Guinea hen gone broody

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sbolevic

sbolevic

Chirping
7 Years
Jan 2, 2013
233
2
73
the TARDIS
One of my two guinea hens has been away from the coop at night time, but she has come back in the day. Is she going broody? If so, then why does she come back in the day? Help?
P.S. This has gone on for two nights now.
 
She has a nest, so follow her (around the time she usually disappears). But be sneaky about it. She'll lead you to it, or the general direction you need to look. She's not far from going full-on broody, so you need to find the nest soon or you may not see her for the next 26-28 days... or ever again if a predator gets her.
 
No, if you move it/her she will most likely abandon the eggs, Guinea Hens are way different than broody chickens in that aspect and will not hesitate to give up on a clutch of eggs if they feel it has been messed with and is no longer safe to sit on their eggs. You might be able to get away with closing her in on the nest, depending on where it is... but it needs to be Fort Knox to keep her safe from predators (and the eggs/keets too). I'd suggest building something well away from where she can see you, then quietly and gently set it down over her at night. Something you can open up and shut each AM and PM would be be ideal. Some Guinea Hens don't tolerate being closed in or any changes being made to/around their nest, or even any increased activity or traffic around their nest either tho... so there is a big risk in making her abandon the nest with any or all of your efforts to save her and her eggs. If you want keets from these eggs, gather them, destroy the nest and put a long or large rock in it so she will not use it again and then get those eggs into an incubator ASAP.
 
I was going to follow the guinea hen, but she left at a time she usually doesn't. I'm worried she has her nest really deep in the woods, and i wasn't able to find anything.
hmm.png
 
If you can call your birds for treats, and they will come running when you call them or shake the feed scoop then you can try that off and on thru the day and see if she comes too... then watch where she comes from or sneaks off to. A nest deep in the woods is bad, no matter how well she thinks she is hidden... she and her eggs are just sitting ducks waiting to be taken by a predator
hmm.png
 
I found the nest!!!
big_smile.png
It was not that far from the coop at all, and the area looked pretty safe. We were not really looking for more guineas in the first place, so if they don't hatch, it wouldn't be SUCH a disappointment (although i would still be disappointed). Also, the nest had a lot of different colored eggs in it, so I think the guinea is sitting on some chicken eggs too.
 
Glad you found it, and it's not too far away... and hope she stays safe/alive long enough to hatch out her keets and anything else she's sitting on in that nest lol. You can always sell whatever hatches if you don't want to increase your flock. Try not to disturb her or let her see you around the nest too much or she may end up abandoning it... then the nest hunt starts all over again, lol. Good luck!
 
Thanks. I was wondering, the guinea hen's mate is sitting on the nest with her, is that unusual? Not that it's a big deal or anything, but i was just curios.
 

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