Guinea Eggs: How many days incubation?

[JLeigh]

I candle at day 23-25 and when I see slanted air sacs or internal pipping, I go into lockdown. I lockdown at day 25 regardless of candling results. I just thought day 20 was pretty early for lockdown.

 

[peanut67]

I have multiplier days that I put eggs in the incubator when I lockdown the first batch and raise the humidity what happens to the other eggs I have to turn in, the battor. I have to turn by hand 2 or 3 times daily my first time doing this so I need help. had to throw away all the egss that my hens were setting on to many in nest and were rotton beginning to really smell then a snake got some I was letting a hen set so took them and put them in the battor. so will it hurt the other eggs if I don't turn for a few day, or is okay to open the battor since my don't turn on it owns so no keets would get hurt I know this is a lot of questions but not sure what to do HELP

 

[EdenCamp]

That's the problem with doing a staggered hatch.
They say lock down - stay out!
But just turn the ones real quick.
What can happen to the eggs that are not hatching getting the higher humidity is that the chicks can become too large to turn and pip out or down.
Many of us have gone to a dry hatch - not adding any water at all until that first pip and then only enough to raise humidity to 55 to 60%.
Often the eggs hatching themselves keep humidity up.
This way it's only a day or two while actually hatching and impact reduced.

 

[EdenCamp]

That's the problem with doing a staggered hatch.
They say lock down - stay out!
But just turn the ones real quick.
What can happen to the eggs that are not hatching getting the higher humidity is that the chicks can become too large to turn and pip out or down.
Many of us have gone to a dry hatch - not adding any water at all until that first pip and then only enough to raise humidity to 55 to 60%.
Often the eggs hatching themselves keep humidity up.
This way it's only a day or two while actually hatching and impact reduced.

 

[teresa42299]

when do guineas start to lay? also,how often do guinea hens go broody?

 

[PeepsCA]

when do guineas start to lay? also,how often do guinea hens go broody?

Guineas are seasonal layers, so depending on when they hatch (for example... early Spring) they can start laying by 14-15 wks of age. (Most Guineas are sexually mature by 16 wks of age). They may not lay very many eggs when they start laying that young tho, and the eggs may be really small (pullet eggs). Typically they will start laying regularly early the following Spring and then keep laying all the way thru Fall if the eggs are collected and the Hen is not allowed to go broody.

When they do or will go broody and how often depends on the particular Guinea Hen and how safe/private the nesting area is, plus a few other factors. So really it can vary. Not all Guinea Hens are as determinedly broody as chicken Hens can be. Some will go broody on a pile of 20-30 eggs their first round of laying, but others will get spooked off the nest by a predator, the lawn mower getting to close to the nesting spot or if they get bothered too much by us checking on them/the nest to often etc they will abandon that pile of eggs and move to a new spot (starting a new pile). Some Hens may keep abandoning their eggs and moving for reasons that only make sense to themselves

If they are successful at hatching out a clutch of eggs and the keets are left with the Hen she can spend 6 wks or up to several months raising her brood before she will start laying again. Sometimes the keets are looked after by the entire flock (Guinea Nannies, lol), so the Hen may choose to get back to laying sooner than normal. 2 clutches a year has pretty much been the average/norm for my Hens, but depending on how long the laying season is in your area (and the number of helpers she has) 3 or even 4 clutches from one Hen in a season is possible.

Keets are very fragile for about the first 2 weeks, so unless you have a well protected and predator free area for the Hen, nest and keets and/or a good livestock guardian... a Hen usually loses quite a few keets, or sometimes even all of them (predators, cats, dogs, wet grass, deep water dishes, keets getting chilled etc can dwindle a brood down to nothing within a couple days).

 

[teresa42299]

ok. I know chickens will sit on almost everything but will a guinea hen do the same?

 

[PeepsCA]

ok. I know chickens will sit on almost everything but will a guinea hen do the same?

Again, it depends on the particular Guinea Hen, but they usually aren't like chickens in that aspect of being/going broody. They have to choose the nesting spot, not us, and usually they have to have been laying their own eggs there first for a while in order to eventually go broody on the pile. It's not typical for a Guinea Hen to see a pile of eggs that they have not laid themselves and decide to go broody on them. It can happen, but it's not normal for it to happen.

If other eggs are added to the nest when she's not around the nest (and her own eggs are removed) she may eventually go broody on the pile, no matter what kind of eggs are in the nest... just as long as there are more than a few eggs in the nest at all times. I use this trick every season with my full-time free range Hens who choose bad places to lay/nest (like in the thistles or poison oak, too close to the fence or road etc)... I refer to it as salting or baiting the nest. I will mark a few incubator duds or use brown chicken eggs, remove all of her eggs and leave 5 or 6 marked eggs in the nest, and collect her fresh eggs every day while she is off the nest and not watching me and none of the flock is watching me either...they tattle, lol. This trick keeps her laying eggs there in that nest and I do not have to hunt for eggs/new nests as often. I have to be sneaky tho... and call the flock up to the driveway for treats, then make a bee line for the nest to deal with egg swapping or collecting. If she sees me or any of the birds in the flock see me near the nest they go off, screaming at me at the top of their lungs, and too many times of that happening usually leads to the Hen abandoning the nest. A lot of times the Hen does end up going broody on just the handful of marked eggs tho.... and once I am convinced she's serious about being broody (and she's nesting in a safe spot) I will swap out the pile of eggs with fertile eggs for her to hatch out that I have collected from my breeding flocks (because we prefer to eat all of the free range eggs we can collect each season).

Some people have been able to sneak eggs under a broody Guinea Hen at night and have perfect success with it, but I have never been that lucky. Guinea Hens are sticklers about private nesting spots and if they feel the nest is not private, in their minds it's not safe either... so it's their instinct to abandon the nest.

Sorry, I rambled

Hope I answered your question tho, lol

 

[they'reHISchickens]

hi PeepsCA, I'd like some advice. I was going to let our white guinea hen brood where she hid it, (fairly safe spot close to house)but Dh said her shelter slid off today and he saw the nest. Its FULL of eggs-- he thinks 30-40. A month ago we found the first nest and incubated 42, ended up with 32 live keets. We have a solid redwood incubator that does a nice job. Should I fire it up again and remove her eggs? What are the chances of her hatching a good percentage of the eggs when they are that many?
Also, our other hen has not joined her brooding but we have to assume some of those eggs are hers.
What would you do? We really don't want the keets but have a market for them locally.

 

[they'reHISchickens]

update: It was near dark and DD stopped by so I lifted the cover where the hen was nesting.
Well, that was the decision: 3/4 the eggs were not under her. I grabbed a nearby container and scooped them up, leaving her 9 eggs. Replaced the cover and she scooted under it before we turned around!
Just put 32(!) guinea eggs in the incubator. Let's see how they develop.