Guinea hen gone broody

[sbolevic]

I don't know that the eggs would even have actually hatched... we are kind of new to chicken keeping and this is our 4 guineas' first spring. We have two males and two females. Would the eggs have hatched?

 

[PeepsCA]

Most likely any eggs that were 16 days old or less would have hatched... Guineas reproduce great the first Spring after they were hatched.

 

[sbolevic]

Thanks. One of our males is always attacking the other and i'm kind of worried he's going to get hurt. (Sometimes it's actually kind of funny, though, because the one he chases is really wimpy about it, and always justs runs and hides somewhere like under the coop.) Do you have any advice, or should we just ignore it?

 

[PeepsCA]

That's typical of Guineas working out the pecking order, especially during the breeding season... and sounds like your Alpha male (flock bully) has to continually remind the Omega male (flock wimp) where his place is, and the Alpha is also showing off for the girls at the same time. It's normal behavior, but watch for bloody wounds on the wimpy bird, the rest of the flock may start cannibalizing him once there is blood drawn.

 

[sbolevic]

alright. Thanks again!

 

[cvandermerwe]

I just found a nest on Mon with 57 eggs in it. And wasn't thinking and snatched em for the bator. I been looking since one of my whites disapeared same day AFTER I grabbed the eggs. Hoping she is on anther nest somewhere. I went looking again today and found a pair making a new clutch in a fresh nest. In a few days I am going to colect some eggs and either leave a few or replace with chicken eggs.
They seem to hide nest rigt under my nose, last year we had 2 skidsteers running in the barnyard alot. And low and behol thats where 2 hens hatched 32 keets. Surprisingly the cattle or horse didn't seem to notice them either. They will lay again, you can almost be certain.

Too funny, I had to reply after reading this. My son (4 1/2) and his best friend (German Poodle Pointer) scoured our 10 country acres for guinea nests today. We have about 7 acres or so in prairie grass with 26 or so guineas running around. The two of them found 4 nests totaling 132 eggs. Lucky for us the last batch just hatched the last few days so the machine was empty....phew! He insists that they go in the bator, so I made him a deal in that he can keep the money from his Guinea sales ($3 each) to put in his savings account. I'm also going to let him keep a few of the recessive colors that have popped up from the all visual pearl flock (ok, that might be for me...hehehe). Most of the nests were within 50 feet of the barn and our guineas seem to nest in clusters within 15' of each other. Makes them fairly easy to find. He probably saved one hen's life, she had made her nest at the throat of the grassy road ditch (read raccoon & mink highway) about 300 feet from the barn. I'm still missing 2 hens, we'll see how long it takes these two to come up with them!

Anyway, we'll be supplying a lot of folks that want guineas this year!

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

Too funny, I had to reply after reading this. My son (4 1/2) and his best friend (German Poodle Pointer) scoured our 10 country acres for guinea nests today. We have about 7 acres or so in prairie grass with 26 or so guineas running around. The two of them found 4 nests totaling 132 eggs. Lucky for us the last batch just hatched the last few days so the machine was empty....phew! He insists that they go in the bator, so I made him a deal in that he can keep the money from his Guinea sales ($3 each) to put in his savings account. I'm also going to let him keep a few of the recessive colors that have popped up from the all visual pearl flock (ok, that might be for me...hehehe). Most of the nests were within 50 feet of the barn and our guineas seem to nest in clusters within 15' of each other. Makes them fairly easy to find. He probably saved one hen's life, she had made her nest at the throat of the grassy road ditch (read raccoon & mink highway) about 300 feet from the barn. I'm still missing 2 hens, we'll see how long it takes these two to come up with them!

Anyway, we'll be supplying a lot of folks that want guineas this year!

WIsh that was always the case. I get em to share nest to lay but when they sit its not near eachother. Last year at least the 2 that sat were on my property and with 100 yds of house and 50ish between nest. This year its 100 +/- from house. 1 was just over fence line on neighbors. Other is down the road in the ditchline. Those are the 2 I have located after they sat. Still 1 IDK where.

 

[JesnJer]

I am missing two of my guineas, its hard to tell for how long but I want to say its been a little over a month. Before they went missing the hens were laying eggs in the coop, I haven't had a guinea egg in almost two months if I am remembering right. We live in the woods with decent underbrush surrounded by tall grass (most of which has been baled now) so trying to find a nest is going to be close to impossible. Our guineas like to sleep in the trees above the coop so I didn't think much about two missing and didn't note when they 'disappeared'. I feed my flock right before I leave for work so I will watch for them this weekend and check a radius around the coop of 70' just to be sure. Hopefully she didn't try to make a nest in the neighbors junk pile (critter apartment complex) that's about 100' from the coop. Our guineas have chased off turkeys so I'm really really hoping that they are still out there and haven't been attacked.

 

[cvandermerwe]

I am missing two of my guineas, its hard to tell for how long but I want to say its been a little over a month. Before they went missing the hens were laying eggs in the coop, I haven't had a guinea egg in almost two months if I am remembering right. We live in the woods with decent underbrush surrounded by tall grass (most of which has been baled now) so trying to find a nest is going to be close to impossible. Our guineas like to sleep in the trees above the coop so I didn't think much about two missing and didn't note when they 'disappeared'. I feed my flock right before I leave for work so I will watch for them this weekend and check a radius around the coop of 70' just to be sure. Hopefully she didn't try to make a nest in the neighbors junk pile (critter apartment complex) that's about 100' from the coop. Our guineas have chased off turkeys so I'm really really hoping that they are still out there and haven't been attacked.

Hard to say for sure. When they actually go down to set you probably will not see them for a while. I would say if they don't show up with chicks anytime soon they were probably victims of predation of some sort. It is not unusual for me to "loose" a hen for a couple of weeks only to have her show up in the yard with a dozen or more chicks like nothing happened. If you have a lot of predators and you want to raise the chicks I suggest you catch them up and raise them like you would any other chick in a brooder. It's not that the hens are not good moms, it's just that it is very challenging for them to raise their keets in this enviroment. At this point and time it would be futile to try and find them unless you had a incubator for the eggs or you didn't care about the eggs.

As a side note, when you go to catch the chicks (if they show up), wait until the hen has them in a large open patch of mowed grass. They can be really hard to catch, easy to step on while catching, and the depending on the hen she might leave the area once you have most of them caught up. Count them a few times before you start catching so you know how many you are looking for. If you are missing any, sit still and listen, once the commotion is over the lost ones will start calling and can usually be found pretty easily.

C.J.

 

[JesnJer]

I plotted an area for me to check starting tomorrow. (basically used google earth) The junk pile is a little over 200 ft away from the coop so it looks like just woods for my search and half of the radius is our house, driveway, and garden so it looks like it will be a quick search!! We have predators but we have been really lucky with them so far, the main rooster is missing a spur and a few claws from his run in with a possum a few months ago (my boyfriend finished the job the rooster started). After that run in he baited and killed any possum or coon that came close to the coop at night. I also found some tips for finding their nest...
http://www.muranochickenfarm.com/2013/05/12-tips-for-finding-guinea-nests.html