GUINEA FOWL THREAD

[11squawkers]

Well I guess it was lucky that my guinea hens started laying at about 4 months old, but they will lay anywhere and everywhere thats sheltered, so yours may be laying just not where you have found it yet! Just yesterday one of my girls layed right in the middle of a very big thorny blackberry bush and I had to get a very long stick to work it out. And they are also seasonal layers, spring through fall, so mine just started laying again for the season a couple weeks ago.
But glad to hear you are enjoying them, I love mine too! Arent they just adorable! I love watching them run! Its still funny EVERY time I see it.
I have not yet let them hatch any eggs to know how long it takes but a book I have says it takes 26 to 28 days to hatch.
Do you have any new pictures of them? They look pretty young in the previously posted pics to be certain but boys will be bigger, taller, have bigger wattles and helmets and will only make a one syllable call while the girls make the two syllable call. When my girls need to lay they will separate and find a sheltered spot but will for a few minutes call out loudly, kinda clues me in to where to check for eggs later. Good luck!

 

[margaret8]

The male screeches and the female makes a sounds like buck wheat. They will be laying by now. They will hide the nest away in the most hidden place they can find. If you find it they will just move it. After they lay about 30 eggs they will go broody. If you have predators that is where the danger is. A hen will protect her nest. It takes 28 days to hatch.

 

[11squawkers]

This is one of my males. See his large wattles and helmet.

Compared to:

One of my females with much smaller wattles and helmet.

 

[11squawkers]

Thats funny that you said screeches margaret8, I typed that but changed it to "call" but boy is it screeching when they get going! I call it sqwonking cause they kinda honkingly squawk.

 

[JC De klerk]

I would love to post you sum photos but these guineas aren't particularly very domestic they were when they were young but they area a bit.... in the middle of domestic and while also we do not have a very good camera but will try and domesticate them a bit I did see the one of them go lay down right in front of the other while I was trying to take a decent photos.

don't know if this helps but one of them has a big helmet now and the others is pretty small and slightly more curved downward.

 

[11squawkers]

Well thats a great sign that you hopefully have a male and a female so try to keep an eye out where they tend to hang out or if theres an area they may go to that is sheltered to lay eggs. They are really good at getting into places we may not be able to retrieve the eggs! Egg hunt! And if you have the time to observe them you will eventually hear what the female sounds like when she is laying an egg to know when its happening. I am trying to train my dog to help me find our guinea eggs but we only have 3 acres to search. It is fun finding them!

 

[JC De klerk]

We live on a gigantic farm I think somewhere between 30-50 km wide and their free roaming Guineas, but they usually hand around in front of the house now and there are ALOT of rocky terrains where its nice and shady and a lot lots of gaps between steady rocks there is also a vast amount of food I will take a picture for you to see.

 

[JC De klerk]

This is a little bit of their eating area there's a lot more but will show you later.

 

[11squawkers]

Wow, thats beautiful! Lucky guineas! So I'd have to think that as long as you have a female she should be laying by now. My guineas are more reliable layers than the chickens during their laying season. The trick is just finding where!

 

[margaret8]

I have a problem with some some of my keets and I saw this! It's ingenious!