Pearl Guinea Fowl

Day Old Pearl Guinea Keets

Hatching Spring-Summer

Pearl Guineas are the most common and popular guinea fowl color. Guinea Fowl are known for their flight behavior and tick eating habits. They are wonderful backyard birds for those that are looking for a guard bird.

Production: Being seasonal layers, guinea fowl lay 60-100 eggs a year. The guinea hens can go broody and hatch out and brood their own young.

Temperament: The Pearl guinea fowl are flighty and loud birds. They are not recommended for the city keeper since they need a lot of space and area to forage. They do fly.

History: Guinea fowl has been in many cultures and history for quite some time. The Egyptians domesticated them 4,000 years ago and used them as a table bird.

Color description: The Pearl Guinea fowl is a dark gray color. They are marked with spots that are white in color. They have dark toes and shanks with black markings.

Weights: Cockerel 3.5 lbs, Pullet 3 lbs

How do you take care of day old Guinea fowl?

For the first week, the keets need to be kept at a constant 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Each week after the first week, you should lower the temperature by five additional degrees. So, the brooder should be 90 degrees in the second week, 85 degrees in the third week, and so on until the brooder reaches ambient temperature.

What to expect from Guinea fowl keets?

Guinea fowl keets are cute, chirpy, curious and clumsy things that you’ll definitely need to keep an eye on, but the good news is they are so much fun to watch. They scurry about the brooder dazed, confused and excited seemingly without any sense of what they are or where they’re going.  This leaves them unfortunately prone to accident, such as dislocated legs, which often results in death if it occurs at an early age.

What do I need to know about brooders?

What is a brooder?

A brooder is essentially a safe, temperature controlled space- normally an extra-large plastic container- that your Guinea fowl keets will be able to spend the first two to six weeks of their life. Some people however renovate their chicken tractors, like the Taj Mahal, into temporary brooders, by positioning the tractor on top of a tarp indoors and inserting heat lamps inside the tractor.

What bedding is best?

Coat the floor of your brooder with newspaper or non-toxic hemp bedding. Avoid other beddings, such as sawdust, otherwise you’re Guinea fowl keets will mistake it for feed and end up with some very upset tummies.

How to keep your Guinea fowl keets warm?

The brooder needs to be kept at approximate 35 degrees Celsius, otherwise your Guinea fowl keets might get a bit cold. A carefully positioned heat lamp with a thermometer strategically placed at the bottom of the brooder is the simplest way to ensure your keets stay warm during this early period of their life. If you’re Guinea fowl keets are huddled together with their eyes closed or squinted, this is a sure sign that they are feeling cold and you will need to warm the brooder up.

How do I clean the brooder?

One of the fabulous things about Guinea fowl keets is the fact that their droppings are an easy to clean dry and powdery substance. The easiest way to clean the brooder is to relocate the baby keets to a safe place, remove the bedding, wipe down the interior of the brooder with a natural cleaner and reline the inside with fresh bedding. Extra points if you use the droppings as fertiliser for your compost.