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Only 4 of my guineas hatched???

Discussion in 'Incubating & Hatching Eggs' started by BettyR, Sep 22, 2010.

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  1. Sep 22, 2010 #1
    BettyR

    BettyR Chillin' With My Peeps

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    Mar 1, 2008
    Texas Gulf Coast
    My momma guinea was sitting on a nest of 17 eggs and only 4 of the chicks were able to break out of the shells. All the rest of the chicks had little beaks sticking out of holes in the eggs but never made it the rest of the way out. Does anyone know why this would happen?

    My guineas are free range and the hen was sitting on a nest I didn’t know she had until she came up to the house with 4 chicks. I went searching for the nest and finally found it today. Of course by then it was too late to help the remaining chicks.

    I caught the mom and the 4 chicks and put them in my brooder. I’ll keep them there until the chicks are old enough to fly out of the brooder on their own and follow their mom. That seems to be the only way to keep the chicks alive. If I try letting the mom raise them on her own the chicks don’t seem to last more than a day or two. But I’m at a loss as to why the chicks would not be able to break out of the eggs.
     
  3. Sep 23, 2010 #2
    mrslb333

    mrslb333 Chillin' With My Peeps

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    Jun 15, 2010
    Halifax, Nova Scotia
    i found this info on a from a guinea fowl expert.
    "After 27 days the keets begin to hatch. They need to be carefully watched at this point as old broken egg shells need removing from the incubator, otherwise they can get wrapped around a whole egg and give it a double layer, preventing hatching. Guinea Fowl eggs are 4 times harder than hen eggs which means that only fit, healthy keets will hatch. Sometimes keets need a little help after chipping, under the shell is a membrane which quickly dries out and traps the keet inside, I gently prise bits of shell off with my fingernail until the keet can get out of the shell."
    Hope it helps [​IMG]
     
  5. Sep 23, 2010 #3
    brosnond

    brosnond New Egg

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    Sep 22, 2010
    Oh.. that's very bad.!! Only 4 out of 17.. its not a better calculation.. but yeah.. better luck for the hatching on next time..


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  7. Sep 23, 2010 #4
    BettyR

    BettyR Chillin' With My Peeps

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    Texas Gulf Coast
    Quote:Thank you so much for the info...I'll be watching for nests in the spring. I just didn't expect to have a hen hatching eggs this late in the season.







    Quote:Thanks...
     

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