Guinea sitting on old eggs in the nestbox, HELP!

[Cindy in PA]

I have 5 females & just got 5 eggs for the first time yesterday. On the 7th of April, I started letting the eggs in the nest box to see if they would go broody. On the 18th I decided to start taking out the new ones & leaving the 27 old ones so they would keep laying in there & was today going to take most out, leave the marked ones & take the new ones out daily as I have been, because I figured they weren't going to nest there. Well of course today I opened the door to put in food & water & the guinea on the nest puffed up her wings & hissed at me. What the heck do I do now? The 27 eggs in the nest are from 4/7 though 4/18 except if any laid today. I found 3 on the coop floor, so there are only 2 possible new eggs in there. Do I hope she gets off, so I can get the old eggs out of there or let her go. I would think most of the eggs are too old to hatch. She doesn't have a lot of room in the next box & I was going to put a dog box in the run to see if they would start to lay there. What do you all think?

 

[PeepsCA]

Most of those eggs may hatch Cindy since the oldest eggs would still only be about 15-16 days old (if they did not freeze during the time they have been in the nest). Some Hens lay clutches of 24 or so eggs and they ALL hatch out... so I'd leave her be and see what happens. She may eventually start kicking out the duds as she broods that clutch (if there are any duds). The only thing I'd worry about is more Hens laying eggs in the nest that she will pull under her... then you have to deal with a staggered hatch or a bunch of eggs that will go cold and die once she feels her hatch is over and gets off the nest with her brood. So if you can, I'd close her in somehow (build something around her nesting box to keep the other Hens out), and then be ready to pop any remaining eggs into an incubator (or stuff them under a broody chicken) as soon as the Momma gets off the nest with the keets she hatches out. Keep us updated.