New Incubation Questions

[CluckNDoodle]

Well I hope I don’t have the opportunity to get some pictures, but I’ll try to remember if I have any more… My shrink wraps have been broody guinea hatched eggs. My last two batches ove the last two years were hatched by the same hen, Welch. She’s a fantastic setter, but when the keets started hatching last year, she acted completely freaked out by the hatching eggs - she was off and on the eggs constantly. About a quarter of her keets were shrink wrapped like this, and I lost them all. This year, I figured she would now understand and properly lock herself down on the hatching eggs… nope! She wasn’t as bad about it as last year but still off and on at the beginning. I think one of the first eggs that hatched ended up shrink wrapped, but I didn’t know until she got off the nest two days later (the problem with broody hatches) so again lost that keet. The membrane was dark and hard, and stuck to the keet in multiple areas. The keet was still alive so I released it and put it in the incubator, but I guess it had exhausted itself trying to get out as it passed a few hours later.

I'm so sorry you experienced that!

 

[Sydney65]

Well I hope I don’t have the opportunity to get some pictures, but I’ll try to remember if I have any more… My shrink wraps have been broody guinea hatched eggs. My last two batches ove the last two years were hatched by the same hen, Welch. She’s a fantastic setter, but when the keets started hatching last year, she acted completely freaked out by the hatching eggs - she was off and on the eggs constantly. About a quarter of her keets were shrink wrapped like this, and I lost them all. This year, I figured she would now understand and properly lock herself down on the hatching eggs… nope! She wasn’t as bad about it as last year but still off and on at the beginning. I think one of the first eggs that hatched ended up shrink wrapped, but I didn’t know until she got off the nest two days later (the problem with broody hatches) so again lost that keet. The membrane was dark and hard, and stuck to the keet in multiple areas. The keet was still alive so I released it and put it in the incubator, but I guess it had exhausted itself trying to get out as it passed a few hours later.

I wonder what Rosie will do this year. I mean, I don't have any males, but she defied every bad mom stereotype there was last yr. I was giggling as I read someone's post about how it took 3 ppl to hold the hen while another moved the keets. I grabbed a basket, handed it to my friend, then I picked up Mama and the friend scooped up the keets & everyone went to the coop. If I picked up one of her keets and it squealed, she came, saw it was me, walked away.
It would be awesome if guinea hens were reliable like broody chickens.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I wonder what Rosie will do this year. I mean, I don't have any males, but she defied every bad mom stereotype there was last yr. I was giggling as I read someone's post about how it took 3 ppl to hold the hen while another moved the keets. I grabbed a basket, handed it to my friend, then I picked up Mama and the friend scooped up the keets & everyone went to the coop. If I picked up one of her keets and it squealed, she came, saw it was me, walked away.
It would be awesome if guinea hens were reliable like broody chickens.

A local friend of mine has a guinea hen right now that hatched 10 keets on her own and remained free ranging with her flock. Surprisingly she has successfully raised 7 of them and as far as I can tell they're old enough to not be relying on her anymore. I told my friend that she needs to keep allowing that within her flock to see if the "good broody gene" can be bred back in to guineas. I remember chatting with @Mixed flock enthusiast about this in the past too. I mean, they used to make it without your intervention somehow. Lol

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I wonder what Rosie will do this year. I mean, I don't have any males, but she defied every bad mom stereotype there was last yr. I was giggling as I read someone's post about how it took 3 ppl to hold the hen while another moved the keets. I grabbed a basket, handed it to my friend, then I picked up Mama and the friend scooped up the keets & everyone went to the coop. If I picked up one of her keets and it squealed, she came, saw it was me, walked away.
It would be awesome if guinea hens were reliable like broody chickens.

I’ve had at least one broody chicken hatch a year for the past few years, and those have all gone well (knock on wood). I even take the eggs out from under the hens on the 18th night and vaccinate them in ovo, then slip them back under. The hens have been fine with that too. Watching the chicken hens is how I know what mom is supposed to do when she feels her eggs hatching! She’s supposed to get a glazed look in her eye and just zone out, locked down tight while eggs hatch. Some of my hens seem like their legs hurt afterwards and I wonder if they are crouching over the eggs to give the chicks room to hatch, like the ultimate squat?

