Guinea hen issues

[melroseladi]

I was given 3 guineas by an elderly gentleman, 2 males and 1 hen, that were hutch raised. They are from last spring hatching but not sure exactly when. I used the re-homing method I learned from BYC, kept them in their hutch for 3 weeks, then I added a small pen in front of their hutch and started letting them out in that area while keeping their hutch door open for them to go in and out of. I put their water and food in the pen area and started feeding treats on the ground. They had never eaten off the ground before, in fact they had never been out of their hutch and touched real ground before, and dove right into a dust bath as soon as they went into the pen.

After a couple of weeks I started letting them out of the pen to free range. They stayed pretty close to me in the beginning then started wandering a little further from me but staying in sight. Last week my hen started wandering and appeared to be looking for a place to nest. She was going under brush, digging up a little, sitting for a short bit, and then she would move on. No eggs in any of the spots. Then she started going to the neighbors which concerned me because both neighbors have dogs. We are on 5 acres of woods but she opted to head to the neighbors for some reason with the males following her. I was able to get them back home both times but I was concerned. I have been keeping them in their pen now and have tried everything to make her a place to nest but so far still no eggs. I am able to trick her and get the males out of the pen to free range and they stick close with the hen penned up.

How long in advance do hens tend to start nesting before they start laying? Can the hen stop herself from laying if she doesn't find the nesting area suitable? I will be starting on a coop for them this weekend and they will have a bigger run but I really want them to free range, within reason of course. They do still go into their hutch at night, although not at first dark. They seem to wait until it is really dark out before they head in, so I am hoping that they will keep returning to roost at night.

One more note, my hen seemed to be searching for a nesting spot mid-afternoon, not in the morning.

 

[robin416]

There is no telling where she is in the hormonal process. My older girls have been checking out nest spots since last week but have not begun to lay yet. For a first timer it could be a long drawn out process.

She's probably at a stage right now that she's driven to do this but is not really sure what she's doing. Once the hormone level changes again to begin laying eggs then she will choose a spot that makes her happy.

It sounds like they are in a very small space, getting her to lay there is going to be a problem. If your current outside pen is secure enough and you have enough room you can try leaning a piece of plywood against a wall to see if that interests her. I also put straw in the nesting areas to match what they would normally choose as a nesting area.

 

[melroseladi]

Well I broke down and let them out of their pen. I just felt so bad for them being locked up like that. Their pen is not a secure pen. I just used some cage wire I had with a tarp over it just to give them space and get them used to their new home. If the hen would stay home then the boys would stay home.

We are on 5 acres but do have neighbors, three of whom have dogs. Two of the dogs do come into the yard on occasion but don't mess with the guineas at all. My other neighbor has pits that are fenced in but if my guineas go over the fence I have little doubt of what the outcome would be. That is the one neighbor that they ran off to last time and what has me concerned.

I am home most of the time and do try to keep an eye on them but when the hen starts wandering she just doesn't listen or follow me like the boys do. I want to get the coop built so I can increase the flock a bit, safety in numbers. We have mostly wooded land but the hen always wanders out into the open areas instead of staying among the underbrush.

They worry me, but I love having them and am really enjoying them. They are funny to watch, well at least the boys are, as they chase each other around acting all big and bad.

Also I have not seen either of the boys trying to breed the hen yet.