How to incubate and raise guinea fowl... First time

[000]

Hello! In spring I am getting a clutch of 12 eggs. I have hatched chicken eggs before but never guinea fowl. Any pointers on the differences besides the length? Also I would like to know more about brooding them. Thank you!

 

[nchls school]

Hello! In spring I am getting a clutch of 12 eggs. I have hatched chicken eggs before but never guinea fowl. Any pointers on the differences besides the length? Also I would like to know more about brooding them. Thank you!

It has been many years since I have had Guineas. I had the best luck hatching them under broody bantams. The guineas I had were not reliable parents. I remember one guinea hen hatching 25 or more chicks. Within days she had lost most of them in the wet grass and weeds. The chicks could not keep up with the hen. Others brooded too with similar results. I pulled the chicks after that and raised them under a heat lamp. I found the chicks frail for the first week or so after hatching. Those that survived the first few weeks did well after that. I did use incubators and I think they are the same as incubating chicken eggs, but not positive.

 

[beagleman77]

What bantams did you use

 

[000]

Sorry I have not posted in a while. I will some up what has happened in my flock:

I have good news and bad news. Bad news, my modern game bantam passed a few days ago. I think that it was moldy feed, but I am sending her to a lab just in case. It is free in California to have avian tested in a lab. Good news, I finally got those rescue hens that I have been wanting! They get along with the flock great and they are super cute!
After their bath:

They look kind of funky, but they are cute!


I'm not sure what kind of news this is, good or bad. My brain damaged silkie started sitting on six non-fertile eggs. I moved her into a nesting box from the ground. Poor thing. She sits next to them sometimes.

-Gracie

 

[000]

I am very sorry. My computer glitched and posted that in the wrong forum

. Pay no attention to the previous post please. Sorry again!
-Gracie

 

[nchls school]

What bantams did you use

I had mix breeds at the time.

 

[NBKOC64]

We hatch our guinea eggs in a cabinet incubator, but any broody chicken hen will also do the job. Temp in incubator is the same for hatching guineas as is for chickens (~99.5 degrees F). I try to keep mine between 100 and 100.5 degrees F. We keep the humidity at 50%+ all during incubation. The last few days we try to raise humidity closer to 60%. After hatch, care is the same as for chickens. We keep our guinea keets and other chicks (chickens & turkeys) in the same brooder. They do just fine together. I think the guinea keets feel more safe/comfortable in a smaller enclosure for the first week. After that, they like to run wild.

 

[000]

Thank you!