48 PARADISE VALLEY POULTRY RANCH 



NATURAL BROODING OF GUINEA CHICKS 



Ordinary hens make the best mothers for guinea chicks. Given warm, 

 dry weather and plenty of range, turkey and guinea hens can be used suc- 

 cessfully, but should a rain or heavy dew occur, the mother turkey or 

 guinea hen is apt to drag the chicks thru the wet grass and many are lost 

 from becoming wet and chilled. Neither turkey nor guinea hens can be 

 induced to seek the shelter of a coop at night and during storms, but will 

 remain out in the fields to hover their broods wherever they happen to be 

 when nightfall overtakes them. When the guineas are old enough to roost 

 they can be trained to roost wherever desired by driving them to the 

 roosting place and feeding them there regularly. After the first few nights 

 they will come to the place themselves, but until they are old enough to 

 roost many of the young guineas that are being raised with turkey or 

 guinea hens are likely to be killed by exposure to cold and dampness, or by 

 being led over so wild a range that they become exhausted and are un- 

 able to keep up with the remainder of the flock. 



If ordinary hens are used as mothers, it is very easy to raise a large 

 percentage of the total number of guinea chicks hatched. Each hen that 

 is to have a brood should be allowed to hatch out some of the eggs herself, 

 after which she will mother all that are given her. A Plymouth Rock hen 

 can care for eighteen easily. After the hatch is completed and the chicks 

 are strong enough to leave the nest, the hen and brood are ready to be 

 removed to the coop provided for them. The greatest fault of the hen as 

 a mother is that on the average farm she has become accustomed to stay- 

 ing about the barnyard, and if allowed to do so, she will keep her guinea 

 chicks there also. Conditions about the barnyard are entirely unsuited 

 for raising guineas, and to prevent the hen keeping them there the coop 

 should be placed in a distant pasture or field. Here the hen should be in- 

 duced to remain until the guineas are old enough to go to roost. 



For the first two days the hen should be confined to the coop, allowing 

 the chicks to run in and out at will. They will not stay away unless there 

 is another brood near by, which they are apt to join. After the first few 

 days the chicks become so attached to their foster mother that they will 

 never leave her. By the third day the hen will have recognized the coop 

 as her home and can have free range without fear of her wandering far 

 away. At night she will return to the coop with her brood and can be shut 

 in to protect her from foxes or any other night prowlers. After the dew 

 is off the grass in the morning the coop can be opened and the hen and 

 her brood allowed free range again. Should a rain come up they can 

 easily be driven to the coop and the chicks will be kept warm and dry. 

 The coop should be rain proof and built without a floor. If it is moved a 

 short distance every day, the ground beneath it is kept fresh and clean. 



LICE 



Hens to be used in brooding guinea chicks should first be completely 

 freed from lice. This can be done by dusting them with some good lice 

 powder at the time they are set, and repeating once a week during the 

 period of incubation. Guineas are less likely to have lice than common 

 fowl, but when they are raised with hens care should be taken to keep 

 them from becoming infested. Examine the young chicks about the head 

 and along the wing bar at the base of the quill feathers, and if lice are 

 found grease these parts lightly with lard. As the guineas grow older they 

 take great delight in dusting themselves and usually are able to keep 

 free from lice. 



FEEDING 



Guineas are fed in much the same way as chickens, but they require 

 less feed, as they are natural rangers and can be trusted to find enough 

 seeds of weeds and grasses, buds, insects, and green vegetation in the 

 fields to supply much of their living. For the first thirty-six hours after 



