Shortly after my husband and I moved to our 5-acre slice of heaven, I saw the most amazing sight. While looking out in our field, I was startled to see odd-looking polka-dotted birds wandering through the tall grass. I stared for a little while at them trying to figure out what on earth they could be.

Were they some kind of wild turkey? Were they vultures? What on earth were these basketball-shaped birds that moved at amazingly fast speeds for their rotund shape?

As it turns out, they were guinea fowl. I was immediately intrigued and wanted to learn more. I found that guinea fowl are very beneficial to farm life. Unlike chickens, they do not scratch or eat established plants. That isn’t to say they won’t have a sample now and then, but they prefer the insects, grasses and seeds to the plants.

As I read more, I learned that they kill snakes, eat ticks, and, when allowed to free range, are fairly self-sufficient in terms of feed. I was hooked! I wanted my own flock to help me with gardening and pest control.

Last year I got my first guineas as day-old keets. I raised them with day-old chicks. They were quite adorable, I must say.

They grew up healthy and happy. Then, this spring, two of my Guineas had five offspring.

They came out chipper and looking like their mommy and daddy. One went to my neighbor, and we kept the other four.

Having raised keets already, we used our original setup to raise our second group. We did everything the same … almost. I will explain more on the change in routine later.

I was surprised to see around 10 days of age my keets started walking oddly. They were walking on their haunches. It would be like humans walking on their knees with their feet out in front of them at a ninety degree angle. I also noticed at this same time they were sometimes sleeping with their legs stretched out. I did not have much experience raising keets, but I knew this was not normal behavior.

I began frantically searching Google and posting on forums for causes and cures. I read it was possible that wire floors could make them start walking funny. I tried making “Hobble Braces” out of band-aids to see if it helped. However, I saw no improvement.

I then checked possible diseases. I came up with possibly botulism or a vitamin/mineral deficiency. My instincts said it was a deficiency, since they had started off very perky and alert. Since there were so many possibilities, I was not having great luck finding the elixir for my birds. I went to my local pet store and bought vitamin/mineral supplements for their water. However, their condition did not improve.

I thought back to what I had changed from the first group of keets the previous year and realized I had different feed. I normally feed organic chick starter, but I had some game bird starter I had just purchased while bird-sitting my neighbor’s poults. I had thought it might be nice to start with the higher protein feed in game bird starter since I had just purchased some and had some left over. However, I decided, this may not have been a wise decision.

While not conclusive, I further validated my suspicion when I spoke to my neighbor who had my other keet, and she said it was happy and healthy. She makes her own feed, ground daily.

As I was trying my cures, valuable time was passing. I had changed back to my organic chick starter, but the keets were looking listless. I lost my first keet within a couple of days of the first symptoms. A second keet’s health was declining rapidly. I had posted on forums but the responses focused on hobble braces.

I then remembered a woman in Burnet, Texas, who specializes in raising guineas. I immediately contacted April with H and H Poultry and received a prompt response from her:

"This [condition] is very common in Guineas. It is a vitamin deficiency. Can you please try some Red Cell? The deficiency is selenium (vitamin E). In the summer, when it is very, very hot, feed goes through a loss in selenium because the oils in the soy have a tendency to go rancid, much like grocery store vegetable oil does. ... Additionally, commercial feeds are heat processed. Heat causes oil to be unstable. ... Red Cell is for horses but can be used at the same strength for keets. … [Another good remedy is] wheat or wheat berries ground up fresh and fed to them. Also, wheat germ from the grocery store [can help]. The vitamins in the water are [useful]. You can't reverse the problem but you can stop any more from having problems. Sometimes they will live through it and straighten out a bit and do okay as adults. "

I hurried out to the grocery store and bought wheat germ to get started. I also snipped open Vitamin E capsules and dipped the tip of the keets’ beaks in the oil. Keets can be testy, but these were more willing to accept the treatment in their weakened state. I planned on getting some Red Cell the next day from the feed store.

