Questions about incubating Guinea Fowl Eggs!

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KatelynnRiedel

KatelynnRiedel

In the Brooder
6 Years
Mar 26, 2013
11
0
22
Swans Island, Maine
Hello I want to start off that I am new to this group, so if there is already a forum about this I am sorry.

So I have a friend of mine asking me to incubate some eggs for them. Their guineas are already laying!!!! I wish mine were :(
I have looked some of the stuff on-line but get different degrees and stuff. I was hoping that someone could tell me how to incubate guinea eggs. I have done duck eggs, but not guinea eggs. How long do they take to hatch? What temp should they be at? What humidity should they be at? I need to know everything about the incubation process. I have raised them as keets, but never incubated them. I have an automatic egg turner and my incubator has a fan. Thank you in advance for the info!
 
KatelynnRiedel said:
Hello I want to start off that I am new to this group, so if there is already a forum about this I am sorry.

So I have a friend of mine asking me to incubate some eggs for them. Their guineas are already laying!!!! I wish mine were :(
I have looked some of the stuff on-line but get different degrees and stuff. I was hoping that someone could tell me how to incubate guinea eggs. I have done duck eggs, but not guinea eggs. How long do they take to hatch? What temp should they be at? What humidity should they be at? I need to know everything about the incubation process. I have raised them as keets, but never incubated them. I have an automatic egg turner and my incubator has a fan. Thank you in advance for the info!
Click to expand...
Guinea Fowl eggs typically take 28 days of incubation at 99.5 degrees F, and I try to maintain the Humidity anywhere between 35%-45%. Lock-down should be on day 25, but you may want to candle them on day 23 and check the air cells for an obvious slant or any internal pipping, just in case some are developing faster than normal (mine typically hatch on day 26, so lock-down is day 23 or 24 for my hatches depending on how the air cells look). Be sure to raise the Humidity up to at least 65% when you lock them down... the keets need the extra moisture to be able to pip, spin in the egg and zip to hatch, especially in a forced air incubator.
 
Thank you so much for the info. One last question I know when they ducks are starting to hatch you see their bills and the air cell is very slanted. Will I see the beaks of the keets when they are getting ready to hatch to know to put them on lock down? or should I just do it on day 25?
 
Yes, you should see beaks (internal pip) and the slanted air cells. But if not day 25 is usually the norm for lock-down, (depending on the brand of incubator). I use Hovabator 1588s, and my hatches are always a day or 2 early.
 
Sorry to interject but I'm getting my first guinea eggs next week, and I'm at high altitude.. I am planning on having humidity around 45% and then upping it to 65% and candling when it comes close to time. Does that sound okay? I have pretty awful hatch rates when I hatch so I'm hoping this year will end up a bit better.
 
Mmmaddie13 said:
Sorry to interject but I'm getting my first guinea eggs next week, and I'm at high altitude.. I am planning on having humidity around 45% and then upping it to 65% and candling when it comes close to time. Does that sound okay? I have pretty awful hatch rates when I hatch so I'm hoping this year will end up a bit better.
Click to expand...
The humidity sounds good to me, but I'm only at about 1150-1200 ft elevation (and I have really low humidity here)... have hatched somewhere close to 2000 keets.

Guinea eggs are pretty forgiving, but hopefully someone that lives and incubates Guinea eggs at high elevation will have some input if anything needs a little tweaking.

What kind of incubator are you using?
 
Ok I have a really stupid newbie question lol! This will be my first year with maturing guinea hens (I got them as keets last spring). I'm hoping to be able to incubate their eggs which will be a first for me. I know the cycle is generally 28 days.....but do we put the eggs in the incubator as soon as we find them, or can we collect a few and start incubating in batches? If so, how many days can we keep them before we start the incubation period and I'm assuming we would keep them at room temp?

Thanks for the help! Sorry if its a duh question!
smile.png


Vicki
 
I know that for chicken eggs, the hatchability generally starts really decreasing after it sits for 7 days. You don't want to put them in the incubator as soon as you get them because you'll have a staggered hatch and that's not a good idea because of the humidity needs at specific days. I wouldn't keep them at room temperature, but just below. If you have a basement that is cooler than the rest of the house, you should keep them there. Don't forget to "turn" them every day. The easiest way to do that is to put them in a carton when you collect them, prop up one side of the carton (the long side) on the edge of a book or something, and at LEAST once a day switch which side is propped up. I've never collected eggs for a hatch, I always buy online, but this is what I've heard.
 

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