Guineas one year old! Breeding questions

[Bicoastal]

My guinea confusion has made it their first year! We have a nest inside the coop! How did I get so lucky??!!

So now what? I gather up errant eggs and add them to the pile because I want to encourage the hens to continue to lay in such a convenient and safe location. Will someone start sitting soon? How long can I leave the eggs sitting there before problems?

I'd like to hatch some keets. I have no idea how to get started. The hatching subforum under Chickens is rather overwhelming.

If I'd like to breed a specific color group, how long do I need to confine the trio until we'll have fertile eggs?

I know @R2elk , all easy questions for you! Thank you for taking the time to help out all the newbies in their first breeding season. The behavior has really been interesting. I absolutely see the reason for your frequent advice to NOT mix chickens with guineas. That would not end well for the chickens.

The guinea addiction is a slippery slope... here I am wanting the next generation.

 

[R2elk]

If I'd like to breed a specific color group, how long do I need to confine the trio until we'll have fertile eggs?

I separate my chickens into breeding groups for two weeks before I start collecting eggs to incubate. I see no reason the same timing wouldn't work for guineas.

I'd like to hatch some keets. I have no idea how to get started.

Get an incubator. Not all guinea hens will go broody. Incubating guinea eggs is pretty much the same as chicken eggs except for the timing. Guinea eggs can tolerate a little higher humidity than chicken eggs during the incubation process.

I know people who have done well incubating guinea eggs at 50% humidity. I try for mid 30% range when I incubate them.

Guinea eggs under normal circumstances will hatch from day 26 through day 28.

So now what? I gather up errant eggs and add them to the pile because I want to encourage the hens to continue to lay in such a convenient and safe location. Will someone start sitting soon? How long can I leave the eggs sitting there before problems?

I would collect the errant eggs and store for the incubator. I have collected guinea eggs fro as long as 21 days without any hatching problems.

Only the guinea hens know when they will decide to go broody.

Good luck.

 

[Bicoastal]

I separate my chickens into breeding groups for two weeks before I start collecting eggs to incubate. I see no reason the same timing wouldn't work for guineas.

Guinea eggs under normal circumstances will hatch from day 26 through day 28.

I would collect the errant eggs and store for the incubator. I have collected guinea eggs fro as long as 21 days without any hatching problems.

Thank you, R2elk! Incubator is purchased. I will collect errant eggs. How do I store them? I saw mention of a cooler in the Incubating/Hatching subforum. I will explore more there. It's a bit hard because we have guineas, not chickens, and folks are posting that you can't specify what humidity works for everyone all around the country/world. I'm in central VA, plenty of natural humidity most days.
I will follow your advice about your humidity setting and anticipated days to incubate. Following your advice has served my guineas well!

 

[R2elk]

Thank you, R2elk! Incubator is purchased. I will collect errant eggs. How do I store them? I saw mention of a cooler in the Incubating/Hatching subforum. I will explore more there. It's a bit hard because we have guineas, not chickens, and folks are posting that you can't specify what humidity works for everyone all around the country/world. I'm in central VA, plenty of natural humidity most days.
I will follow your advice about your humidity setting and anticipated days to incubate. Following your advice has served my guineas well!

If you are going to collect them for 14 days or less, standard method of storing in a carton, big end up and alternating which end of the carton is elevated will work. Changing which end is up is recommended to be 3 times per day. The reason for the odd number is so that the same end is not in the same position multiple nights in a row.