I was amazed at the change in health within 24 hours. The two remaining keets (1 died the morning of the initial treatments) looked like new birds. They were chipper, alert, and walking on their feet, not their haunches. While this may be old hat for seasoned farm people, this was a miracle to me!

It has been another day since the miracle transformation. I have no guarantees that the keets will survive, but I have great hope based on what I have witnessed. While I wish I had stayed with my chick starter feed, I am hoping my sharing of this experience will help others learn from my mistake. You cannot underestimate the importance of good nutrition.

We Texans may be babies when it comes to cold, but we know how to handle heat. Well, usually we do.

This year has been a brutal summer with little relief in sight. We are in extreme drought conditions. We already have had triple digit Fahrenheit temperatures for 26 days – and summer is just getting started. We may get some possible relief from La Niña, but that is not likely until late fall.

At least most Texans can escape the heat in air conditioning in their cars, in stores, or at home. But what about the chickens?

It’s been quite sad to see the recent surge in chicken obits posted on the backyard poultry forums in my area. It has been indiscriminating as to the forum poster – some seasoned chicken owners, others new.

I had been concerned about my flock and had already tried some serious measures. If I could have A/C, I thought, I wanted them to, as well. I started bringing my flock in and putting them in large dog crates in our sun room. Between the chickens, dogs, and cat, not to mention the turkey poults from babysitting, the room looked – and honestly, smelled – a bit like an indoor barnyard. Further, cleaning the crates regularly was a bit impractical for my schedule. I quickly realized this wasn’t going to be a practical longer-term solution, so I started thinking about what else I could do to keep my chickens cool.

My birds free-range, but they do go to their coop for laying eggs, eating, and roosting in the evening. Here are my steps for a cooler coop:

1) Secure the coop shade cloth but made sure it allowed air through the wire.

2) Remove any heat-retaining litter such as hay. Cool down soil with water to allow the chickens to dig down for relief.

3) Purchase and attach small clip-on fans to the inside of the coop. For $10, the fans have been quite handy and durable, with strong clips and adjustable heads. I can also point these fans toward the roost in the evening to give them an extra breeze.

4) Keep the water cool by keeping it out of direct sun and occasionally adding ice cubes.

In the daytime, the chickens are able to get under my house deck very easily. They prefer to hang out there during the peak heat hours, so I’ve set up a day camp to help out.

1) Prepare daily ice jugs from Ziploc quart cylinders and any recyclables around. I scatter these under the deck so that the chickens can stand by or lay on them.

2) Spray down the ground around mid-morning. With the full shade, the ground stays wet throughout the critical hours.

3) Turn on a large vortex fan. The chickens, and even the guineas, love to get in front of it to cool down.

4) Supply additional waterers with iced water under the deck. The birds love sipping on this throughout the day. It seems to pep them up.

The birds have looked better overall. They still pant at times, but they forage and seem to find relief in this setup.

For those of you who do have the room and inclination to bring your flock inside during the hottest time of the day, here is a creative solution. Again, this is a short-term setup to keep the birds cool for a few hours, not a permanent coop. Special thanks to Lori Bausman from Austin for the following idea that is lightweight, and offers easy cleanup and storage.

Supplies

• 1 small 3 foot diameter dog/baby pool (Petsmart, $9)
• 10 feet of 24 inch high poultry wire (HomeDepot $7, you'll have a little extra)
•  Zip ties and a hula hoop that we had on hand

Instructions:

1. Bend the poultry wire into a circle that fits inside the pool and zip tied together.

2. Wedge the hula hoop inside the wire circle for stability. The high sides of the pool provide a little extra protection for the bathroom floor - and the pool is easy to rinse out at the end of the day. So, the pool is the floor, the wire is the walls with a hula hoop for stability, and you can put the chickens in and out through the open top.

3. Place a plastic top that goes to a large bin on top in case the chickens decide to fly out. You could also use a 2nd pool as a lid.

Hope you and your birds stay cool this summer!