can I trick my guinea hen to going broody?

[OHSpartan]

I recently got 1 adult male and female guinea to help me replace the keets I lost to predator slaughter. My plan was to incubate some of the eggs, but for a few reasons, I won't get to that until late this fall and may miss this laying season all together.

I understand that several guinea hens lay in the same nest, and when 20-40 eggs are in the nest, one of the hens goes broody. Since 1 hen's eggs would spoil before she got that many, I was wondering if I could trick her into sitting on 6-7 of her eggs and a bunch of golf balls. I'm thinking I would add 1-2 golf balls per day at first, then up that to 5-6 later in the week. Her 6 eggs, plus 20-30 golf balls might prompt her to go broody before the first eggs start to rot.

If this trick has a 50-50 chance of working, I might try it. If it stands no chance, I'll collect the eggs for omlettes until I can manage the incubator.

This would be a perfect time to do it because they are currently in a coop/run during their "6-week re-home" process and are safe, snug and secure. Plus, after the keets hatch, I will have time for them to grow before it starts to get really cold here in Ohio.

She built her nest by scratching a 8" wide, 4" deep circle directly in the dirt and occassionally covers her egg with dirt and straw.

 

[PeepsCA]

I have never tried that, but it may work. I would say there is a 50/50 chance. With my Hens, broodiness seems to be brought on by the number of eggs the Hen has actually laid, not by the visual of what's in the nest. But not everyone's Hens tick like mine do, so if all you have to lose is a couple weeks worth of breakfast eggs... then I'd give it a try. Be extra careful about not letting her see you mess with her eggs/nest because that may cause her to abandon them. Also, she may be smarter than you think and kick the golf balls out of the nest, lol, so using some brown chicken eggs may work better.

Good luck, post back after you give it a try and let us know if it works.

 

[OHSpartan]

Also, she may be smarter than you think"

Not a normal accusation for guinea...

 

[OHSpartan]

so my hen rolls like yours, Peeps, and her broodiness is based on how many she's laid, then I may just leave them until she goes broody. If it takes her 20-30 eggs then I will likely lose several, but may get 10-15 keets instead of 6-7.

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote: LOL no

but most of my Hens do seem to have a little more grey matter than the males do, and they also tend to retain it year round and not lose it during breeding season!

 

[PeepsCA]

so my hen rolls like yours, Peeps, and her broodiness is based on how many she's laid, then I may just leave them until she goes broody. If it takes her 20-30 eggs then I will likely lose several, but may get 10-15 keets instead of 6-7.

Good plan... and probably your best bet for hatching keets.

 

[OHSpartan]

I was looking at the calendar...I have some vacation coming up. I will let the eggs pile up a week or two before vacation, tell the house-sitter not to collect the eggs during that time and see what happens. Hopefully I come home to ugly scowls and dirty looks from a broody hen and proud papa.

 

[Trefoil]

You might be further ahead borrowing a broody hen from someone. Guineas aren't usually great mothers.

 

[OHSpartan]

Dually noted. I will try to bring my keets up to the brooding box (tames them just a bit too). If I can't get them away from mama, then I will make sure she doesn't get out of the coop to drag them through wet Ohio grass on cool fall mornings.

 

[OHSpartan]

Well PeepsCA, you were right. The golf ball trick didn't work. She drove the fairway longer than I do....

I will start letting the egg build up such that she is going brooding in the early fall. Here's hoping.