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Hatching Guinea Fowl

(8 posts)

  1. hazlia
    Member

    I obtaind 24 hatching eggs and they incubating in a Brinsea Octagon advance 20 - so all automatic. I set the temperature to 37.5 and it seemed to fluctuate between 37.5 and 37.6 and I kept the humidity in the 60s%. I was expecting them to hatch at the earliest on day 26 but I was surprised that 2 hatched on day 24 when I was about to stop the autoturn and lower the temperature to 37.3 and increase the humidity. I have now got 5 keets out with more trying to get out. They seem to find it very hard to break out and it takes a long time - 2 died in the shell trying to get out. The surviving keets are really unstable and often fall over and get stuck on the their back. They are in a large plastic container with a towel on the bottom with a water and starter crumble (this worked fine for baby chickens and ducklings). They all seem very animated but I am worried that they are so wobly on their feet and often seem to do the splits.

    I have read about straddling but the towel is fairly course. I can't understand why they have 'straddled' if indeed that's what it is. They are all warm enough (I live in Malaysia - but they are under a strip light and seem happy enough.

    Is it usual for them to fall over and get stuck on their backs? - Could it be because they hatched early?

    There are another 17 eggs still to hatch and some are already 'cracked' - Is it ever necessary to help them out? If so is there a preferred way to do this?

    Yours

    Very anxiously

    Mike

    Michael O'Riordan
    Posted 3 years ago #

  2. admin
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    Hi Mike, Glad to hear that your eggs are hatching but sorry to hear that some are abit wobbly.

    Make sure that the flooring has a good grip. I use an old piece of carpet and straw on top so that it keeps them warm and stops them getting splayed legs.
    http://farmingfriends.com/litter-suitable-for-brooders/

    It is very important to make sure that the flooring in the brooder gives the keets traction as a slippery floor can lead to splayed legs.
    http://www.farmingfriends.com/splayed-legs-in-quail/

    Another thing to watch out for with guinea fowl keets is pasting up which is when the droppings stick to the keets vent and block up the vent and if not spotted early enough can lead to death. http://www.farmingfriends.com/guinea-fowl-keets-pasting-up-2/

    A disease to watch out for in guinea fowl keets is coccidiosis which can kill your keets. http://www.farmingfriends.com/coccidiosis-in-guinea-fowl/

    I agree that guinea fowl do seem to find it hard to break out of their shell and I have had to help mine out at times. I always wait for the egg to pip but then if the keet hasn't got out after a number of hours then I will help.

    All the books and research says that you shouldn't help chicks out of the shell and that opening the incubator can affect the rest of the eggs hatching. I have not had to help quail hatch as they managed to all hatch at the same time and relatively easily. I have however had to help many a guinea fowl and ducklings out of their shell and if I hadn't have helped them out of their shells then I would only have one duck and not 7!

    From experience I have found that if a chick or keet has not hatched itself within a few hours then I have found that they often die in the shell as the heat in the incubator dries up the shell and membrane and makes it difficult for the chicks to hatch.

    If you do decide to help the chick or keet out, remove the egg from the incubator quickly and cupping the egg in your hand to keep it warm, carefully start to pick off the shell from where the egg has pipped as this is where the chicks beak is.

    I have always had to work quickly although you have to be very careful that the blood vessels in the shell don't bleed as this can kill the chick/ keet.

    When I help a chick /keet out I try to pick the shell off the head part first and work my way down. I never take all the shell off as the chick / keet is attached to the shell at the base.

    I usually take the top off and try to make sure that the chicks head, wings and body are free. It is important to make sure that the chick / keet can move about because once it goes back in the incubator the membrane and shell dry out and they can get stuck to the chick / keet. I then put the chick and attached shell back in the incubator and let the chick wriggle free in it's own time.

    Sometimes the guinea fowl keets have made it and sometimes they have still died.

    Another thing to consider is once you have opened the incubator the temperature and humidity will be affected and this could stop other chicks / keets from hatching.

    I hope you find this information useful. Let me know how you get on.
    Kind regards
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    http://www.farmingfriends.com
    http://farmingfriends.com/shop/
    Posted 3 years ago #

  3. hazlia
    Member

    Sarah

    Thank you for that. I decided to help them out if not out within a few hours of first 'break'. I hear what you say about not leaving the incubator open for too long (guilty!). I did have two with splayed legs and decided to tie their legs together!! This seems to work although not sure what will happen when I remove the string. I have to check them regularly to make sure the string does not tighten and cut off the blood supply to the foot. All was well until this morning when I found one dead in the 'drinker'. So I have now removed the standard drinker and use a tray with stones so they cannot drown (I hope). The think the string maybe hindered it getting out of the water and I am not sure if it died of cold or drowned but the poor little mite was dead. I now have only four keets in the brooder (one with tied legs) and one 'fluffing' up in the incubator. Another 7 eggs left in my incubator and 4 in another which I have not seen or heard from yet!

    The latest one in the incubator I helped and only picked around where it was cracked and gently removed the top but left it to climb out itself. I hate trying to play god, but after a coule of them dried up trying to get outI did not want to the risk. However, by helping out some of the others I did break the blood vessels and they died. I have found the whole experience really quite distressing and depressing. Having gone to such lengths and waited so long only to have only 5 surviving from 24 (at the moment). That is not good statistics, however, the surviving few have made the whole experience worth while and worth repeating.

    I will let you know how they fair.

