name your two after female Cop ‘Pigs’?!?)
My husband rang me during the week to enquire “which sun cream and factor-15 or 30?” to apply to ‘Sausages’ pink saddle when we had those two hot days in succession this week and the Piggies had chosen to sunbathe rather than use my nice Wallow – it’s nice to know he cares!
Enjoy the clip attached (let me know if you can’t open or play?) and I’ll be in touch again.
Cheers,
Sue

Hello Sara,

Can’t believe how much they have grown in just a couple of weeks (see for your self in attached photo). They are lots of fun and spend a large part of their day wrestling each other – it’s interesting that the smaller one – ‘sausage’ (who isn’t much smaller now!) is the trouble maker and always starts the Wrestling bouts. We are serious Self Sufficient vegetable gardeners so a large part of their diet is coming out of our garden currently in the form of Cauliflower outer leaves which they love.
Regards,
Sue

I look forward to hearing more about Sausage and Bacon’s encounters on Sue’s smallholding.

Raising and breeding pigs on my farm has allowed me to connect with like minded people like Sue, which makes farming more interesting.

does anyone know if guinea fowls beaks can grow too long thus affecting feeding. one of ours looks mangy and has been dewormed, but its beak looks very long and curved - awfully difficult to catch her, any help would be much appreciated. buff

Hi Buff,
Thanks for this question and visiting farmingfriends. I haven’t seen a longer beak in a
guinea fowl but I have done in quail. In Michael Roberts book entitled “Quail, Past And
Present” he says for quail that “because they are in unnatural surroundings the beak and
toe nails can grow very long, but can be trimmed with nail clippers.” I don’t know
whether this is the same for guinea fowl but it could be. Obviously guinea fowl are alot
bigger than quail so catching them and trimming their beak will not be as easy.

You may want to catch your guinea fowl in a cat basket or similar box. You may also want
to try to establish a relationship with the guinea fowl before you decide to trim the
beak so that the guinea fowl trusts you and won’t struggle so much.

If feeding is difficult I would suggest giving the guinea fowl chopped lettuce, yoghurt,
mashed up hard boiled eggs and mashed up layers pellets so that they are easier for the
guinea fowl to digest.
Hope this information is useful.
Let me know how you get on.
Sara @ farmingfriends

I was delighted to receive a reply from Buff.

Thanks so much for replying and will try the food you suggest - we have a very, very
large garden and at the moment have 3 adults, including the sick one, plus two babies -
so they are very protective of each other and very fiesty with any intruders!!
Relationship building may take a while although they do follow me and of course love
looking in mirrors so may try and lure it into a more confined area that way. Will let
you know how things proceed! Thanks again Buff.

Has anyone had any experience of guinea fowl growing long beaks? If so please let us know how you got on.

If poultry eggs don’t hatch on their due date then I will leave them in the incubator or under the broody hen for up to a week after the hatching date.

hi ive got three eggs in my incubator(rcom) and they were due for monday but one came early then no more have came and its now wednesday should I crack the egg open to see if its alive or should I wait(are fertile)Aaron

Hi Aaron,
I always leave eggs in the incubator for at least a week after the hatching date to see if anymore pip their shells and hatch out, as the eggs can sometimes be late in hatching. So if I was you I wouldn’t crack the egg open just yet. Once an extra week has gone by then I turn off the incubator and crack the eggs to see if they were fertile.
Hope that helps. Let me know how you got on.
Sara @ farmingfriends

What do you do if poultry eggs don’t hatch on the due date?