First Eggs!!!!

[bear25]

I got my first guineas back in early April (they were already probably 3 weeks old). I got four and a fox broke into the coop in early May. One died right away; the other lived for a week then died. (I was very sad). So, because we wanted a flock eventually, we bought three more. Two of them died before we got them home. (They were day old keats) (Again I was very sad). We turned around and took them back the next day. They gave us two more that were a little bigger (a week old) and they had just hatched two white ones so we bought them. All of the babies raised nicely and I learned a lot from this forum. We put them in with the bigger ones in early June. We got quite a bit of rain and it flooded their coop one day. I couldn't lift it by myself and my husband was at work. (it was 3 am) I stayed out there with them, put bricks in their cage for them to stand on, tried to shew them out of the cage and onto dry land, but nothing worked. The cage was too narrow for me to get into and one of my white ones didn't make it. He freaked out, flew, hit his head on the branch I have in there for him and I guess snapped his neck. Now we are down to 6.

All very sad, but we have raised the coop and moved it and we have had no further disasters. Also, I've been letting them out for about a month now. It took a couple of days for them to leave the coop, but now they love it. Recently however they have been hopping the fence. They hang out on the roof, but as soon as they hop the fence it's like they get really stupid all of a sudden. I wasn't sure what to do so instead of chasing them like I have been all week I left them in the coop today and guess what... our first EGG!!!

I know it is her first because 1) I found her nest (she stays in the yard) and it has been empty every day and 2) I didn't even expect her to start laying yet. She isn't even a year old. SHe is barely 16 weeks. My problem is though I can't trust letting them out all day again yet. I need to try and retrain them a little bit or my neighbors are going to kill me. That means that everyone is in the coop, and we know they are stupid birds. I put a box in there with some grass and news paper shreads and place it exactly where the egg was, setting the egg in the open box. I cut the sides of the box to about 3-4 inches and cut the top off. It looks more like a litter box than anything I guess. My question is, is it safe in there, will she try to hatch it or should I... If I start letting them out again will she forget about that egg and go back to the empty nest she was making? I mean I really don't know what to do and I don't want the other birds to crack the egg. Of my youngsters I know at least one of them is female so I don't think she'll be a problem... I thought I had another female (making 3 female 3 male) but all of a sudden the mature male is charging her like he does the two that I thought were male. I don't know if maybe she isn't "mature" enough to fornicate with yet so he's being mean to her.... I don't know. My point is though the mature male charges all of them but the mature female and the youngster that I expect is a female. I don't want him tip the nest or anything. I screwed it down, but even when he tries to get it on with the youngster things get rowdy. So, is her "nest" safe? (Also, I have a hard time getting the young males into the cage because the mature male. Is there anything I can do there?)

Now, as far as her egg goes, I am assuming they lay every day to every other day... correct. Now, I've read a lot about the nest going "cold," but I've also read that she won't sit on it until she has 10-12 eggs. Will the first egg not "go cold" before she sits on it? It's been around 100-103 here lately, sometimes low 80's at night, and almost always a higher heat index (110 today), is that good or bad for the egg? If the egg is in her coop will she sit on it when she sleeps in the coop?Should I move the egg to an old chicken hen I know wants to sit (poor girl just doesn't have a rooster anymore)? Should I try to hatch it myself, and, if so, how soon do I need to take it from her if she isn't sitting on it? Whenever we get the flock to a good size (20-30) in a few years we will want to eat the eggs. How soon do I need to take them from her to do that so they won't be spoiled?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. I'm so excited and I want to give the little guy the best chance possible.

Thanks,
Taylor (bear25)

 

[PeepsCA]

More than likely the Hen won't accept your nesting spot/box and will not go broody on the egg. Guineas are weird/picky about nesting and going broody, it has to be their idea as to when and where, or forget it. Every day that you let them out she'll lay outside somewhere (if she has not laid her egg in the coop). The nest you found, could be 1 of 100 different spots she's chosen and abandoned (or the other Hens have), they change nesting spots like most of us change underwear, lol.

