Raising Guinea Fowl 101

[R2elk]

Hi, the link to Hatching eggs is not working, is there another one? Is the sound the only way to distinguish males from females?

Many of the original links do not work anymore because of the change in the Internet. I do not know which Hatching Eggs link you meant but Hatching Eggs 101 by @Sally Sunshine has everything a person could want to know about the whole hatching experience from egg collection to actual hatching.

The guaranteed way to sex them is if it lays an egg, it is a hen. The "buckwheat" call is close to 100% accurate. Once they are mature, there are other ways to sex them such as a hen will look right at you while a cock will look at you from the side while he sidles around trying to decide how to react to you. During laying season, hens will have the feathers on the lower back area fluffed up higher than their wing feathers. This is often referred to having her bustle up. Once paired up, the cock will lay still in one area as his hen meanders about in a circle around him usually picking for feed. Cocks will often catch bugs and offer them his mate.

When his hen is on a nest, a cock will stand erect nearby watching for any perceived danger as his hen sits on the nest to lay an egg.

 

[Maiahr]

Thank you. On the hatching guinea fowl I was looking for temperature and Lockdown day. I will ask around.
On sexing - my neighbour has 6 adults and they lay eggs. He doesn't know though if he has a male or not. I don't have pictures yet, so I am trying to explain to him by phone what to look for and how to find out if he has a male or not.

 

[R2elk]

Thank you. On the hatching guinea fowl I was looking for temperature and Lockdown day. I will ask around.
On sexing - my neighbour has 6 adults and they lay eggs. He doesn't know though if he has a male or not. I don't have pictures yet, so I am trying to explain to him by phone what to look for and how to find out if he has a male or not.

The temperature for hatching guinea eggs is the same as for chickens, turkeys or quail, 99.5°F for a forced air incubator and 101°F for a still air incubator. Guinea eggs can normally hatch from day 26 through day 28. I lockdown on day 25 but if a person is concerned it does not hurt to go to lockdown conditions earlier.

Guineas cannot be accurately sexed from pictures. If he has guineas in pairs, he has both males and females. In most cases guineas prefer to pair up during breeding and laying season, one hen to one cock. Occasionally a dominant cock will claim a second hen.

 

[Maiahr]

Thank you.. so since my neighbor cannot be bothered observing them, is the only way to find out if there is a male to crack/incubate eggs and see if they are fertile?

 

[R2elk]

Thank you.. so since my neighbor cannot be bothered observing them, is the only way to find out if there is a male to crack/incubate eggs and see if they are fertile?

Those are about your only choices unless you want to do the observing yourself. If he is finding as many eggs daily as he has guineas, he does not have any males. If he is finding fewer eggs daily than he has hens, it is very likely that he has both sexes.

 

[Sydney65]

I read a comment somewhere - the person was saying it wasn't THAT hard to find the eggs, bc as you get closer the male will start yelling at you. I'll leave it to @R2elk to verify or debunk. But if verified, I take it the female won't have that reaction. Does that help? I did read that there's a way to accurately sex guineas, but it's invasive and not something I wld want to try w/my own birds, let alone the neighbors.

 

[R2elk]

I read a comment somewhere - the person was saying it wasn't THAT hard to find the eggs, bc as you get closer the male will start yelling at you. I'll leave it to @R2elk to verify or debunk. But if verified, I take it the female won't have that reaction. Does that help? I did read that there's a way to accurately sex guineas, but it's invasive and not something I wld want to try w/my own birds, let alone the neighbors.

It is common for the guinea cock to stand erect and alarm when anything approaches his hen on a nest. If he happens to have multiple hens, he may not do this. The hen will sit as tightly and quietly, immobile as possible on the nest. They can hide very well. I have walked right past a hen on a nest without noticing her but if she gets off of the nest, the eggs are much easier to spot unless she has covered them up.

Adult guineas can be vent sexed if you know what you are looking for. Hens that are currently laying are really easy to tell by vent sexing. It is not that difficult to gently spread the vent open and is not harmful to an adult guinea.

 

[duluthralphie]

It is common for the guinea cock to stand erect and alarm when anything approaches his hen on a nest. If he happens to have multiple hens, he may not do this. The hen will sit as tightly and quietly immobile as possible on the nest. They can hide very well. I have walked right past a hen on a nest without noticing her but if she gets off of the nest, the eggs are much easier to spot unless she has covered them up.

Adult guineas can be vent sexed if you know what you are looking for. Hens that are currently laying are really easy to tell by vent sexing. It is not that difficult to gently spread the vent open and is not harmful to an adult guinea.

I can verify the hens sit tight. I had one come out from under the brush hog (on my bobcat) . Amazingly, she did not get hurt. I backed up and the nest was right under the impellers.

 

[NashvilleLuLu]

It's Spring our year old Guineas have started laying! I'm wondering if a chicken could/would hatch Guinea eggs?? I'm sorry if I've missed this info somewhere. But I will be reading all the info on incubating them ourselves. We live 20 miles north of Nashville, TN. No one in these parts have Guineas except us!?

We have one chicken left. The hawk got the other five plus our Roo. The Guineas seemed to have been protecting our girl, Dolly the Americauna Splash. We are prepared to separate her if the Guineas start giving her problems, but so far so good!

 

[R2elk]

It's Spring our year old Guineas have started laying! I'm wondering if a chicken could/would hatch Guinea eggs?? I'm sorry if I've missed this info somewhere. But I will be reading all the info on incubating them ourselves. We live 20 miles north of Nashville, TN. No one in these parts have Guineas except us!?

We have one chicken left. The hawk got the other five plus our Roo. The Guineas seemed to have been protecting our girl, Dolly the Americauna Splash. We are prepared to separate her if the Guineas start giving her problems, but so far so good!

Chickens are capable of hatching any type of fertile poultry eggs. Of course it requires that the chicken be broody at the same time that the fertile eggs are available.