Can't find my Guinea Eggs

[junkinstuff]

When my Guineas were cooped at night they always laid their eggs in the pen before I let them out in the morning. Now they roost in a tall tree next to my pen at night. I have not found one egg since then. I live on 600 acres but they only range about 3 acres of it. I have searched everywhere and have not come upon an egg. Not one! I would really love to incubate them, but I don't want to pen them up. Where do your Guineas lay their eggs?

 

[MuranoFarms]

I usually follow them around a bit and see where they hang out, then come back later and search for nests. They lay under fallen branches, in thick grasses, in the hay stack, under the shed...etc.

Good luck!

 

[PeepsCA]

If they come running when you call them for food/treats then try doing that on and off thru the day, like 10AM 1PM, 4 PM... watch where they come from and wander back to each time. That may at least help you narrow your search down to a certain area. Hens can be very sneaky/secretive about where they hide their nests and you may have already walked by a nest of eggs 10 times without even knowing it.

This time of year they like shady places that help keep the eggs cooler and a lot of the times when the Hens hunker down on their eggs they become invisible in the shade and low vegetation cover, so sometimes their white heads are all that give them away. I have literally stumbled (and almost stepped on) many of my Hens on piles of eggs over the years, when I had just walked by there earlier in the day, (and the previous 5 days, lol).

Most of my Hens (but not all) will make a weird 5-6 syllable drawn out "I just laid an egg cackle/call" that I can hear if I am outside watering, feeding, gardening etc... so I try to figure out the direction the sound comes from and head that direction to search. Occasionally I get lucky and more than one Hen will share the same nest so I'll get to hear the call 2-3 times and really hone in on where they are.

Sometimes when I am out nest hunting the the Hen's mate will either be sitting close by her while she's laying her egg in the nest, or he's standing tall and yelling at you when you get too close, but once she's gone broody he usually rejoins the flock and doesn't spend much time at the nesting spot. At least that's the norm in my flocks. I have has some males stick by the Hen thru the entire process.

Good luck with your nest hunting, hope you find the eggs soon before predator gets them (and your Hens).

 

[junkinstuff]

Thanks guys. I have been looking.....and following..... and listening and still can't find them. They never go to the same place twice. They have a normal route they take around the property but there is just so much brush, woods, barns that they frequent I have a feeling it will be pure luck if I ever find another one. I am having fun trying!
















A mix of young and old.

 

[JLeigh]

Here's an option for you if you want to collect and incubate eggs, and another option if you want to find the nest without combing 3-4 acres of underbrush to collect the eggs.

Keep them penned until you find out when they lay their eggs. Go out every hour or so (couple of hours...whatever works for you) and see if they layed an egg. I went out at 10 a.m., then 11 a.m, 12...and so on until I found an egg. I did that for two days until I was sure she was laying at the same time every day. Mine layed her egg between (and I'm not kidding) 2:30 and 2:45 every day. It took about 3 days to get that info.

So, you can leave them penned until the egg is layed, and then let them out to free-range,

OR -

You can figure out when the hens lay eggs and hold them in the pen until about 10 -15 minutes before that time and then let them out. Be prepared to trek through brush, because the odds are she's going to go straight to the nest. Mine did. I almost had to run to keep up. Once I found the nest, I took several and left three (mark them so you don't pick up old eggs). Then I could let them out in the morning to free-range all day, and go pick up the newly layed egg from the nest at about 3:00 when they were long gone for the afternoon.

But be warned. I saw the male hanging around but even then it was nearly impossible to see the hen. It wasn't until I heard her in the brush that I knew where to look. The good news for me was that neither the male nor the female had a problem with me sitting quietly close by, but I didn't get too close or make any noise. I did get some evil eye at first.

At first I tried to follow mine until they stopped at the nest, but I never could follow them long enough to find the nest. I would have had to follow for hours, and I just didn't want to do that.

 

[scottfarm]

sometimes the male will hang close by the nest his hen is on . sometimes he will call to her just luck i think finding there nest.

 

[Leghornmum]

Yes, your best bet is either following the hen when she comes to get food, or trying to locate her long, drawn out call that means she's lain an egg. I once had two females, Zoom and Owl, that decided to lay together and share a nest. The male, Scooter, and me were on good terms and he and Zoom let me hang out around their nest and watch the hatching. Owl didn't like me getting too near, but Zoom always let me

 

[Weepingwillow227]

Mine were great at laying in the hen house until one got broody and the guineas stopped laying in there. We haven’t seen a guinea egg in weeks

 

[HappyClucker7]

Mine were great at laying in the hen house until one got broody and the guineas stopped laying in there. We haven’t seen a guinea egg in weeks

This thread was posted in 2012. Please start a new thread.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Mine were great at laying in the hen house until one got broody and the guineas stopped laying in there. We haven’t seen a guinea egg in weeks

Only one is broody, so the others are nesting elsewhere? Usually mine continue to lay under the broody…