    Regards

    Mike

    I must say the keets are great - so animated! I am going to have another go later with Guinea Fowl eggs as I now have a good supplier here (although I am in Borneo and he is the peninsular). Bringing baby keets back is far more complicated and expensive, but eggs I can hand carry.

    Anyway thank you for the advice - it has been really helpful.

    Michael O'Riordan
    Posted 3 years ago #

  4. admin
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    Hi Mike,
    Elastaplast bandaids are good for splayed legs and I know it works as Sallie one of the forum members used this method on her quail chicks.

    I know what you mean about helping with the hatch. It is hard trying to gauge when is best to intervene so that they don't die in the shell or so you don't intervene too soon and they bleed. Some would say that it is a process of selection which survive and which don't and so we shouldn't interfere but as we are incubating them artificially it doesn't necessarily replicate what should or would happen in their true environment so I think that if we have chosen to artificially incubate them then we should be able to intervene if it is necessary.

    Have you given the keets any shredded up lettuce, they love it and there will be tugs of war over the pieces, great fun to watch.

    It is interesting to hear that you live in Borneo. I look forward to future updates.

    Kind regards
    sara @ farmingfriends in the UK!

    http://www.farmingfriends.com
    http://farmingfriends.com/shop/
    Posted 3 years ago #

  5. hazlia
    Member

    Sarah

    Very many thanks. The elastoplast solved the 'splayed' legs but now one leg seems to have reversed itself and the keet hobbles around - actually quite fast! The other keet with the weak leg seems to be slowly getting some strength and also moved quickly when startled. The other 5 are all thriving - they move incredibly fast! I have (at the moment) got them in a cardboard box which they share with 2 turkeys - some age which are very docile when you compare them. I am feeding them on starter crumble or some duck pellets which I crush first. They dive in and scatter it to all over the box! Is there a way to prevent this as it sems to be very wasteful - I have been scooping it up and putting it back in the bowl/plate but you end up with a nice poo/feed mix. It cant be healthy but otherwise more seems to go to waste than they actually eat!

    They off back to the farm this weekend - 3 hours drive south of here (Kota Kinabalu) close to the Sarawak border, where I have a mix of Muscovy ducks, Peking ducks ( I think), Whistling Ducks, chickens (various), a few quail, and 4 geese. There is an acre of pond which is fantastic and I ma trying to growm Telapia, Carp and some type of Catfish - not sure if they will eat each other, but a large Catfish will eat a small duckling!

    This is far cry from what I was doing a few years ago - interrupting the drug lords in Afghanistan and flying helicopters but it is a fantastic change. The climate suits me well and I seem to get on better with the people here than my own kind! And the food is wonderful!

    I will try to upload some pictures of the keets.

    Warmest regards

    Mike

    Michael O'Riordan
    Posted 3 years ago #

  6. admin
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    Hi Mike,
    I am pleased to hear that the elastoplast solved the splayed legs.
    Do you a have a poultry feeder where the keets can't really scratch the food out of? The long tray feeders are quite good that can be attached the a side of a wire hut as they can be raised off the ground alittle so the keets can't get their feet in them to scratch the chick crumbs out.

    Try to keep the ground as clean as possible so that they don't get coccidiosis by eating their droppings. http://farmingfriends.com/coccidiosis-in-guinea-fowl/

    Wow you sound like you have lots of poultry on your farm. It's great to hear about all your livestock. It is very interesting to hear about farming and smallholding in different countries.

    With regards to adding photos, you can either;

    1) Send me your photos via email in which case I can email you and then you can send the images to me so I can upload them to my farmingfriends website and then add them to the forum. If you are able to edit the photo size to about 400 pixel width then that helps with sending more than one email on an email, however if you are not able to edit the size of the photo then can you send me one or two images per email so that the email and images open up in my webmail.

    or

    Option 2)

    1. Create an account at a photo sharing website such as http://www.photobucket.com or http://www.flickr.com/
    2. Upload your image to photobucket or flickr.
    3. Hover over the image and left click in the "Direct Link" box, then right click and copy.
    4. Go to discussion forum post, right click and paste. You have now put a link to your photo.
    At this point I can then copy and paste the photo to my farmingfriends admin and insert it into the forum. Hope that helps and I look forward to seeing any photos you have.

    Kind regards
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    http://www.farmingfriends.com
    http://farmingfriends.com/shop/
    Posted 3 years ago #

  7. hazlia
    Member

    Poultry feeder sounds like a good way ahead - I was thinking of buying another 'drinker' but putting the food in it - that would end their antics! I have made long ones our of wood for the ducks - so that they all get a chance to eat!

    The coccidiosis is worrying - I was thinking of making a cage with a very fine wire mesh floor so that the droppings would just fall through but they could still walk on it without their feet falling through - I have seen chickens raised like that and they seem fine. Once they are big enough - out they will go and free range.

    As regards photos - probably E Mailing them to you - then you can upload the ones you think best. My E Mail is oriordan.mike@gmail.com

    Michael O'Riordan
    Posted 3 years ago #

  8. admin
    Sara @ farmingfriends

    Hi Mike,
    I think the wire mesh flooring sounds a good idea. The only thing to watch is that the keets don't catch their feet on the wire and get an infection which can lead to bumblefoot which is a swelling on the feet when the bird cuts themselves and the foot gets infected. http://farmingfriends.com/bumblefoot-in-quail/

    I have sent you an email re photos and I look forward to seeing the photos of your keets.

    Kind regards
    sara @ farmingfriends

    http://www.farmingfriends.com
    http://farmingfriends.com/shop/
    Posted 3 years ago #

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