Guinea Sitting

[gourdlady]

I have a guinea setting for how long....I don't know. Yesterday I discovered a hatchling ....dead in the pen. She is sitting in a regular hen nest in my mixed coop. What to do ? She is still setting. Today I took 10 of the eggs and put them in the incubator.
I should have asked for advice first. I did not candle and I really need the incubator for other eggs I have been saving. Any suggestions ? I left her 5 eggs and hope she returns to setting...I will be checking on her in a bit.

 

[gourdlady]

Nothing hatched not the ones in the incubator or the setting guinea.

She's off the nest now and a chicken has taken over I'll give it a day or two before I remove the eggs. Had to clean out the bator for some call ducks. Oh well I still have the 16 guineas I hatched a week ago.

 

[HoneyDreameMom]

That's too bad. We have a guinea who's been sitting for 29, maybe 30 days now on a clutch of 30+ eggs and we're thinking the eggs just aren't going to hatch. We decided we'd give it another day or two, but I don't want her sitting forever, losing weight because of her minimal food intake. Sometimes it's a tough call. I think you did the right thing.

 

[gourdlady]

It's been tough. I needed the incubator so I took the eggs back out. She hatched another chick. I took it inside and am brooding it with the others. She had another one but it died hatching....I think she might have killed it scrambling like a wild women off the nest.
Now she has the old eggs and a new clutch ughhhhh. I marked the old eggs so I think I will remove those and see what happens.

Then the other day the peafowl all roosted on my silo....it has no roof and is filled with water on the bottom....one of the babies fell in overnight and drowned. Just devastating.

 

[HoneyDreameMom]

So sorry to hear that.

I know people say these sorts of things are a common part of farming, but I must not be a typical farmer, because I agree that it's still devastating every time it happens. Good luck on the babies you do have, and good luck with the ones you're incubating!

Btw, what kind of peafowl do you have? I've toyed with the idea of maybe doing two or three peafowl and a peacock, but I'm not sure how much of a difference they are from chickens and guineas, and I'm not sure about the different breeds. Are their eggs any good? How easy is it to sell the poults (lol, are they even called poults...chicks?)

 

[gourdlady]

Thanks for the support. I have India Blue Peafowl. As far as I know you can eat any egg. Peafowl are seasonal layers so they generally lay 1 clutch a year in spring early summer. I did have 1 girl set on two clutches of 4 eggs each but she hatched none. Clutches are small 4-6 eggs.
Peafowl are not as tame as the others....you have to handle a lot when young in order to tame so they imprint to you. The males call very loudly from dawn to dusk during breeding and they need to be at least 1 year of age to be mature enough to breed. Being a larger bird they also need larger pens and they fly very well. They will not obey boundaries and will range quite a distance. So if you free range and have neighbors close by it can be problematic. Peachicks do sell well probably they fetch higher prices then other fowl because of the seasonal laying, small clutches and late maturity all mean less availability. Here they go for about $30 each or more for specific colors.

 

[HoneyDreameMom]

Thanks for the info! I'm slowly branching out. I've found I adore having guineas, and I think I might try heritage turkeys next year. I've thought about peafowl and pheasants, but I'm kind of working up to it.