Guinea fowl query - Hello

[frapaz]

Howdy,
Got our first spring with our Guineas. They are free range and cover around 2 acres, they tree roost. Been finding random eggs and the odd cluster of eggs around about. Ive never see a bird any of these being sat on by bird. Are these already abandoned or can they cope with prolonged hen absence ? Should I colate the rougue eggs into one of the nests? How long do exposed eggs have before they become dud ( unable to incubate )- it seems to blinking cold to me out there.
We're in South australia - Spring is coming!

 

[shortgrass]

Howdy,
Got our first spring with our Guineas. They are free range and cover around 2 acres, they tree roost. Been finding random eggs and the odd cluster of eggs around about. Ive never see a bird any of these being sat on by bird. Are these already abandoned or can they cope with prolonged hen absence ? Should I colate the rougue eggs into one of the nests? How long do exposed eggs have before they become dud ( unable to incubate )- it seems to blinking cold to me out there.
We're in South australia - Spring is coming!

They might be building a nest... Takes a while for them to lay enough to want to start setting on them. I would say they're getting ready if its spring

They'll be okay for a couple of weeks, especially if it's cool, but not freezing. If this is their first year brooding, they might be abandoning some of them out of sheer inexperience; not having a proper nest picked out yet

 

[frapaz]

Thanks - do you think it's ok to collect random eggs and pop into her nest when she's not looking? She's started to hover around the nest. Next thing to worry about is if we let her nest them. There are foxes and cats out there