Anyway, I didn’t think guinea hens are unique in their difficulties hatching. In general, my guinea hens have been much better “setters” than “hatchers”, which I’ve read can be problematic in chickens too. There are plenty of tales of bad broody chickens! If you Google or search on BYCs for something like “hens killing chicks”, you will find all sorts of horror stories… I can’t find the post now, but someone posted about how “setting” is a different behavior than “hatching” and “brooding”, and that hens have to be good at switching between all of these to successfully incubate, hatch, and raise their chicks. So some hens are good setters but bad at everything else… I would guess that guinea hens also differ in their abilities. Anyway Sydney, that’s great that Rosie is so capable! Maybe you can find eggs of a drivable distance to give her next year, and she will go broody in the coop for you? I expect that she will still be laying and willing to go broody without a cock around, or at least a chicken hen would…

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

A local friend of mine has a guinea hen right now that hatched 10 keets on her own and remained free ranging with her flock. Surprisingly she has successfully raised 7 of them and as far as I can tell they're old enough to not be relying on her anymore. I told my friend that she needs to keep allowing that within her flock to see if the "good broody gene" can be bred back in to guineas. I remember chatting with @Mixed flock enthusiast about this in the past too. I mean, they used to make it without your intervention somehow. Lol

Yeah, lots of people make broody guineas work! I feel like I’m doing it all the hard way… I’ve wondered about the nature vs nurture part of broodiness in guinea fowl. I was hoping that my broody hatched and raised guineas would be good broodies, but it’s all over the place! First nest had many moms (human incubated) that killed keets. Second hatch by a guinea hen (human incubated) was successful, but she abandoned her keet at 3 days old. Third hatch by a guinea hen (guinea incubated) was very successful. Fourth and fifth hatches were by the same hen (human incubated) who is afraid of the hatching eggs but good at everything else. Her mate (guinea incubated and reared) though killed their keets!

Edited to add: @R2elk how are things in turkeys? I’ve heard that they are excellent broodies… Do they ever fail at it? Does it matter if they were human incubated or not?

 

[R2elk]

how are things in turkeys? I’ve heard that they are excellent broodies… Do they ever fail at it? Does it matter if they were human incubated or not?

Most turkey hens are both excellent broodies and mothers. Young hens may abandon the nest before hatching but once they figure it out they are good at it.

Each turkey hen is an individual with her own idiosyncrasies. I had one hen that abandoned her newly hatched poults at one week old when she started laying again. The hen that was broody in the same area with her gladly adopted her poults and raised them with her own.

The problem is that there are far too many things that can go wrong when they are in the general population. There are reasons wild turkey hens seek out hidden areas where the toms can't find them to lay, brood, hatch and raise their poults.

Their behavior is instinctual and has nothing to do with whether they were hen brooded or hatched in an incubator.

As far as guineas go, not all of them will go broody. The ones that go broody are capable of hatching the eggs as long as they are not allowed to have a ginormous nest. I don't let any of my guinea hens brood eggs because that would mean allowing them to sit outside at night in a predator filled world.

I did have a unique situation this year where a hen was so well hidden that I did not find her until she came off the nest the next morning. It was two more weeks before I found the nest. That morning I caught her and put her in my grow out pen with a lone keet that I had in the brooder. She did not attack the keet but she also did not mother it. They spent about 6 weeks together in the grow out pen before I returned her and the keet to the coop with the others.

After a couple of days in the release pen without any attacks by the others, I released them. The hen merged right back in with the group. Due to the timing the youngster went through an awful period of being attacked by all of the guineas except her. It was right when breeding season was over and everyone was returning to the main group. All of them were in constant turmoil due to pecking order readjustments. It took several more weeks before the youngster found his place in the flock.

 

[Sydney65]

A local friend of mine has a guinea hen right now that hatched 10 keets on her own and remained free ranging with her flock. Surprisingly she has successfully raised 7 of them and as far as I can tell they're old enough to not be relying on her anymore. I told my friend that she needs to keep allowing that within her flock to see if the "good broody gene" can be bred back in to guineas. I remember chatting with @Mixed flock enthusiast about this in the past too. I mean, they used to make it without your intervention somehow. Lol

She hatched 24; I think stepped on 3, or they suffocated at the bottom, after hatching. Her only down fall was not being able to protect all of them while free ranging at 3 wks. If she would stick to nesting in the coop, I'd buy eggs, swap them out & let her have at it. She did ok in the flower bed last yr, but it was nerve racking leaving her out there at night.

 

[Sydney65]

I’ve had at least one broody chicken hatch a year for the past few years, and those have all gone well (knock on wood). I even take the eggs out from under the hens on the 18th night and vaccinate them in ovo, then slip them back under. The hens have been fine with that too. Watching the chicken hens is how I know what mom is supposed to do when she feels her eggs hatching! She’s supposed to get a glazed look in her eye and just zone out, locked down tight while eggs hatch. Some of my hens seem like their legs hurt afterwards and I wonder if they are crouching over the eggs to give the chicks room to hatch, like the ultimate squat?

