Mini guinea...and her eggs??????

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

This past hatch season i hatched the first Batch of guinea fowl ever. I found a nest after they matured...finally. Out of those eggs i probably had a 70percent hatch rate. All the eggs were normal in sized and hatched at a normal rate for guineas. These were the first guineas i had ever had on the place, i purchased them as keets from TSC. Whenever They were big enough i released them to free range over 13 acres. Whenever they come to feed in the evening time. I throw out a mixture of cracked corn, chick starter, and lay crumbles for dinner. Even though they free range I still feed them. Out of those that hatched I noticed there was one that was not growing. Just Stunted, mini, or a late bloomer i guessed. Call her my mini guinea and I figure she is a female because the call she makes and she is still alive and accepted by the other fowl. She has started laying and all her eggs are undersized...mini. Has anyone else had a mini guinea laying mini eggs? And is there any point in trying to hatch? What may have caused this? Breeding? Brooding? DNA?

 

[R2elk]

The small eggs are likely due to her size. Her size may be due to original nutrition or genetics.

If her eggs are fertile they may develop into normal size guineas or not.

If they develop into more mini guineas it may indicate that her size is due to a genetic mutation.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

So if the eggs are fertile and hatch there is a chance they could be minis 2? Obviously she is a female or she wouldnt be laying. Just reread my post. Duh? Could her hatch mates be laying mini eggs also? Ive seen 3 laying in the same spot///

 

[R2elk]

So if the eggs are fertile and hatch there is a chance they could be minis 2? Obviously she is a female or she wouldnt be laying. Just reread my post. Duh? Could her hatch mates be laying mini eggs also? Ive seen 3 laying in the same spot///

It is common for new layers to lay smaller than normal eggs. Just like pullets their eggs become normal size as time passes.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

ty @R2elk...hope i dont have a mini gene in my guinea fowl. Hope this is just their first lay and like you said they will/may be smaller the first batch. ty again

 

[Sydney65]

Doubt it's genetic. More than likely, due to her size, she gets crowded out from the food, so gets enough to survive but not really grow to her potential. I have one that was much smaller. He'd wait until everyone else finished or otherwise distracted from food before eating. Even setting up a special area for this one didn't work, he was just too nervous of others being near.
He's a yr old now and a beauty, albeit slightly thinner than others. Now that he's older he goes away from the others to graze or sneaks into run to eat while they're out, so I think he'll thicken up this year.
Aside from your hen's size, it's not unusual for 1st seasoners to start off laying small eggs, even "fairy eggs", about the size of a quarter. It's unlikely they are fertile, and fairy eggs would be too small for a keet to develop inside of.