Can I incubate these dirty guinea eggs?

[mtblankus]

UPDATE: day 8 and I candled the eggs.

12 out of 14 have significant growth.
2 are clear.
And I definitely saw 5 or 6 embryos moving.

So egg-citing! I can't wait to have more noisy little guineas!

Buckwheat! Buckwheat!

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

UPDATE: day 8 and I candled the eggs.

12 out of 14 have significant growth.
2 are clear.
And I definitely saw 5 or 6 embryos moving.

So egg-citing! I can't wait to have more noisy little guineas!

Buckwheat! Buckwheat!

Fantastic news! I’m so glad you gave them a shot. You’ll have to update with your hatch rate and what technique you used for cleaning the eggs.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

I wouldn’t call this advice. Just a anecdote.

A few years ago I purchased an adult Ameraucana hen. When I picked her up it had rained all morning. The seller offered me, for free, the eggs that were laid that day to try hatching. I got about 15+ eggs. They were completely covered in poop and mud. They were so gross I wouldn’t even put them in my truck. They rode home in the bed of the truck in a rusty #10 can.

There was no way I was incubating them as is. Since I didn’t have anything to loose I washed them directly under the faucet in warm water. Then sprayed them down with chlorhexidine disinfectant. After drying they went in the incubator.

It turned out to be a pretty good hatch! Two of my favorite hens came from it.

I don’t think you have much to loose cleaning those eggs. Or clean half and use rest others as a control group. There is a lot to be learned from trying out different techniques.

Rereading my post. Obviously I meant nothing to lose not loose. That’s why I should not do data entry on my phone.

 

[mtblankus]

UPDATE: 7 days left and ALL 12 keets are still moving in their shells! Now it's time to reread the how-to articles and get ready for hatching. So exciting!

Side note: Apparently, my guinea hen is sitting on another nest, but we haven't found it yet. She hid it really well this time and we haven't been able to follow them back to it. I see her a couple of times a day and then she's gone. Her no-good baby-daddy goes in the coop without her every night.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

UPDATE: 7 days left and ALL 12 keets are still moving in their shells! Now it's time to reread the how-to articles and get ready for hatching. So exciting!

Side note: Apparently, my guinea hen is sitting on another nest, but we haven't found it yet. She hid it really well this time and we haven't been able to follow them back to it. I see her a couple of times a day and then she's gone. Her no-good baby-daddy goes in the coop without her every night.

I'm looking forward to seeing your new babies!
Did you use cotton balls and peroxide, or just go ahead and wash them from the faucet? Just out of curiosity.

 

[mtblankus]

Ack! I woke up to a big surprise this morning. He's way early. I thought I had 2-4 days left (we're just starting day 24). No one else is even pipping.

I took the turner out and put him and the eggs on the mesh. Of course his egg tipped over and he climbed right out.

If no one else hatches, should I put him in a brooder with food and water alone? How long should I wait?

 

[mtblankus]

I'm looking forward to seeing your new babies!
Did you use cotton balls and peroxide, or just go ahead and wash them from the faucet? Just out of curiosity.

I was going to use 50/50 peroxide, but realized I had only a few drops left. So I used a cotton ball, mostly plain water, and rinsed them under a tiny stream of water.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Ack! I woke up to a big surprise this morning. He's way early. I thought I had 2-4 days left (we're just starting day 24). No one else is even pipping.

I took the turner out and put him and the eggs on the mesh. Of course his egg tipped over and he climbed right out.

If no one else hatches, should I put him in a brooder with food and water alone? How long should I wait?

If you put it in the brooder alone give it a little mirror so it doesn't feel alone.

 

[mtblankus]

And then there were two.

I guess he wasn't too much earlier than the rest. Hopefully we see the rest in a few hours.

 

[mtblankus]

I'm happy to report that of the 12 fertile eggs we had 100% hatch!

Despite dirty eggs and much stress on my part whether I intervene or not, we had a highly staggered hatch.

2 on day 24
3 on day 25
4 on day 26
1 on day 27
2 on day 29 about 30 minutes ago.

I couldn't have asked for a better result. Thank you all for your help!