Broody Guinea Fowl

[NickiV]

Lol- @R2elk Himself was so proud when he made the sculpty eggs, and they do draw the hens to the nest. Then they promptly kick them out of the nest.
Everyone gets to come out during the winter & early spring, as long as I'm out there with them. But when it's nesting time, the girls go on lockdown in the run until they establish nesting routines. I have a.m. & p.m. layers. Once lockdown is over, the a.m. layers will opt not to come out until later in the morning, though the door is open. In the afternoon, the pm layers come running for the coop. Once they've layed an egg, they can come back out if they want. We have our afternoon quiet time when they'll find a sun spot and clean up before taking a nap, & the boys join them for this. This is my favorite time of day, working in the garden or just reading a book, surrounded by quiet chattering and nest songs instead of the loud clammer that goes on the rest of the day.
I've had wild nests before; one was in my garden and very successful. She's the only one who survived doing so. There's always that one that slips by me and starts a nest in the garden. I found one the other day, removed the eggs, she came back, looked at the nest, looked at me, plopped back on it and deposited another egg. Yeah...she's going to need a little longer in lock down.

Lol- @R2elk Himself was so proud when he made the sculpty eggs, and they do draw the hens to the nest. Then they promptly kick them out of the nest.
Everyone gets to come out during the winter & early spring, as long as I'm out there with them. But when it's nesting time, the girls go on lockdown in the run until they establish nesting routines. I have a.m. & p.m. layers. Once lockdown is over, the a.m. layers will opt not to come out until later in the morning, though the door is open. In the afternoon, the pm layers come running for the coop. Once they've layed an egg, they can come back out if they want. We have our afternoon quiet time when they'll find a sun spot and clean up before taking a nap, & the boys join them for this. This is my favorite time of day, working in the garden or just reading a book, surrounded by quiet chattering and nest songs instead of the loud clammer that goes on the rest of the day.
I've had wild nests before; one was in my garden and very successful. She's the only one who survived doing so. There's always that one that slips by me and starts a nest in the garden. I found one the other day, removed the eggs, she came back, looked at the nest, looked at me, plopped back on it and deposited another egg. Yeah...she's going to need a little longer in lock down.

I really like that idea! About how long do you have to keep them in lock down? Do you provide some kind of favorable nesting set up in your run for them?

 

[judyc]

I have a broody guinea in one of my barns right now. She started by laying in a nest filled with eggs from my dark Brahma. I would steal the guinea eggs but leave the chicken eggs. Now that she has gone broody, the poor Brahma is forced to lay nearby. The guinea will not share the nest. Other than possibly one or two guinea eggs, she is incubating a nest full of Brahma eggs.

 

[Sydney65]

1

I have a broody guinea in one of my barns right now. She started by laying in a nest filled with eggs from my dark Brahma. I would steal the guinea eggs but leave the chicken eggs. Now that she has gone broody, the poor Brahma is forced to lay nearby. The guinea will not share the nest. Other than possibly one or two guinea eggs, she is incubating a nest full of Brahma eggs.

that's a quandry. Guinea are often communal layers, cramming together to brood on one nest. I don't have chickens, so don't know if they do the same. But, they aren't the same birds, & have heard guinea will bully chickens. Though I've heard chickens raise guinea successfully, I'm not sure if the same is true in reverse. Mb swap out the chicken eggs with fake eggs when the guinea goes off the nest?

 

[Sydney65]

I really like that idea! About how long do you have to keep them in lock down? Do you provide some kind of favorable nesting set up in your run for them?

The best way to assure a guinea WON'T nest somewhere is to plan for it. Most of mine lay under the drop boards where they're shielded, can see out but out of the traffic flow. Type of bedding is less significant than cleanliness. I change out the hemp every spring in time for laying season. As for how long, I've never really timed it. It coincides with our rainy season, and since I'm not hanging out in thunderstorms & they aren't out of run w/o me, it just kind of works out most of the time that nests will be formed after 3-4 days of inclement weather. There's always the persistent ones.

 

[NickiV]

The best way to assure a guinea WON'T nest somewhere is to plan for it. Most of mine lay under the drop boards where they're shielded, can see out but out of the traffic flow. Type of bedding is less significant than cleanliness. I change out the hemp every spring in time for laying season. As for how long, I've never really timed it. It coincides with our rainy season, and since I'm not hanging out in thunderstorms & they aren't out of run w/o me, it just kind of works out most of the time that nests will be formed after 3-4 days of inclement weather. There's always the persistent ones.

Thanks! I'll give that a try.

 

[judyc]

1

that's a quandry. Guinea are often communal layers, cramming together to brood on one nest. I don't have chickens, so don't know if they do the same. But, they aren't the same birds, & have heard guinea will bully chickens. Though I've heard chickens raise guinea successfully, I'm not sure if the same is true in reverse. Mb swap out the chicken eggs with fake eggs when the guinea goes off the nest?

That's a good idea, but I've yet to catch her off the nest. I would substitute guinea eggs from another nest.

 

[red horse ranch]

I know about leaving a few eggs to keep them laying the same spot I'm mostly concerned about a guinea that has already laid enough unfound eggs to go broody and is no longer coming in at night. At that point I'd rather have her abandon the nest than refuse to go in the coop.

Can you tell me more about the fake eggs though? If I do find a nest in time to leave some decoy eggs, where is a good place to source fake eggs? Does something need to be done to clean them so they don't smell tampered with?

You were asking about fake guinea eggs, I use the real thing.... When the guineas start laying in the spring I leave 4 or 5 of their eggs in the nest. But I will use a magic marker to make a round spot on the pointed end of the egg. The female will usually lay eggs for 2 or 3 months before going broody and the eggs aren't going to hatch when they are over a month or two old. But they will go back to that nest to lay every day. I always take any fresh eggs to eat and leave the spotted ones..
By the way I use a broom to push the guinea off the nest. They are protective when they are broody but they will mostly be mad at the broom. And they let the whole world know how mad they are. Cover your ears

 

[judyc]

You were asking about fake guinea eggs, I use the real thing.... When the guineas start laying in the spring I leave 4 or 5 of their eggs in the nest. But I will use a magic marker to make a round spot on the pointed end of the egg. The female will usually lay eggs for 2 or 3 months before going broody and the eggs aren't going to hatch when they are over a month or two old. But they will go back to that nest to lay every day. I always take any fresh eggs to eat and leave the spotted ones..
By the way I use a broom to push the guinea off the nest. They are protective when they are broody but they will mostly be mad at the broom. And they let the whole world know how mad they are. Cover your ears

Good to know about the broom. Thank you. I have two broody guineas sharing the nest. I intend to use a fishing net when they hatch out the keets, but a broom might be good, too.

 

[R2elk]

Good to know about the broom. Thank you. I have two broody guineas sharing the nest. I intend to use a fishing net when they hatch out the keets, but a broom might be good, too.

I just used a long stick and the broody guineas would attack the end of the stick viciously when I moved them off of their nests and back into the coop.