First guinea egg! Plus a question about hatching...

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Yay! At exactly four months old, one of the guineas has laid its first egg! I’m so excited! It’s a lot smaller than I imagined! These are my first guineas ever so I’m learning everything new. I have a question about incubation as well. I have a nurture right 360 incubator and am hoping to incubate some guineas. I’m wondering if the automatic turner will work with the small guinea eggs or if they will need hand turned.
Thanks much,
-Rachel

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thanks,
Someday I might be brave enough to eat their eggs. Right now I’m going to stick to hatching, but I have a lot of friends that’d love to try the guinea eggs. I’m looking foreword to hatching some out. I have one more question that you might be able to answer as well. Today there were no guinea eggs. Do they lay everyday? Is this just because they are new layers?
Again thanks much and all the best,
-Rachel

It could be because they are new layers, or it could be that they found a new place to hide them! Guinea eggs are the ultimate game of hide and seek...

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Well I found an egg this morning! Sadly it was in their water dish so I decided I’d crack it open. This egg had no spots and was a lot larger. I’m thinking it may have been layed by a different guinea hen. I cracked it open and am wondering if it’s fertile. I think I see a bullseye but I’m not sure. Thanks in advance. Here’s the egg!

Looks fertilized to me!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thanks very much for the advice. I’m happy to hear that the automatic turner will work. I’m not sure if I’ll eat any guinea eggs. I don’t even eat my duck’s eggs.

Guinea eggs, from free ranging birds, are my absolute favorite! They have such an intense gold yolk! Their eggs fit my hovobator auto turner well.

 

[My2butterflies]

You should try them!
My husband won’t eat store bought chicken eggs anymore. He said they taste funny. Lol I got him hooked on guinea eggs.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

You should try them!
My husband won’t eat store bought chicken eggs anymore. He said they taste funny. Lol I got him hooked on guinea eggs.

Yes, my hubby loves them too! He says that they taste rich and buttery. Our hatching eggs have been selling so well that we’ve hardly eaten any this summer...

 

[EarlJ]

Today there were no guinea eggs. Do they lay everyday? Is this just because they are new layers?

They lay pretty regularly when they're laying. They can skip a day every week or two, and production falls off a cliff in the winter months.

Plus what @Mixed flock enthusiast said.
Initially, mine would drop out an egg wherever she happened to be wandering. It was like that for months. She once sidled up about three feet shy of me, squatted down for a minute, and walked away leaving an egg behind. Now she's more secretive...

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for the reply. I’m not sure if they’re laying elsewhere or not, since they’re free range until late at night. Hopefully they’ll tell me because I don’t want to go on an Easter hunt on five acres. Especially not in the field or weeds. There were no eggs today either and I’m starting to think they are randomly laying them places.

Either that or they have a hidden nest somewhere. Watch for a male standing erect in one spot. The hen on her nest should be very close. You can also listen for the egg laying song to get an idea which direction to look.

 

[My2butterflies]

Either that or they have a hidden nest somewhere. Watch for a male standing erect in one spot. The hen on her nest should be very close.

^^This is how I found where my guineas are currently laying.
I saw the flock go to the same spot in some tall grass near the corn field. Then there would be one male standing watch just out of the tall grass. Sure enough there were 50 eggs just 3ft away.
Now I’ve been able to collect eggs daily again.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Either that or they have a hidden nest somewhere. Watch for a male standing erect in one spot. The hen on her nest should be very close. You can also listen for the egg laying song to get an idea which direction to look.

^^This is how I found where my guineas are currently laying.
I saw the flock go to the same spot in some tall grass near the corn field. Then there would be one male standing watch just out of the tall grass. Sure enough there were 50 eggs just 3ft away.
Now I’ve been able to collect eggs daily again.

Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely be on the lookout. I have noticed that one of the females is never with the others so maybe she has a secret nest. I stuck a couple of eggs in the incubator today as well so we’ll see how that goes.
Wow! 50 eggs?!?!