Tons of Eggs, No keets =\ HELP!

[BoogieBug]

In early spring, the guineas laid about 26-28 eggs and mama sat on them for almost three straight weeks. Then she got up and started moving around and after a week, I suspected she abandoned her nest and collected and discarded all of the eggs.

She started up again and now we have approximately 60-some-odd eggs. I thought I'd leave her be and let her do her thing. I was out of town most all of June and my house/guinea sitter told me that mama was sitting on her eggs most of that time, but that towards the last week of June, she started venturing out from the nest. I figured since it was in the 90's, the eggs were probably fine. Well, here we are mid-July and mama is always out scratching and pecking with the rest of the flock. She doesn't appear to spend much time on the eggs.

What do I do? Should I leave the eggs alone? Is there ANY HOPE of getting keets at this late stage of the game?

This shows how many eggs there were when I got back in town.


This is how many there are as of today.


Thanks for your help.

 

[sourland]

Way too many eggs for a hen to effectively incubate. Next time limit the number of eggs that she sets on. Mark them at the onset of broodiness and remove any that may be added to the clutch by other birds. Good luck.

 

[AMoritz]

This may be a dumb question, but have you candled them to see if any are viable still?

 

[BoogieBug]

Way too many eggs for a hen to effectively incubate. Next time limit the number of eggs that she sets on. Mark them at the onset of broodiness and remove any that may be added to the clutch by other birds. Good luck.

I've read that if you disturb the nest too much, they will abandon it ... which is why there are so many eggs. I was afraid that I'd disturbed her first nest too much and perhaps that may be the reason she abandoned it. I have to say one thing about her... she moves those eggs around a lot! Whenever I look, they are all gathered in a different place. lol. She's a busy lil guinea!! =D

 

[BoogieBug]

This may be a dumb question, but have you candled them to see if any are viable still?

I have not touched them. The first batch of egg she had, I interfered and I believe caused her to abandon the nest, so this time, I'm hands off, letting her do her thing, but now it's getting quite ridiculous. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I can tell you one thing, I'm kicking myself because that's ANOTHER batch of eggs that will probably end up in the trash. Makes me sick. The first 28 were partially formed when she quit sitting on them, so in the trash they went. And now, 60-some-odd eggs will probably end up in the trash as well. I'm very discouraged with this whole mess and sorry I went down this path. It's just been a money pit from day one with nothing in return. I originally got them to free range and eat bugs, but we had to build a freakin' fortress to protect them from predators. Now this. SMH. All I do is spend money feeding them ... no eggs and no keets. <sigh> Sorry for my rant. Just frustrated.

 

[AMoritz]

I have not touched them. The first batch of egg she had, I interfered and I believe caused her to abandon the nest, so this time, I'm hands off, letting her do her thing, but now it's getting quite ridiculous. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I can tell you one thing, I'm kicking myself because that's ANOTHER batch of eggs that will probably end up in the trash. Makes me sick. The first 28 were partially formed when she quit sitting on them, so in the trash they went. And now, 60-some-odd eggs will probably end up in the trash as well. I'm very discouraged with this whole mess and sorry I went down this path. It's just been a money pit from day one with nothing in return. I originally got them to free range and eat bugs, but we had to build a freakin' fortress to protect them from predators. Now this. SMH. All I do is spend money feeding them ... no eggs and no keets. <sigh> Sorry for my rant. Just frustrated.

Candle them now, any that are viable, moving, etc keep em and incubate them. At least that way you're getting something for your money

 

[BoogieBug]

I'm in Texas at the moment. I will do that when I get back home next weekend. Thanks.