If you really want keets, keep the birds in until the Hen (or Hens) lay each day, then let the birds out, and collect the eggs. They should be collected as soon as possible and not left out in the heat. You can store and collect them for up to 14 days (age of the oldest egg) then put them under your broody chicken... if you know for sure she's going to be reliably broody. If not, use an incubator. The eggs should be stored in a cool dark place and turned a couple times of day to retain their viability. You may want to crack open the first few and make sure that she's even laying fertile eggs.

Males get aggressive during the breeding season, and they typically aren't choosy who they direct their aggression to... males, females, younger, older... cat, dog, car bumper, shiny hubcap and sometimes even their keeper. They pretty much lose their minds because of their raging hormones. The younger birds will have to endure his wrath until they mature and can stand their ground, or at least until the breeding season is over. But it will start again next Spring.

Getting the younger birds in the pen while he is full of hormones and aggression will be an ongoing breeding season issue... your best bet it to add a 2nd door to their pen, or re-home that male.... be it in a new coop/pen, or somewhere else entirely. It kind of sounds to me like their pen may be too small, which also adds to the aggression level. Guineas need a lot of room, 4 sq ft of floor space in the coop per bird, and at least twice that in their attached run. So if you can expand their pen and add a 2nd door things may go a little more smoothly for the entire flock.

 

[bear25]

Yay!!!! I have 3 eggs now. She did use the box I put in for her. She did not lay the second day, but she laid both yesterday and today. I have a younger female who is not laying yet and she has actually been staying on the nest. We have a really (really really really) small yard so her nests aren't hard to find. There are five outside the coop and then the one I put in the coop for her. She is rotating the eggs on her own. They are moving around in the nest each day, but it is still hot outside. Will the heat hurt the eggs? It's stayed around 100 degrees (more or less) and they are in the shade with ventalation (in the coop). I'm just worried that they will spoil.

The coop does have two doors (one for the yard then one for the coop itself) but it is small. We couldn't make it very big yet, but as soon as we move out to our land (hopefully in a couple of months) we will make a bigger one. We are just renting a very small house while we build ours right now. The female did get into her other nests yesterday. She made one about twice as big and didn't want to leave it, but she had laid that morning in the coop. I have been leaving them in until she lays. The first day she didn't lay until around 3:00 PM, but now she is up to about 10-11 am. She gets earlier every day.

Thank you for the information. I'll keep you updated.

 

[PeepsCA]

The eggs have probably started developing already from the heat, and especially if the younger Hen has been on them, BUT if they are going cold at night with no Hen on them then the eggs may die soon (if they haven't already). There's a little forgiveness with the eggs getting warm then going cooling off the first few days after being laid, but if it's an ongoing cycle warm cold warm cold warm cold the chances of them being alive are slim. Ideally they either need to stay warm 24/7 with a Hen on them full time or stay cool 24/7 until the Hen goes broody on them.

I'd put all the eggs you find together, either in her outside nest (if it's safe from predators) or in the box in the coop, and hopefully when the Hen laying (or maybe even the other young Hen) decides it's time to sit on/brood them there will be some viable eggs in the pile, wherever it is.

And congrats on getting her to use a box for her nest... that's not very common with Guineas, lol.

 

[bear25]

Do you know how warm is warm and how cool is cool? We'll be hitting 105 this week with lows staying in the 80's.

 

[PeepsCA]

Anything above 73° will start development in the embryo, and extended periods of temps above 104° may cook them. But again it's the repeated fluctuations from one extreme to the other that will most likely kill the embryos.

If you are worried that the temps will kill the eggs then you could collect them all, put a 1/2 dozen or so brown chicken eggs in the nest to keep the Hen laying there and collect the fresh Guinea eggs, date them all with a pencil each day and store them in cardboard egg cartons in a cool dark place (55° is ideal but I store mine at 68° for 7-10 days and they do fine, and I tilt/turn them twice a day). And then just hope your Hen goes determinedly broody on the chicken eggs soon so you can try to sneak the collected Guinea eggs into the nest when she gets up for a a bite to eat and a drink of water (or for some treats).

Personally I'd go with an incubator tho, Guineas are not always trustworthy broodies or good mommas...and sometimes the other birds in the flock decide that the newly hatched keets are a threat to the flock and will kill them first chance they get. Some Guinea mommas have no maternal instinct and will even kill their own babies as they hatch. It's more work to incubate and brood them yourself, but less headache and worry if you really want some keets IMO.