I found a nest of guinea eggs!

[Ryder_sanders]

I found a nest of guinea eggs. None of my Guineas are sitting on the nest. I couldnt reach them, so I sent my German shepherd in to get some..she did great and brought me some but the nest is in a thicket of thorns.. Do I leave them there? Wont they rot? & attract predators? If I remove the eggs will they find a new egg spot? If the guineas are not sitting on them does it mean they are not fertile? ..this is my and my Guineas 1st egg season, so I have many questions.

Great doggo!!!!

 

[Sydney65]

Yeah for me the whole nesting thing is the single biggest PIA part about guineas. Nesting leads them to wander (across the road at my place) and causes them to get picked off by predators. When the hen fails to come back at night I angst over whether a predator caught her or if she’s on a nest waiting to get picked off. Where I am the keets don’t freeze so much but babies have a hard time keeping up with the flock. Others have posted here about their great Guinea dads so Hamlet is something of an outlier, I hope! Other Guinea cocks have been better with the babies than Hamlet was, but none have been a real partner. In my hen heavy flock, other hens seem to take an “auntie” role in helping to raise the keets instead of the cocks. Keep us updated!

Is it really mating season already??!! I suppose my thinking is off, bc if I'm receiving keets at the end of May, they're being layed in a couple of weeks W/my flock size down, I may not see normal behavior w/the 3, but I'm just not seeing it yet. Mia will make like he's going to chase Brodie, but doesn't (human comparison, raise fist step forward, scowl, but then walk away) & the 3 cont to mosey along. Nor has she started laying yet, & she always starts that way before courting kicks in. Nor roaming; they're still doing endless circles around the house.
Lol..turn away, R2, I'm about to apply those human characteristics..bc after watching Numi ranting at & continuously kicking that little ball out of her area, the image of her reaction to laying her 1st egg is pretty amusing!

 

[R2elk]

Is it really mating season already??!! I suppose my thinking is off, bc if I'm receiving keets at the end of May, they're being layed in a couple of weeks W/my flock size down, I may not see normal behavior w/the 3, but I'm just not seeing it yet. Mia will make like he's going to chase Brodie, but doesn't (human comparison, raise fist step forward, scowl, but then walk away) & the 3 cont to mosey along. Nor has she started laying yet, & she always starts that way before courting kicks in. Nor roaming; they're still doing endless circles around the house.
Lol..turn away, R2, I'm about to apply those human characteristics..bc after watching Numi ranting at & continuously kicking that little ball out of her area, the image of her reaction to laying her 1st egg is pretty amusing!

It's been breeding season here since early February. My guineas probably won't start laying until next month because they are all getting older. Laying season may have gotten a set back the last couple of nights with lows of 9°F and 11°F.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Is it really mating season already??!! I suppose my thinking is off, bc if I'm receiving keets at the end of May, they're being layed in a couple of weeks W/my flock size down, I may not see normal behavior w/the 3, but I'm just not seeing it yet. Mia will make like he's going to chase Brodie, but doesn't (human comparison, raise fist step forward, scowl, but then walk away) & the 3 cont to mosey along. Nor has she started laying yet, & she always starts that way before courting kicks in. Nor roaming; they're still doing endless circles around the house.
Lol..turn away, R2, I'm about to apply those human characteristics..bc after watching Numi ranting at & continuously kicking that little ball out of her area, the image of her reaction to laying her 1st egg is pretty amusing!

I think that the younger birds lay earlier. Since mine are all locked up, I can see that it’s my new birds laying. They don’t know what to do yet so they are laying the eggs all over and kicking them around too! I figure that once the older hens start laying they will show the youngsters how the nests work.

 

[Sydney65]

I think that the younger birds lay earlier. Since mine are all locked up, I can see that it’s my new birds laying. They don’t know what to do yet so they are laying the eggs all over and kicking them around too! I figure that once the older hens start laying they will show the youngsters how the nests work.

It's been breeding season here since early February. My guineas probably won't start laying until next month because they are all getting older. Laying season may have gotten a set back the last couple of nights with lows of 9°F and 11°F.

And as I was typing that, I was recalling you and I discussing last year that things were kicking up in February. What is considered "older"? I guess this wld be Mama's 4th yr. Likewise, neither male is a yr old yet, until July & August.
Did you, @R2elk , get the 40"?

 

[R2elk]

Did you, @R2elk , get the 40"?

No, one day I got 2", most melted before the storm came back and dumped another 3 1/2" which also melted before another storm a couple of days later added about 1 1/2" which is now almost gone.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

And as I was typing that, I was recalling you and I discussing last year that things were kicking up in February. What is considered "older"? I guess this wld be Mama's 4th yr. Likewise, neither male is a yr old yet, until July & August.
Did you, @R2elk , get the 40"?

Did you get 40” of snow??? Crazy!

 

[Sydney65]

So what is considered old? I remember reading that they slow down at 3 yrs & feeling bad that I didn't let her have a hatch until she was 3, but R2 said he had hens older than that still going.
In the same vein- they typically start laying the next spring after hatch, but am curious if I should expect that when Numi is only 6 mo.? The boys appear full grown but are only +/- 8 months.

 

[R2elk]

So what is considered old? I remember reading that they slow down at 3 yrs & feeling bad that I didn't let her have a hatch until she was 3, but R2 said he had hens older than that still going.
In the same vein- they typically start laying the next spring after hatch, but am curious if I should expect that when Numi is only 6 mo.? The boys appear full grown but are only +/- 8 months.

My hens have been slowing down and laying later each year as they get older. At 8 years old for the oldest ones, they did lay fewer eggs last year. All evidence indicates that even the oldest hens laid eggs last year but they definitely were not laying every day like they did when they were younger.

At 6 months old, a guinea hen is sexually mature and capable of breeding and laying eggs. The problem with imprinting Numi like you have is that she may not realize that she is a guinea and may not take kindly to breeding attempts from the boys.

 

[Sydney65]

My hens have been slowing down and laying later each year as they get older. At 8 years old for the oldest ones, they did lay fewer eggs last year. All evidence indicates that even the oldest hens laid eggs last year but they definitely were not laying every day like they did when they were younger.

At 6 months old, a guinea hen is sexually mature and capable of breeding and laying eggs. The problem with imprinting Numi like you have is that she may not realize that she is a guinea and may not take kindly to breeding attempts from the boys.

True, she does avoid the Jumbos entirely, and I'm ok with that, to be honest. She responds to their call, calls back, but that's it. She's going in the new coop and the new keets will go in with her. Given the way Mia responded to Mama's keets, she'll respond in kind.