So, th girls are laying eggs...

[Sydney65]

They started a nest in one corner of coop, put atleast 12 eggs in it, I didn't think I should disturb the nest trying to dig around, so I saw what I saw. Today, I noticed they were in another corner,&when they came out, I could see there were eggs there. Do I have 2 communal nests going or have they ditched the first one?

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

They started a nest in one corner of coop, put atleast 12 eggs in it, I didn't think I should disturb the nest trying to dig around, so I saw what I saw. Today, I noticed they were in another corner,&when they came out, I could see there were eggs there. Do I have 2 communal nests going or have they ditched the first one?

Can you stealthily mark and count the eggs when they are not around so you can figure it out?

 

[Sydney65]

Can you stealthily mark and count the eggs when they are not around so you can figure it out?

Ok, I marked the ones in nest 1, thought I shld leave nest 2 alone for the moment until I asked why I did this? To see if both nests are being used or you think they're moving them or-?
As always -I have questions..lol. I've found nothing suggesting there's any significance in the differences in eggs,& most are same size, brown,light tan, speckled, it-and not THAT much smaller than a chicken egg. Then there are some that are MUCH smaller & almost white. Refresher- I have 1 lavender, 2 RP, and 3 pearl grey that have always been bigger than the rest. R2elk once suggested I might have received Jumbo greys, & I think that might be the case. So wondering if their eggs wld be larger than if sired by one of the others
2. I'm curious abt how this works. Cats can be impregnated by more than one cat- Induced ovulation. I'm not finding anything that suggests this in birds, but curious, bc there's a party going on out there, and it doesn't appear to be monogamous.
Based on sound,but not behavior, both of my RPs are males, which means I have 3:2. (I say not behavior bc the RPs have always & still stay together, sleep,sit,graze together & "Bella" goes nuts if they're apart-also the one that kept tearing up Blu's toe, which I eventually amputated. -He's so much happier.)I have actually seen the 2 girls drop eggs.
The eggs- What I've read is that they are edible from the nest for 30 days. Is that accurate? I ask bc I know when the first eggs were dropped & curious, if they have abandoned the nest-
As always, they are a great source of entertainment. Nugget remains an outcast among men,but quite popular w/the ladies. The large grey male is highly offended & tries to claim dominance in the normal ways, pecking, etc. But he also tries to claim the shelves we put up so Nugget cld eat & sleep in peace, chasing Nugget around the yard. Doesn't sound like something to be amused by, except Nug is faster & more adept @ getting away. End result is Nug stopping to preen while the grey is huffing & puffing like an old man.

 

[R2elk]

Ok, I marked the ones in nest 1, thought I shld leave nest 2 alone for the moment until I asked why I did this? To see if both nests are being used or you think they're moving them or-?
As always -I have questions..lol. I've found nothing suggesting there's any significance in the differences in eggs,& most are same size, brown,light tan, speckled, it-and not THAT much smaller than a chicken egg. Then there are some that are MUCH smaller & almost white. Refresher- I have 1 lavender, 2 RP, and 3 pearl grey that have always been bigger than the rest. R2elk once suggested I might have received Jumbo greys, & I think that might be the case. So wondering if their eggs wld be larger than if sired by one of the others
2. I'm curious abt how this works. Cats can be impregnated by more than one cat- Induced ovulation. I'm not finding anything that suggests this in birds, but curious, bc there's a party going on out there, and it doesn't appear to be monogamous.
Based on sound,but not behavior, both of my RPs are males, which means I have 3:2. (I say not behavior bc the RPs have always & still stay together, sleep,sit,graze together & "Bella" goes nuts if they're apart-also the one that kept tearing up Blu's toe, which I eventually amputated. -He's so much happier.)I have actually seen the 2 girls drop eggs.
The eggs- What I've read is that they are edible from the nest for 30 days. Is that accurate? I ask bc I know when the first eggs were dropped & curious, if they have abandoned the nest-
As always, they are a great source of entertainment. Nugget remains an outcast among men,but quite popular w/the ladies. The large grey male is highly offended & tries to claim dominance in the normal ways, pecking, etc. But he also tries to claim the shelves we put up so Nugget cld eat & sleep in peace, chasing Nugget around the yard. Doesn't sound like something to be amused by, except Nug is faster & more adept @ getting away. End result is Nug stopping to preen while the grey is huffing & puffing like an old man.

Bigger guinea hens will tend to lay bigger eggs. More mature guinea hens will tend to lay bigger eggs. First time layers will tend to lay smaller eggs.

marking the eggs is a way of being able to tell older eggs from fresher eggs. It can also help to determine if something is getting the eggs if the marked eggs start disappearing. It also allows you to know that if you are collecting the eggs, which ones are the freshly laid eggs.

 

[Sydney65]

Age-wise, the lg 3 greys are only 1 wk older than the other 3. - and I see I made a typo- what I've ended up with is 4 male,2 female. Both of the females are lg greys, 1st season laying for both, not sure if they're "sisters", not sure how hatcheries work,but they arrived together.

 

[Sydney65]

The last 2 are actually perfect representations of the differences I have. Perhaps the male roo's fight for dominance failed. Hope you all are doing well & not getting cabin fever.

 

[merrymutts]

well...my lone guinea female has only laid one egg so far. Not sure if she has another "stealth" nest somewhere else in the coop or not

 

[Sydney65]

well...my lone guinea female has only laid one egg so far. Not sure if she has another "stealth" nest somewhere else in the coop or not

How long ago did she lay it? My girls have had 1 a day since they started. They apparently don't know how to tell time, bc I keep them in until afternoon as oft suggested, and have seen them scurry back a couple of times in the afternoon, drop an egg and then wander back out. stay at home orders, life gets boring, so I peak in the window to see what they're up to. Lol. When I say "drop an egg", I mean DROP. There's logic behind that hard shell.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

The last 2 are actually perfect representations of the differences I have. Perhaps the male roo's fight for dominance failed. Hope you all are doing well & not getting cabin fever.

Wow! I didn’t know that the jumbo guineas lay bigger eggs - how cool!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Pardon my ignorance and educate me: what is an RP?