Raising Guinea Fowl 101

Does anyone else's Guineas actually lay their eggs in their coop like ours??
Some do especially if they are encouraged by keeping them locked in until after they are done laying for the day.

My guinea hens start laying in the coop at the start of each new laying season but shortly afterwards switch to hidden nests outside in their free range area.
 
Some do especially if they are encouraged by keeping them locked in until after they are done laying for the day.

My guinea hens start laying in the coop at the start of each new laying season but shortly afterwards switch to hidden nests outside in their free range area.
We only lock them in at night. They free range during the day, but come back to their coop to lay! They have been laying for about four weeks, so they may change it up. We have never found a nest nor seen them exhibit behaviour that implies they are even trying to nest elsewhere. We only have three acres, so it's easy to keep tabs on them.
 
We only lock them in at night. They free range during the day, but come back to their coop to lay! They have been laying for about four weeks, so they may change it up. We have never found a nest nor seen them exhibit behaviour that implies they are even trying to nest elsewhere. We only have three acres, so it's easy to keep tabs on them.
Almost all of my guineas would lay inside the coop in community nests but there were always a few young rebels every spring who would make nests down the road in a ditch or in the garden...usually in a big patch of butternut squash
. :barnie
 
Does anyone else's Guineas actually lay their eggs in their coop like ours??
That’s our holy grail... Much of our problems with guineas have to do with wild nests. Last year, wild nests were on our property, but brought in many predators, who both ate eggs (including fake eggs!) and also stayed around to eat our poultry... We finally got them to accept a nest in our coop last year by penning them for two weeks. This year, early nests guineas lead the flock off our property where they were hit by cars. We made new nest boxes and locked all guineas up in coop and temporary run. It’s been several weeks, and we are getting eggs on the coop floor, but they are so far rejecting our nest boxes, which I tried to model after their wild nests, with two entrances and covered area...
 

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One can only fool themselves into thinking their Guineas lay in a coop all the time....

If they are allowed to free range they lay them wherever they want. Property lines mean nothing to guineas. I am willing to bet if you only have 3 acres the Guineas are laying them on some other persons land..

You will be lucky if the Guineas don’t kidnap a neighbor kid and hold the kid for ransom..
 
Last year, we had 8 guinea hens and only one cock. All but one hen insisted on a communal nest, so where one nested, they all nested, especially after the lone nesting hen got eaten when she took to hanging out alone near our cages roos... So, once one accepted the coop nest, they all used it. With four cocks now, they will perhaps not be so communally oriented...

One can only fool themselves into thinking their Guineas lay in a coop all the time....

If they are allowed to free range they lay them wherever they want. Property lines mean nothing to guineas. I am willing to bet if you only have 3 acres the Guineas are laying them on some other persons land..

You will be lucky if the Guineas don’t kidnap a neighbor kid and hold the kid for ransom..
 
That’s our holy grail... Much of our problems with guineas have to do with wild nests. Last year, wild nests were on our property, but brought in many predators, who both ate eggs (including fake eggs!) and also stayed around to eat our poultry... We finally got them to accept a nest in our coop last year by penning them for two weeks. This year, early nests guineas lead the flock off our property where they were hit by cars. We made new nest boxes and locked all guineas up in coop and temporary run. It’s been several weeks, and we are getting eggs on the coop floor, but they are so far rejecting our nest boxes, which I tried to model after their wild nests, with two entrances and covered area...

Mine would never lay in anything enclosed like that inside the coop. The all time favorite nest of my guineas was a big Rubbermaid wheelbarrow filled with straw.
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The only problem with it is that if you are letting them hatch the keets, then you’ll have to move them after they all hatch since they can’t get out of the wheelbarrow.
 
Mine would never lay in anything enclosed like that inside the coop. The all time favorite nest of my guineas was a big Rubbermaid wheelbarrow filled with straw. View attachment 2068822
The only problem with it is that if you are letting them hatch the keets, then you’ll have to move them after they all hatch since they can’t get out of the wheelbarrow.
That’s awesome! We used a kitty litter box on its side, behind a garbage can, in the coop last year. It took them awhile, but once they accepted it, they were quite dedicated. Not so great with the keets though - had to brood the sole survivor ourselves and hatch the remaining eggs, something like 50 out of 150 eggs hatched after they broke some eggs and covered the rest of the eggs with gunk.
 

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