Guinea Fowl Nesting

[MrPepers]

I have 3 guinea fowl inside of an enclosed pen, 1 male 2 females, with a rooster. I've wanted to have one of the guinea fowl hatch some eggs to see what the hybrids would look like, but the guinea fowl never go broody. I have tried leaving the eggs in there and piling them up in one of their nesting spots but nothing works. Any suggestions?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Nope, you can't force broody. This year mine have been very broody but last year none went broody until finally at the end of August one hatched some out (and subsequently lost almost all of them).

Have you seen the rooster mate with them? I can't imagine the guinea cock allowing that lol.

 

[MrPepers]

The rooster is the only one I have actually seen mating with them. For some reason I have never seen the guinea mate with them, although he is definitely a male.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

How old are they all?

 

[MrPepers]

4 years.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Oh. hmmm. Have they ever gone broody before?

 

[MrPepers]

Nope.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

They may just not be inclined to going broody then, or they don't have a good spot for it. Mine don't usually go broody in the enclosure. Usually they go broody in tall grasses, and they like the giant hosta under one of my windows. One did go broody under one of my coops earlier this summer. I do not keep my guineas locked up, though.

 

[BlueShadow]

Guinea matings happen very quickly, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't see it. I am surprised your guinea male allows the rooster to mate with the guinea hens. Chicken/guinea crosses are rare, but can happen. I would expect you to hatch most or all pure guinea keets.

As already said, you can't force broody. If they have been in that pen that long and not gone broody, I would not expect it. You can try offering various nesting locations to see if they find one they like better. Some people have used wheelbarrows or large tubs partially filled with straw, some have used hay bales piled so there is a little cave for the guineas to nest in. But they definitely will only go broody if it is a place that they feel is safe, secure, and secluded. I make absolutely no predictions as to what YOUR guineas will feel meets those requirements, however!

Do you know that the eggs are fertile? You probably want to make sure the eggs are fertile before putting a lot of effort into encouraging broodiness.

 

[MrPepers]

I have various different places for them to nest, such as under their house, several boards leaning for them to lay under, and different piles of brush. I have no idea if the eggs are fertile. How do you check?