BYC Guinea hen club

[MelissaZeno]

Is it better to brood guineas in a brooder instead of under a hen?

 

[margaret8]

Is it better to brood guineas in a brooder instead of under a hen?

Yep they are not the best mothers! They have a tendency to run off and leave their keets!

 

[MelissaZeno]

Can hens hatch guinea eggs?

 

[YARDBYRD]

They can be bullies..small numbers are better...but they are good watch dogs. . Good eating if nothing else... I have 6..4 pearl and 2 lavender..talking all the time..

 

[margaret8]

Can hens hatch guinea eggs?

Actually they hatch rather well. They just make lousy mothers unless you have them penned up where they can not run off and leave the babies!

 

[margaret8]

They can be bullies..small numbers are better...but they are good watch dogs. . Good eating if nothing else... I have 6..4 pearl and 2 lavender..talking all the time..

I have 44 you talk about noise when they see a predator or somebody comes up. I also know when they want back in their pen to eat! They get rather impatient when they are hungery!

 

[YARDBYRD]

I really like them..can't wait to see if they hatch some of their eggs.

 

[cicilianb97]

is it a good idea to put guinea eggs under a chicken and have that chicken hen raise the guinea keets

 

[cicilianb97]

because you say they make bad mothers so i was wondering if a chicken mother could raise them

 

[R2elk]

because you say they make bad mothers so i was wondering if a chicken mother could raise them

Normally chicken hens make better mothers than guinea hens because they don't tend to have the wanderlust that guinea hens have.

Here is my chicken hen with her hatch. I had given her 10 guinea eggs and on day 26 she hatched all 10 eggs.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/699789/wyoming-unite/310#post_13926784

Even guinea hens can be good mothers under the right circumstances. They are definitely very protective of their keets but they need to be confined to an area where they can be prevented from dragging the keets through wet grass.