Oh NO, I'm getting the itch again! Using a guinea????

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I went egg crazy in the spring and early summer and hatched hundreds of baby chicks....lots of them came from members on here

I found my guinea hen today on about 30 eggs outside. They are all bad because she has no guinea roo. She is my only guinea. Can I use her to incubate like a broody hen? Get her some eggs to put under her and let her raise them???

Or should I stick to my trusty broody game hen and my incubator???

 

[Marlinchaser]

Depends where she is, if she is outside, and let her know that you know where the nest is and she may no longer stay broody. Guineas are noted for not being the best moms, I have never had one stay broody. They are all but impossible to move to a safe place, once you desturb them, they are quick to quite being broody.

 

[mulia24]

I found my guinea hen today on about 30 eggs outside. They are all bad because she has no guinea roo. She is my only guinea

how can you incubate/let the guinea broody? you even don't have a male guinea, so the eggs are infertile and you want to hatch them, that's impossible.

 

[shelleyd2008]

My hen hatched 9 keets early this summer, then lost everyone of them within a month. I wouldn't use a guinea hen as a broody.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
They want to get fertile eggs to swap with the infertile ones

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Really? Well, she doesn't live in a coop. She just lives outside all the time and usually roosts in the trees. I did disturb her when I found her today...so I could see how many eggs she had. So, I will see if she is back on the nest tomorrow or if she has abandoned it. She did have it in a very well hidden spot.

I would be content just to leave her nest where it is and slip some good eggs for her to hatch........

I was hoping they had a good reputation for brooding/mothering....

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Quote:
No, you aren't understanding....I want to get some fertile chicken eggs for her to hatch for me

 

[mulia24]

well, i understand it after shellyd explained it.

 

[fishman65]

I had 2 guinea hens hatch out over 50 keets this year. i let them both keep 5 keets each. one mom was killed by a predator along with all her keets but the other one still has 4 out of 5 keets still alive. her mate is no longer around, predator got him i guess. so they do go broody and they are ok moms. just don't bother her and she will do ok.

 

[Akane]

Guineas are pretty poor parents and with her sitting outside there are high odds she'll get killed by something or scared off the nest. I wouldn't spend money on eggs to trust them to a guinea unless I had a proven setter confined to a building or pen. Usually people don't even use their guineas to hatch more keets. If they do manage to hatch some you'll end up having to take the chicks/keets away because they almost always lose them all.