Thanks to CluckNDoodle amd Jolenesdad for cheering me up - y’all are really so sweet! You know what’s funny? I saw those dead keets and freaked out, drove the guinea mamas off with my herding stick, which is probably when those two eggs got stepped on. I locked the coop doors and sorted eggs and cleaned for hours. Concord, one of the guinea hens, circled constantly and repeatedly tried to get back into the coop. So, when it was all clean, I grabbed a dozen guinea eggs from my garage that I had saved last month, meaning to blow them out. I put them on the coolest part of the nest in case Concord still wanted to sit, then opened the doors. All five guinea moms
dashed back in, stared at the new nest area and eggs, and ended up sleeping in the same spots as in the old nest. Today, one sat on the eggs, one sat on straw, and the rest stood around and chatted with each other, rarely leaving the coop. Tonight, one of the hens gave up and roosted. So, all of this time that I’ve been convinced that they'd leave the nest if disturbed, there was the distinct possibility of chasing them off once a week and removing bad eggs from the nest!
Anyway, this is giving me many thoughts for the new coop that I plan to build them this fall. I’ve been thinking of nest boxes that don’t lend themselves to communal nesting. Also thinking of selecting for guinea hens that will lay in the coop nest, tolerate my disturbance, and appropriately care for keets. Despite their “wild” reputation, I think that few people allow them to incubate and brood, so it’s possible that we’ve been selecting against mothering ability...
dashed back in, stared at the new nest area and eggs, and ended up sleeping in the same spots as in the old nest. Today, one sat on the eggs, one sat on straw, and the rest stood around and chatted with each other, rarely leaving the coop. Tonight, one of the hens gave up and roosted. So, all of this time that I’ve been convinced that they'd leave the nest if disturbed, there was the distinct possibility of chasing them off once a week and removing bad eggs from the nest!
Anyway, this is giving me many thoughts for the new coop that I plan to build them this fall. I’ve been thinking of nest boxes that don’t lend themselves to communal nesting. Also thinking of selecting for guinea hens that will lay in the coop nest, tolerate my disturbance, and appropriately care for keets. Despite their “wild” reputation, I think that few people allow them to incubate and brood, so it’s possible that we’ve been selecting against mothering ability...
I do occasionally see pictures of guineas running around with their keets (or more interestingly the chicken/guinea crosses) so I know they can't all be terrible Mom's. It certainly raises more questions than answers for me. Lol
Congrats on such a fantastic hatch!!! I hope you'll share a picture of all of them when they're all fluffed up! 
