Lost a Guinea :( Update :(

SassyKat6181

Songster
9 Years
Aug 30, 2010
972
15
133
Western Mass
The guineas have been giving me a terrible time getting them in at night. They have found a small hole in the brush at the back of our property and then can't figure out how to come back through. Twice last week I had to "show" them. Last night, the birds were in front of the barn by 5pm and I went down to escort them in. When I did a head count, there were only 10
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I went out calling and listening, but didn't see or hear anything. When I went back to the coop to make sure I had indeed counted wrong, the birds were all quiet and laying down. They are usually very noisy and excited about dinner. I wonder if the lost bird was taken by a predator and maybe they saw it happen.
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This morning, there were two soft shell eggs layed under the perch, which also makes me think they had a traumatic day. They have been laying really nice eggs for a month or so. I had hoped today that they would find their missing friend and bring him/her home, but nope, only 10. Bummer!
 
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Could she have started a nest? She could quite possibly have started a nest. Since you mentioned that you found two eggs already, she could have just started laying herself and went broody, or she could have been laying a little bit before the other girls and started a nest.
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~ Aspen
 
I usually let them out in the afternoon once they've laid their eggs. I get about 4-6 a day. It's also getting cooler here (western Massachusetts) so I'm not so sure they'd be nesting this late in the season. Thanks for the hopeful outlook though.
 
It's possible she did go broody as mentioned by Mrs Fluffy Puffy... my Hens lay a little later every day so your missing bird may have been laying late (outside) and is sitting on a community nest the rest of the late layers have been sharing (these sneaky birds are so determined sometimes). If you don't find a feather pile or trail of feathers that's hopefully where your 11th bird is
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I had one who would run around all morning, then lay an egg in the nest in the afternoon and sit on it until dark. I let her do this because a knew where the nest was and could keep an eye on her. One night she refused to leave the nest (it was under an air conditioning unit) and go into the coop. I went and pick her up (she did not like that at all) put her in the coop and then stole her eggs. The point is your guinea could be sitting on a nest somewhere. Watch the males. Lots of time one of them will be guarding her and always be close by. Good luck, hope you find her!
 
Thanks everyone. I thought I had 6 females and only counted 5 in the coop last night. Are they always quiet when they sit on a nest? I went around hollering "dinner" but didn't hear anything. Maybe this afternoon when I let them out I will follow for a little bit. (provided my children take a nap at the same time
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) There are just so many fields, brush and wooded areas, it may be near impossible to find her. What is the normal incubation period for guineas? I should mark my calendar just in case to watch out for babies.
 
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Hens literally become invisible when they are sitting on a nest, and completely silent. So you will have to look really hard for her, everywhere at least 3 times, lol. It can take a Hen anywhere between 26 and 28 days to hatch out her keets, depending on the day time temps... that is if a predator does not pick her off in the meantime
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As mentioned, sometimes her male will stand guard and possibly even lead you to her, but usually it's just for the daily egg laying and they end up losing interest in the Hen once the she goes full-time broody.
 
Got really excited to find the "missing" guinea in front of the coop waiting to be let in this morning about 10am. Went down to collect eggs and check on everyone at 730 (as usual) and found the guinea dead on the floor. Cried for a few minutes and got a pair of gloves. I figured I ought to look her over to see if she had been attacked. *CAUTION GRAPHIC* Upon flipping her over I found her entire rear end covered with tiny maggot looking worms. They were everywhere, tail end and into her thighs....no feathers in these areas either. I didn't dig around to see if there was a wound, there were way too many worms. So now I am wondering when she got attacked and how long it took for her to get this bad. I am assuming the infection and worms are what killed her? I feel horrible. I never noticed any of the birds acting abnormally, until she went missing two days ago. I caught a few other birds in the net and gave them a good lookover.....all clean. I am going to put wazine in their water tomorrow just in case. We have some nasty rain coming in, so everyone will be quarantined for a few days so I can watch them. I also (with gloves on) dissected some of their poo and it was clean. Any thoughts??? Thanks
 
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