Hens not laying eggs

[guineapeeps]

I have 5 Guinea hens....(2) 3 year olds, (1) 2 year old, and (2) 1 year olds (the 2 and 3 year olds produced lots of eggs last year). So far this spring, none of them have layed any eggs. In the past, my Guineas have all started laying around early to mid March and have quite a production going by this point (I live in SE Iowa and the weather is warm and sunny). I could understand if the 3 year old hens were winding down in their egg production due to age, but none of the others have produced any either. I have 2 males that seem very interested in the girls (not that this would affect egg laying habits, but just a side note). All of the hens get in their nesting boxes and seem like they are going to lay eggs but never do produce anything. They all seem very healthy and happy and have access to oyster shell grit so I don't think it's a health issue. Also, I'm almost positive that they have not layed outside of the coop as I have kept a close eye on them and they don't seem to wander outside of our yard and coop. Maybe they know something I don't....maybe they are planning for the upcoming zombie apocalypse....just joking! But seriously, has anyone had this problem with Guinea fowl before?

 

[red horse ranch]

I have 5 Guinea hens....(2) 3 year olds, (1) 2 year old, and (2) 1 year olds (the 2 and 3 year olds produced lots of eggs last year). So far this spring, none of them have layed any eggs. In the past, my Guineas have all started laying around early to mid March and have quite a production going by this point (I live in SE Iowa and the weather is warm and sunny). I could understand if the 3 year old hens were winding down in their egg production due to age, but none of the others have produced any either. I have 2 males that seem very interested in the girls (not that this would affect egg laying habits, but just a side note). All of the hens get in their nesting boxes and seem like they are going to lay eggs but never do produce anything. They all seem very healthy and happy and have access to oyster shell grit so I don't think it's a health issue. Also, I'm almost positive that they have not layed outside of the coop as I have kept a close eye on them and they don't seem to wander outside of our yard and coop. Maybe they know something I don't....maybe they are planning for the upcoming zombie apocalypse....just joking! But seriously, has anyone had this problem with Guinea fowl before?

I live in northern Wyoming and so far my guinea hens aren't laying either. I often have eggs around the 1st of April. The older hens are usually a little later to start than the young ones. My hens are playing in the nests also. I have walked our property looking for hidden nests but no eggs. I don't think age has much to do with it since a 3 yr old should still be laying well this year.
I think we'll see plenty of eggs once they start and it should be by the end of this month.

 

[guineapeeps]

Thanks for your response! It's good to know mine aren't the only ones who are a little late. It's also good to know that my 3 year olds aren't too old to lay eggs. I've heard that chickens only lay for a few years and wasn't sure if Guineas were the same.....I'm glad to hear it's longer than that! Do you know how many years, on average, they continue to produce eggs? (This is my 3rd year with Guineas).

 

[ludwing]

The domesticated guinea fowl was produced to be heavy weight, fast growing by (sperm insemination theory).most domesticated guineas begin to lay around 5 months old or later.
I breed the African helmeted guineafowl, the origin of domestic guineafowl.
Our guineas take time to develop than domestic. beginning to lay usually when 2 years old or a litle earlier.
as a hen gets older egg production decreases, mine usually stop laying around 7 to 9 years.not sure about yours.
The only factor that hind laying for my guineas is the availability of proteins brought by heavy rainfall. This type of guinea manly don't depend on us, they are good forangers to find their.
and im happy that they sleep in the coop with chickens.

best wishes

 

[red horse ranch]

My guinea hens that were 3 and 4 years old last year are Pearl Grey and they produced a lot of eggs that hatched into keets early last summer. Very few Pearl Grey keets hatched after July. My younger hens are Coral Blue and Lavender. They produced keets for me thru September.
It's hard to know who is laying how many eggs since they often use community nests. But indicated by the color of their babies, I would say that older hens lay quite a few eggs early in the season but taper off more quickly than younger hens who will lay until September.
I have seen one of my 5 year old hens in the nest in the last few days but she didn't leave an egg. So I am curious myself about how well the different ages will lay this year.

I have a 9 year old chicken hen who has been laying eggs every couple of days for the last month. An 8 year old gave me 2 eggs and then quit. So if guinea hens follow the same pattern I should still get eggs for several years to come. Whether those eggs will produce babies is probably a different story........