our guinea disappears at night??? :(

[Naturegirl44]

We have a guinea hen and lately (2 nights in a row now) she has disappeared before they all go to roost. For the last 2 nights we thought she got eaten by a fox or something (we are in the bush in northern ontario) because she is always wandering off on her own. But she showed up late in the afternoon today and then disappeared again!!! There is one section of the bush thats real thick and slightly wet and she is always down there. We have seen her squacking at that section of the bush alot over the last month and hanging out down there.

Is it possible that she has built herself a nest and is laying back there? While we do not have a male guinea, our rooster has been seen having his way with her. My man just called me and said Miss Guinea is missing again and we have been so worried. I fear some predator will get her. He doesn't want to go searching for her at night with a flash light in that area for fear of scaring her off and not being able to find her.

He will be out first thing in the morning and looking for her in that area. He has searched high and low in the back bush all afternoon today with no success but when he got home and had a late lunch then came outside, there she was! in the run. He check her out and she was fine but when he went out to shut the coop door she was missing again. He search all the tree's in and arou nd the coop, under the coop, and in the forest behind the coop. No Miss Guinea.

The area we now think she is, is very thick brush and hard to access. We will have to keep a close eye on her now and being a worried chicken mama i just want to ground her to her room lol i am worried.

Any thoughts or suggestions? If she makes it through the night

 

[countrygoddess]

She may have decided she like to be up in a tree for the night...

 

[Naturegirl44]

That is possible.! She didn't come back til 4 this afternoon and then disappeared again. They have only been free range since we rescued a flock of 10 hens ( including Miss Guinea) and 1 rooster in May this year. So this is the first time in her life she has been free to do what she wants.

Another questions......can a rooster fertilize a Guinea hen's eggs?

 

[Naturegirl44]

He has been looking up in the tree's with no luck.

 

[Hotcookie]

Yes, I think maybe your little girl might have gone broody and is laying on a nest. Doesn't matter if the eggs she might have laid in the nest are fertile or not - she doesn't know that, either......It's just a basic instinct for them to want to "nest". If you're worried about her being out there at night, look for the nest tomorrow during the daylight and take the eggs away. I have a chicken that's "broody" right now, too - she's laying on eggs that aren't fertile because we don't have a rooster, but that doesn't stop her from doing it.

 

[Naturegirl44]

Thanks so much for the info. Joe is going to search high and low in the morning and if he finds it he will take the eggs or maybe bring them to the coop and put them in her favourite nest box?

I just worry about a predator getting her if she is on the ground.

 

[Hotcookie]

Good luck with the little mama!! A lot of times after people handle the eggs, they don't like to have anything to do with them, so I don't know whether she would come back to them at that point - but what the heck? It's worth a try!! My girls didn't mind if I touched their eggs, but then again, I just moved them all together from all 6 of the nest boxes in their coop, into two of them, to better contain them. If you find the eggs/nest, you might want to just toss them, and keep an eye on her in the future. Hope she's safe tonite!

 

[Naturegirl44]

Joe found her nest this morning. Its in a deep thicket, well buried. He almost stepped on her a few times before he actually found her and she didn't make a peep. He said she didn't even move. So he has left her for now and hopes that his scent and the dogs scent that is now surrounding her will deter any predator from coming near her and the nest.

Now the question is do we put the eggs in a nesting box? or incubate them?

We are not sure what will happen if any are fertilized as they would be hybrid guinea/rooster chicks/keets. I think will post a seperate thread asking for any info on that. Joe is concerned with raising zombie's and starting the zombie apocalypse!! lmao in others he is worried that we will get really cute adorable babies and then they will die on us.

 

[Hotcookie]

Glad you found her and the nest! But I wouldn't count on your scents to deter predators. I'd gather up the eggs from the nest today before something terrible happens to her. If you really wanted to, you could try incubating the eggs, but I don't think anything will come of it. I've heard of male guineas fertilizing chicken eggs, but shortly after hatching, they all die. I'd just throw the eggs away, and keep an eye on her to see if she continues to lay her eggs out in the woods. If so, gather them up before she has a clutch to sit on. Keep me posted!!

 

[jammyjammy2112]

i wouldn't use her eggs they would proble go rotten and not hatch but if you wanted to buy eggs and put them under her would be good but you would have to leave her where she is guineas dont tend to sit in a new nest if you move her