Eggs

[CassandraDandridge]

Hi all, new to guinea fowls

My females are laying eggs. I have 2 nests. No one is sitting on them. What do I do with them? Leave them? I've heard they are good eating?

I was going to get a incubator. I've heard they aren't the best of mother's.

Also, if they aren't sat on and kept warm, will they still hatch if incubated/sat on at a later date?

We also have randoms eggs skatered in paddocks

Thanks

 

[EmtheFishLady]

Our guineas rarely sat on their eggs, and when they did, they were so stupid, almost all the chicks would die from accidents fairly quickly. I recommend eating or incubating them.

We used to keep eggs up to 10 days before incubating them. As long as we turned them twice a day in the cartons, we had decent hatches. Any longer than that before incubation, and the hatch rate suffered.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Your guineas will likely make a hidden nest. Once they accumulate enough eggs, they will try to incubate them. Most people in the US have a hard time keeping wild nesting guineas alive. I only let them sit on their nests if they are in their coop. Incubation of the eggs gives you a much better hatch and keet survival, though then you need to deal with integration into your existing flock. Guinea eggs are also delicious!

If your guineas make a real nest, then you need marked eggs or some other look alike substitute, like clay guinea eggs, to replace the eggs you take so there are 3-5 eggs still in the nest. Otherwise, they will decide a predator has found it and abandon the nest. Then you get to search for a new nest!

 

[red horse ranch]

Guinea eggs are delicious to eat! It takes 2 of them to equal a chicken egg. I mark the eggs when the guinea starts to lay them and I only take the fresh ones to eat or to set back for incubation. If you take all of the eggs out of the nest the hens will probably just find a different place to lay their eggs.

 

[CassandraDandridge]

This page is far better than google. Thanks everyone.

 

[CassandraDandridge]

Our guineas rarely sat on their eggs, and when they did, they were so stupid, almost all the chicks would die from accidents fairly quickly. I recommend eating or incubating them.

We used to keep eggs up to 10 days before incubating them. As long as we turned them twice a day in the cartons, we had decent hatches. Any longer than that before incubation, and the hatch rate suffered.

I've heard they are prone to accidents, especially at a young age

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I've heard they are prone to accidents, especially at a young age

The guinea parents just don’t seem to be very good at keeping the keets safe free ranging. I also lost multiple keets when hatched in the coop and confined to a run, but those were mostly husbandry problems, so my fault. Part of the problem with free ranging with the keets was that the mom (my dads are deadbeats) tried so hard to keep up with the flock that she made bad choices for the keets, like leading them through brush that was too thick for them to stay with her. Of the three clutches that have been hatched in our coop, two groups of moms were very devoted though and would run back to find the keets if separated. One even reacted to the stress calls of a chick in a nearby chicken run. It was roosting time amd she needed to take her babies into the coop, but she wouldn’t go in until she was satisfied that the stressed chick was content.

 

[red horse ranch]

I always keep my guinea hens and their keets confined for at least 2 weeks before letting her take them out to free range. The keets survive much better if they are a little older when taken out. Even then sometimes the mom will follow the flock and the keets have a hard time keeping up. I try to keep watch on them when I do let them out.

 

[EmtheFishLady]

I've heard they are prone to accidents, especially at a young age

They really are not the brightest birds.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

They really are not the brightest birds.

So true! I do see intelligence in unexpected ways though, like their ability to distinguish crow from vulture from hawk.