How To Tell If Guinea Eggs Are Fertile

[billfields]

I have five guineas. In the last couple of weeks two have stopped coming to the roost and are not around. I think they are off on nests. Yesterday I followed a third and found her nest with 20 eggs. Today it has 21 so she is still adding to the clutch. Problem is I think all five of mine are hens. These are my first guineas. They were a year old in May and I have never seen any of the aggressive behavior I hear males engage in nor have I ever seen them....well...do what the hens are rooster do every about10 minuets!

I am afraid two of them are off on nests of infertile eggs and that the third is getting ready to brood a third infertile nest.

My question is this: I know how to look for the dot on a hen's egg indicating it is fertile and I'm pretty well able to tell fertile from infertile. If I took an egg from the nest I know about and crack it to look would the guinea's egg be the same. Or is there something else to look for?

I would be just as happy to find that the eggs are duds. Earlier this year one went off for a few days but came back. That was when I determined they were all female, figured she had given it a try and given up. So I went looking at the Cackle hatchery page and kinda sorta ordered their 10 keet small order special. So I have five with 10 more arriving July 12. Even if they are REALLY bad mothers I don't need these three hatching another 30 or 40!

Appreciate any thought suggestions to tell if the eggs are fertile.

Bill

 

[BarbaraNH]

They are the same. Look for the same enlarged dot on the yolk to check if the eggs are fertile or not.

 

[billfields]

Thanks. I cracked one egg a couple of days. It strikes me as infertile...I see more of a blob than a bulls eye. But it was right tasty scrambled!

 

[BarbaraNH]

Love your plate! Guinea eggs are delicious!

 

[PeepsCA]

Yep, infertile.
Here's a pic of a couple of my Guinea's eggs...

Does not matter to the Hens whether they are laying fertile or infertile eggs tho, they will still set/go broody on them.

 

[Buckwheat Rancher]

How long will they "go broody" if the eggs are infertile and/or never hatch?

 

[R2elk]

How long will they "go broody" if the eggs are infertile and/or never hatch?

Guineas are no different than any other poultry when it comes to setting on infertile eggs. They will continue to sit until the eggs hatch or until something or someone makes them stop if the eggs are infertile.