Bodilly Mill.

The Bodilly Mill Guineas

Hatching and brooding.

Interested? So where do you start?

Well you can get your birds from poultry sales and auctions fully grown. Guinea fowl are really catching on where people realise they can keep them easily. As long as you do not have silly neighbours you should be fine especially when your neighbours realise the good they do for their own gardens and crops too when allowed to roam a bit.

When I decided on becoming a Guinea breeder I decided to start from first principles. It has been the best way to learn, although they are not hard to keep getting past the hurdles nature throws in you way is always very good experience. I started with fertilised eggs and a manual incubator. I got my eggs from a very reliable breeder in Devon they cost £18 per dozen and she posted them to me. That was Five years ago. Since then prices have gone up a bit, but not much. And I have never looked back or regretted getting them.

If you go down the 'partly grown' or 'fully grown' route sometimes called ‘off heat’ birds they will cost you anywhere between £5-£10 for a 6 week old standard mixed ‘Keet’ (young Guinea fowl chick).

You will pay more for birds that have been raised and ‘hardened off’, that is… ‘off heat’. (Not needing a heat lamp to survive) this is because mortality rates can be unpredictable sometimes. Sad but true.

For special strains of the breed I have seen £100 paid. Vulturine strains are very pretty and ornamental but need winter heat in this country so they need special care.

Grown standard birds you might certainly budget £10 for.

these are 2 weeks old Keets

Incubating

If your doing it they way I did? Things you need to know and do because I have already learnt this. Buy a Hygrometer (about £20) it will tell you the temperature and the humidity in the Incubator and then in the brooder after, maintaining these two things is very important. I bought mine off the twitter net.

Incubators. Incubators come in two basic types that anyone incubating should really be interested in Automatic and Manual.

Automatic:

This incubator just needs you to set it up and keep adding the water to keep the

Humidity constant. Be wary though of adding water that varies the core temperature of the incubator when running. Set the temp to about 37.5 C. Let it run for about 2-3 hours before putting your eggs into in. The Incubator has a mechanism that turns the eggs automatically (hence the name). You pay anything (for a good one) £150 - £400 and you must turn the Auto rolling mechanism off 3 days before hatch due date.

Manual:

You set it up, Do the water and you turn the eggs yourself Twice to three times a day. Every day for 25 days (so you have to be sure your there!!!) Eggs that don’t get turned can end up having the embryo stuck to the shell and it not developing properly. You pay anything (for a good one!) £100-£200

Buy an automatic!!!!! Its easier…honest

Temperature

As I stated the temperature should be set around 37.5 degrees Celsius anything hotter or colder can affect embryo development. I have heard that you can apparently alter the temperature and by maintaining slightly under or over, alter the chances of the development of male or female Keets (baby guineas). Since I do not do this commercially I have never gone into to this extent but I have heard you can.

Humidity

Keep humidity to about 60% for the first 25 days in the incubator by adding water to the internal trays* or bowl** (see above mistake made though when I put a bowl into the brooder*

* Some incubators come with internal trays of the right size already calibrated when filled with water to give you the right humidity at the right temperature.

**An open tall dish (it has to have a good surface area). It also must be high enough so that if a ‘Keet’ hatches early it doesn’t go for a premature swim (it’ll either drown or catch hypothermia, either situation not good). You can always use a breakfast bowl in a manual incubator with chicken wire fixed over the top to prevent accidental Tom Daley behaviour.

Hatching

Mother nature can be a cruel mistress. At 25 days you can hear your little Keets cheeping away and when they ‘pip’ (start coming out) the tendency to help is Oh so, so, tempting….Don’t do it!... get the humidity up to about 90% (add another bowl or fill the other recommended tray with water). If all goes well what happens is the ‘Keet’ turns inside the egg in the moist shells environment. As more air get’s into the egg the membrane starts to get drier (not dry) and separates from the ‘Keets’ feathers or skin. The membrane has a blood supply attached to the ‘Keet’ like the placenta in a human. Removing it too quickly can cause blood loss and or infection in the ‘Keet’. Don’t do it. Yes you may loose some naturally but you will loose more if you try to help nature. Leave ‘Keets’ in the Incubator until they fluff up and are dry in the heat of the incubator before handling or moving to the Brooder.

The Brooder (the next stage)