Guinea Eggs

[ButtercupAcresFarm]

Hey! Quick question about lockdown on guinea eggs. I found a clutch from my free ranging guineas, and decided on a whim to hatch them. I’ve don’t it before, but they were in a run and I knew the timing. Not this time. I don’t know how long they were outside, if any hens were brooding, and they sat in a basket on my counter for a few days (not even cell side up like I would if I was planning to hatch). I didn’t expect much. That said, I have about 40 eggs fully developed. My concern is that some eggs are solid black with a chick, and some are still growing (maybe a day of two behind). The timer has them 6 days out from lockdown. They’re all still in the turner. Should I start a separate incubator and lockdown the fully developed ones? Should I just leave them till the timer is up? Should I put them all on lockdown now? None of them had veins or black spots at the start of this experiment. Heck, I didn’t even know if they were breeding this late in the season. I don’t want to have gotten them this far in gestation just to kill them with ignorance, so I’m turnjng to you all to get someone with experience to maybe let me know what’s a good way to go. I know pheasant eggs can go days without turning and have a good hatch, but can guineas do the same? I kinda figured they’d all be on the same page, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Thanks in advance for your time. I appreciate any help with this matter.

 

[R2elk]

Hey! Quick question about lockdown on guinea eggs. I found a clutch from my free ranging guineas, and decided on a whim to hatch them. I’ve don’t it before, but they were in a run and I knew the timing. Not this time. I don’t know how long they were outside, if any hens were brooding, and they sat in a basket on my counter for a few days (not even cell side up like I would if I was planning to hatch). I didn’t expect much. That said, I have about 40 eggs fully developed. My concern is that some eggs are solid black with a chick, and some are still growing (maybe a day of two behind). The timer has them 6 days out from lockdown. They’re all still in the turner. Should I start a separate incubator and lockdown the fully developed ones? Should I just leave them till the timer is up? Should I put them all on lockdown now? None of them had veins or black spots at the start of this experiment. Heck, I didn’t even know if they were breeding this late in the season. I don’t want to have gotten them this far in gestation just to kill them with ignorance, so I’m turning to you all to get someone with experience to maybe let me know what’s a good way to go. I know pheasant eggs can go days without turning and have a good hatch, but can guineas do the same? I kinda figured they’d all be on the same page, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Thanks in advance for your time. I appreciate any help with this matter.

Candle them and move the ones that are internally pipped to an incubator set up as a hatcher. Be very careful with ones that are fully dark in case they are rotten instead of a developing keet.

The other option is to just go ahead and move them all to lockdown now. It will not hurt the ones that are a few days behind to go into lockdown early.

 

[ButtercupAcresFarm]

Candle them and move the ones that are internally pipped to an incubator set up as a hatcher. Be very careful with ones that are fully dark in case they are rotten instead of a developing keet.

The other option is to just go ahead and move them all to lockdown now. It will not hurt the ones that are a few days behind to go into lockdown early.

Every one of them is moving around, and I already removed any death rings or no growths. Seems like the others are just a day or two behind while the darker ones are ready any day. I’m mostly afraid of them hatching and needing to leave the bator before the others hatch. I am worried they’ll shrink wrap. If that’s the case would spritzing them with water work out? I know they’ll be fine for 24-48 hours after hatching. I really don’t want to hurt anyone. That’s my biggest concern here. Thanks so much for your help with this.

 

[R2elk]

Every one of them is moving around, and I already removed any death rings or no growths. Seems like the others are just a day or two behind while the darker ones are ready any day. I’m mostly afraid of them hatching and needing to leave the bator before the others hatch. I am worried they’ll shrink wrap. If that’s the case would spritzing them with water work out? I know they’ll be fine for 24-48 hours after hatching. I really don’t want to hurt anyone. That’s my biggest concern here. Thanks so much for your help with this.

Do not spray water on the eggs. There is nothing wrong with removing hatched keets when they are dry. Keep the length of time that you have the incubator open to a minimum. It can help to mist the air in the incubator right before closing it back up, just do not spray directly on the eggs.