Broody guinea fowl?!

[wullus]

We free-range our guinea fowl, and yesterday found a nest my mum's garden with about 15~25 eggs in it. Well, I went out there this morning, and yep, the guinea fowl is sitting on it and has been for ages.

What I'm worried about is a fox getting in and killing her at night. She is in a very good hiding place, but would it be good if I moved one of our dogs, so it is tied up near the guinea hen, out of reach so that it can't disturb her, but close enough so it can bark at a fox and scare it away, if one were to come nearby.

Would that be a good idea? Our dogs don't really worry our chickens. Well, some of them anyway haha

Thanks

 

[PeepsCA]

Might work, but it might not stop the most determined predators even if the dog is at the end of it's chain going nuts, especially when the keets are just about to hatch, or in the process of hatching. Is there any way you can build a decent sized wire enclosure that you could set down over the Hen and nest? (I would set it down over her at night, to make sure she doesn't immediately get off the eggs and want out). Whatever you build needs to be good sized so she does not feel contained, panic and abandon the nest tho. A door on it that you could open during the day so she can get up to go eat drink poop, and then get closed up in at night would be a good idea. I think the combo of an enclosure and the dog would greatly increase the chances of her hatching out her keets... plus it will keep the keets contained and safe once they do hatch.