Can/ Should I move her? UPDATE....Keets are arriving!

[GuineaMama]

I know that Guinea Hens make lousy moms, but I have a hen sitting on 13 eggs under the Hosta plant in my front garden. She's been there steadily since May 23 so her eggs are due to hatch this week. I really don't want to lose the keets once they hatch from her leading them off somewhere or something getting them, so I was wondering...

Could I go out late tonight after dark, take her and her eggs, move them to a 4' x 2' x 4' tank on my front porch and cover the top with chicken wire so she can't get out until the eggs hatch then move the keets to my brooder? The front porch is screened in so she would be ok there.

Or would this just make her MAD and she would refuse to sit on the eggs any longer? I don't have an incubator, and my 3 broody Silkies have just finished hatching eggs so aren't interested in that again.

 

[PeepsCA]

She'll likely go nuts, trample the eggs, kick them everywhere,abandon them etc.... and they will probably go cold and die (if you can even get her off the nest with out breaking the eggs in the struggle of her panic attack in the first place). I wouldn't risk it, especially if your main fear is her wandering off with the keets, instead of losing them all to a predator between now and when she's hatching them...

Is the hosta plant is too big to enclose in wire, netting or large cage somehow so that you can at least contain her (and the keets) until she's done hatching? If you can do that, then I'd take the next step and risk life and limb gathering all of the keets into a box/cage and moving THEM, letting their loud peeping lure her onto the porch if that's where you want to keep her/them for a while.

Guinea Hens are more apt to abandon their eggs than their hatched keets. So that's what I'd try to do if it's at all possible, being extra careful not to upset her to the point of scaring her off the nest while you are trying to cage her in. Caging her in while it's dark would be my choice, but it's hard to work quickly in the dark or just about dark.

Good luck, I've been contemplating on trying to cage one of my Hens in some how on her clutch of eggs, but it's in an impossible spot

 

[GuineaMama]

Thanks Peeps. Where her nest is under the Hosta is right next to a railroad tie at the back of that garden, and next to that is the underside of the enclosed front porch. Because of the RR tie, I can't get a cage or anything around her without the risk of her going under the porch where I couldn't get to her at all. I hadn't thought about the fact she might stomp on or damage the eggs if I tried to move her, just thought she would get mad and refuse to sit on them any longer.

At this point I will leave her where she is and try to get to the keets after they hatch. Where her nest is, I can see her every time I come or go from the front door. She doesn't mind us seeing her, talking to her or watching her, though she does peck at me if I get too close with food or water.

 

[PeepsCA]

Good luck to you, and your Hen and keets. And just to warn you, she will turn into a Tasmanian Guinea Hen Devil when you try to gather her keets, so be ready for her to attack (not just peck!) you, and have a helper to either collect the keets or hold her back... it literally takes at least 2 people!

 

[GuineaMama]

When I got home from work yesterday I saw where Mama had kicked the feed dish out of her space and there was a broken egg shell next to it. Yep! Sure enough, there is at leat one baby keet in there too. I think before nightfall that another one had hatched but I'm not sure.

At this point I'm going to leave her and the keets where she is until they all hatch and then maybe I can catch them.

Here is a pic of Mama under her hosta.

 

[JLeigh]

That's a great shot GuineaMama. Cool picture. Let us know how many keets you get. I love these stories!

 

[PeepsCA]

Yay! Congrats,

Hope she stays put so she hatches all of them... sometimes the dumb Hens get up and go parading off with the first few string early keets to hatch and leave the rest to either hatch on their own or go cold and die, so if you can, keep an eye on her.

Hmmm so day 26 huh? My Hen is on day 24 today on 11 eggs... it's getting down to the wire for her too. I'm not so lucky tho, she's not at all close to the house at all, sigh.

 

[JLeigh]

Yay! Congrats,

Hope she stays put so she hatches all of them... sometimes the dumb Hens get up and go parading off with the first few string early keets to hatch and leave the rest to either hatch on their own or go cold and die, so if you can, keep an eye on her.

Hmmm so day 26 huh? My Hen is on day 24 today on 11 eggs... it's getting down to the wire for her too. I'm not so lucky tho, she's not at all close to the house at all, sigh.

Peeps, I see a camping opportunity for you!

 

[PeepsCA]

LOL no way, it's 100°+ out there! She's got some shade where she's at, but not much of it, no room for me lol... and she doesn't want to share her nest, I already asked and got puffed up and hissed at, lol.

I just moved her off and checked the eggs, no pips or anything yet (she's really good about getting right back on them after I tell her Thank You while she's telling me what she thinks of me, lol).

I'm sorta stressing that it's too hot and dry for her to be able to hatch those keets... I will feel terrible if they die trying to hatch

And I have 2 orders to fill out of this current hatch but I might be a few keets short since one of my customers asked for a few extras, so I'm tempted to go get those eggs out of her nest, put them in my hatcher and give her some that are due a week or so later than her 11... poor Hen will be sittin' out in the heat another week and a half tho

Ugh, the joys of hatching season!

 

[GuineaMama]

Last night I didn’t get home until around 8:30. When I looked at the Guinea nest under the Hosta the only thing there was 2 eggs. No Mama, no babies.

My husband looked all around and finally found Mama under the end of the front porch all spread out like she was covering the babies.

I had him check the 2 eggs in the other nest, one was pipping, and he could hear chirping from the other so he moved them over to where Mama was and she tucked them under her wing.
GREAT! I thought she was being a GOOD Mom!

This morning after putting food and water close by so the babies would have access to it, I looked out a bit later and saw her leading 4 little ones around the yard. I went to check the nest to see if the others were there as there had originally been 13 eggs under her. The only things in the nest were the 2 eggs she tucked under her last night. I haven’t a clue what happened to the other 7 eggs.

When we left for work, Mama was leading her 4 babies around the yard showing them off to the rest of the guineas.

STUPID GUINEA! I’m crossing my fingers the other 2 eggs go ahead and hatch but I don’t have a lot of hope. It’s plenty warm here today though so they might.

I think tonight when we get home, we’re going to try to catch all the babies we can and put them in the brooder tank on the porch. At least then we will be able to keep them out of the storms that are supposed to come in tonight.