found the guinea nest

[ruffledfeathers1234]

I found my guinies nest and was wondering how I should collect the eggs and if I should leave any in the nest for them to continue laying. This is my first laying season with guineas so any info. will help.

 

[BritinMO]

None of my guineas have ever returned to the same nest when I have removed all the eggs - they just go and find some other hidden spot to start all over again (mine free range during the day) - not sure what happens if you leave a few eggs in there - someone will be able to answer that I am sure!

Not sure what you mean by "was wondering how I should collect the eggs"......pick them up and put them in an incubator?

Have fun with the guineas - got to love them! I think mine have just started this year's laying somewhere in my woods, just a hunch I have by their behaviour today!

 

[PeepsCA]

I've nest hunted and collected eggs for years... this is what I do:

I wait until the birds are cooped for the evening, or locked in the coop/pen so they can't see me... then I mark the date on all of the eggs, put them in egg cartons and store them in a cool, unheated, dark room (about 55-60 degrees... make sure the temp is not above 70 degrees or they will start/continue to develop and will usually die rather than hatch if you set them). I tilt one end of the carton up on a book or 2, and change ends at least once a day (this simulates turning them). This is for fresh eggs... but for a nest of found eggs, I usually store the same way but I'll try to set them within a few days of finding them, or after I've collected a few more from the nest to justify running the incubator.

You get the best hatching results if you set eggs that are 14 days old or less, (but I always aim for the 10 day mark) but with a found nest, unless you know it's just one Hen that's currently laying there, it's hard to know how old they are. If your night time temps are really cold the eggs may already be dead, but you can crack a few open and check for the bullseye (development). If any you crack open are fertile you can set the rest anyway and hope for the best.

You can either leave a few of the dirtiest or older looking eggs in the nest (be sure to mark them so you know which ones are old) to keep the Hen or Hens laying in that nest (I say Hens because it's common for more than one Hen to use the same nest), and then collect the fresh eggs daily from that point on. (Or you can collect them all and use a few brown grocery store eggs to fool the Hen or Hens to still lay there too).

Try not to let the Hen or Hens see you fussing with the eggs or the nest or they will more than likely find a new spot. If you don't get any fresh eggs, it's an abandoned nest, and I'd collect all the eggs to throw away so they do not attract predators (or you can float test and candle them to determine their freshness).

After my Hen has laid around 30 eggs in one spot, even without a huge pile building up, the Hen will typically decide to go broody on just the few old/marked eggs that I leave in the nest, so at that point I take all eggs, destroy the nest and then figure out where she is nesting/laying next.

If you do not want the Hen or Hens laying eggs there, take all the eggs and destroy the nest... but be on the lookout for the next chosen laying spot.

And so on and so on, all thru the laying season...

 

[perchie.girl]