Anyway, I didn’t think guinea hens are unique in their difficulties hatching. In general, my guinea hens have been much better “setters” than “hatchers”, which I’ve read can be problematic in chickens too. There are plenty of tales of bad broody chickens! If you Google or search on BYCs for something like “hens killing chicks”, you will find all sorts of horror stories… I can’t find the post now, but someone posted about how “setting” is a different behavior than “hatching” and “brooding”, and that hens have to be good at switching between all of these to successfully incubate, hatch, and raise their chicks. So some hens are good setters but bad at everything else… I would guess that guinea hens also differ in their abilities. Anyway Sydney, that’s great that Rosie is so capable! Maybe you can find eggs of a drivable distance to give her next year, and she will go broody in the coop for you? I expect that she will still be laying and willing to go broody without a cock around, or at least a chicken hen would…

The legs - yes, when she would come off the nest, she walked crouched and slow like an old woman; the boys would walk on either side of her to the field. I never knew what "broody poo" was bc she went straight to the field so I never witnessed that. Someone mentioned once that birds were bad at camouflage bc where ever they nested there was that, eggs, and feathers. Seemed to me like she knew more than that person gave her credit for. She didn't line her nest w/feathers, either. I can't say if she plucked any for skin to skin contact.
But she was pretty much zoned out most of the time. She called out when I called the others in at night, and there was another call that wasn't buckwheating, it was more of a honk. I finally quit running out there everytime she did it, bc there was nothing there. But she was able to block out the boys moving around her w/the other keets and me working in the garden nearby.
Guess who has a full crop. he's getting a lighter color.

 

[Sydney65]

Yeah, lots of people make broody guineas work! I feel like I’m doing it all the hard way… I’ve wondered about the nature vs nurture part of broodiness in guinea fowl. I was hoping that my broody hatched and raised guineas would be good broodies, but it’s all over the place! First nest had many moms (human incubated) that killed keets. Second hatch by a guinea hen (human incubated) was successful, but she abandoned her keet at 3 days old. Third hatch by a guinea hen (guinea incubated) was very successful. Fourth and fifth hatches were by the same hen (human incubated) who is afraid of the hatching eggs but good at everything else. Her mate (guinea incubated and reared) though killed their keets!

Edited to add: @R2elk how are things in turkeys? I’ve heard that they are excellent broodies… Do they ever fail at it? Does it matter if they were human incubated or not?

Hmmm....Mia was incubated and reared. I don't know how she'll do w/hatching, but she certainly took to rearing Rosie's brood, & she was only weeks older than them. She still mother hen's Brodie. I guess we'll see what Brodie does next year.

 

[southwind00]

Yeah, lots of people make broody guineas work! I feel like I’m doing it all the hard way… I’ve wondered about the nature vs nurture part of broodiness in guinea fowl. I was hoping that my broody hatched and raised guineas would be good broodies, but it’s all over the place! First nest had many moms (human incubated) that killed keets. Second hatch by a guinea hen (human incubated) was successful, but she abandoned her keet at 3 days old. Third hatch by a guinea hen (guinea incubated) was very successful. Fourth and fifth hatches were by the same hen (human incubated) who is afraid of the hatching eggs but good at everything else. Her mate (guinea incubated and reared) though killed their keets!

I may just be lucky but this is the second year I have had a successful broody hatch and rearing all in the coop with only 3 out of eleven hatchlings getting trampled or exposed to cold. They were all hatched over the july 4th weekend where we had an exceptionally cold few days where highs were in the mid 60s and 50's at night. It is the second year with my white hen teaming up with my oldest cock and another pearl hen. Last year my lavender hen was the second hen involved. After reading all the posts the last few months with all the disappointing results of incubating and integrating of keets I just feel fortunate that I didn't have to go through any of that. And though the little incubating I have done has been more a result of luck than skill, I do feel that a lot of the problems with integrating of keets ,even after they have been successfully introduced within the coop all hinges on flock dynamics.

This years 8 keets where reared in the coop amongst the general population(12) from day one and all three guarded the keets with abandon especially the cock who never let any of the other guineas anywhere near the keets. I am not real sure exactly how much the other population guineas tried to attack the new keets, I saw some aggression but not a lot. I'd like to think that being the oldest and biggest he carries some clout but after the 8 keets started free ranging with the general population, him, being my oldest and biggest cock was challenged constantly by younger and faster cocks. By September he looked the worst for wear as far as lost feathers out of all of them, but that being said, he's still top dog as things are settling out. I have one big flock now ,but as it stands I have to many hens so it looks like guinea cacciatore is going to be on the menu soon. I feel it is important to maintain the good dynamics with just a few more hens than cocks, and as long as I have coop reared keets coming the dynamics should stay the same.
Here's a vid of the three adults with keets and the cock is telegraphing to me I am close enough. And I understood!