Guinea talk.

[R2elk]

I've been removing the eggs since no one is sitting on them. Should I leave them there? I would think if the eggs are cold, they're not going to hatch anyway. I know they are not good mom's, but they don't even sit on them!!

Guineas will often lay in a communal nest until the clutch reaches a size that triggers their desire to brood. It is not uncommon for guineas to lay clutches of 20 eggs or more before going broody. It is also not uncommon for communal nests to reach fifty to sixty eggs with multiple hens setting on the nest.

If you want your guinea hens to continue using their nest, be sure that you leave a fake egg or more in the nest. Guinea hens have been known to abandon a nest that is being disturbed.

 

[BoogieBug]

Guineas will often lay in a communal nest until the clutch reaches a size that triggers their desire to brood. It is not uncommon for guineas to lay clutches of 20 eggs or more before going broody. It is also not uncommon for communal nests to reach fifty to sixty eggs with multiple hens setting on the nest.

If you want your guinea hens to continue using their nest, be sure that you leave a fake egg or more in the nest. Guinea hens have been known to abandon a nest that is being disturbed.

Thank you!!

 

[GlennLee]

I've got a question about the eggs. Every time I go in the coop, there are 4 or 5 eggs in the nest but no mama hen sitting on them! Is this normal?

Yes, they lay many eggs before going broody, and as mentioned before, they can lay in a communal nest. I found one hidden communal nest that had 48 eggs in it before the hen went broody!

I try to number or date the eggs and then I'll leave about 5 or 6 for them to start, but will keep pulling out the older eggs every few days, leaving the most recent eggs in the nest. Mine usually lay for about a month, before going broody and I will only let around 20 eggs accumulate in the nest for hatching. Even if more than one hen decides to sit on the nest, it's hard for them to physically handle covering and hatching more than 20 eggs.

On the other hand, I have a red English Orpington hen who has gone broody on only ONE egg!

Very excited for you! Good luck!

 

[Anniejak72]

Two generations...so far

 

[GlennLee]

Beautiful! Welcome to Guinea Talk and

 

[JeffreyH]

fox got a guinea on the nest, now down to seven in my flock.

 

[R2elk]

fox got a guinea on the nest, now down to seven in my flock.

Sorry. This is why I will not let any of my guinea hens set on a hidden nest that is outside. All of my guineas are in a secure coop at night no matter how much they protest and resist.

 

[Victoria-nola]

fox got a guinea on the nest, now down to seven in my flock.

I'm sorry. Yes, the guineas are so vulnerable on their nests. We started with 25 the first time I bought eggs and incubated them. That group dwindled down to 9 individuals, then to 7, between deaths on the road and deaths by predators with them trying to set nests.

If yours coop up, you can keep them in the coop during the mornings and collect their eggs, then incubate them. We incubated the last nest that we had found, after the setters were killed by predators. The eggs had chilled down all day before I realized what happened and got them in the incubator, and almost every one of them continued to develop and hatched out-- we added 25 more to our group last summer. They have seemed to finally learn about the road, as we have only lost 1 this year so far, a strong improvement. And, they are nesting inside the curtilage fence that is around the house and barn, where they are protected somewhat from predators. So our experience is that they can learn and change their strategies, if allowed to retain their integrity as a flock.

I don't know what your circumstances are as I have not been participating in BYC in the last 18 months or so. So, please pardon if you already know all this. I'm new to guineas and learning.

 

[Anniejak72]

Since I posted photo above I have had 18 hatch. In the past I’ve only hated one or two at a time. When I put the babies out (about 6 weeks old) the oldie Guineas (less than a year old) really attacked and tormented them. (I introduced 3). They are now separated from the rest of the flock. The 3 won’t come out of the coop. Is there a better way to do this?

 

[GlennLee]

fox got a guinea on the nest, now down to seven in my flock.

Very sorry to hear about the fox. Unfortunately, I don't thing it won't go away after just one killing. Good luck with keeping the others safe and encouraging them to nest inside. It isn't easy...