Well, I've got so much guinea-news I decided I'd put it all in one spot.
We're down to 5 adult guineas, 2 cocks and 3 hens. So far the lavender hen has made 1 nest but got scared off, we're incubating those eggs, and she has just recently started her 2nd, or "replacement" nest, which is just below the chicken run. This should hopefully help with the predators, we'll just have to watch out and make sure the dogs don't get her nest. Here's some pictures.
She has 4 eggs, and she's laying 1 a day. Her last nest had 24 eggs total, and I hope she gets up to at least 20 this time.
Looking through the chicken wire of the chicken run. The nest is almost right up against the run fencing.
The pretty pair.
Our last Pearl Grey hen also has a nest. Her's is about half way in our neighbors field. She has about 16 eggs. I think we're going to put a dog crate over her and if she gets broken up, oh well! Better having her alive then predator food. Sorry I don't have pics of the nest, but I do have one of her and her white cock.
Pearl hen and white cock
I don't think our white hen has a nest, but she might. I'll have to follow her some day.
White hen
From our first batch of keets this year (Randomly collected white, pearl, and lavender eggs) we got 7 keets.(Out of 16 eggs) 3 Lavender and 4 Pearl Grey. I almost lost one of the lavenders when they were 3 weeks old, but thanks to some help from Munchies and Jobmcd he made it through and they'll be celebrating their 6 week birthday tomorrow. Here's some pics. They're fully feathered now I think, and I'll be expecting some buck-wheating coming from them soon
On their roost in their brooder
Here are 6 of them. 1 Pearly Grey is pied and 2 of the Lavenders are pied.
Alreay grouping themselves together
The little baby Lavender infront is the one who was sick nearly 3 weeks ago.
Checkin' me out.
Their brooder
Now onto our second batch of keets for this year. 42 eggs were set (Various of our eggs, some almost a month old, and some from our friends) 10 were infertile and 5 died along the way. We set the remaining 27 eggs for hatching on the 8th. By then (3 days from hatching) we already had about 2 pips! Egg 1 and egg 19 started pipping on the 8th. By the 9th eggs 2, 40, and 35 had pips. Egg 1 still had not hatched and we were getting worried. By bedtime(11:34PM) of the 9th we had 1 keet, egg 2 had hatched. He is a pied pearl
By the 10th my dad and I decided egg 1 need helped getting out. I know many of you don't agree with this but he had been going for about 2 days, he was a strong lil guy. He had some-what of a foot deformity but we ended up splinting that. He was a pretty white keet
Eggs 20, 38, 33, and 26 were pipping also. (On the 10th). Later eggs 19, 33, 26 and 35 hatched. Eggs 14 and 30 were also pipping. Later, eggs 14 and 20 hatched. Later, eggs 30, 38, and 40 hatched. Eggs 22 and 28 were pipping. That night befor bed my mom helped me move 9 of the 11 keets from the incubator to the brooder-aquarium. We gave 3 of the keets splints on their feet because they had crooked toes. Egg 25 is also pipping. On the 11th (Day 28 for the eggs) eggs 32, 28, and 22 hatched. The R.I.R. hen which had been brooding 4 guinea eggs hatched 3 of 4 keets on the 12th. Somehow one of them died, and she wanted off her nest so we took her last egg and put it in the incubator. This morning I awoke to keet #2, the one we helped, dead in the brooder. I was so sad, he was our only white from, so far, the whole hatch. Later in the day egg 25 is STILL pipping (Remember, he started on the night of the 10th), and the egg from outside is still pipping. The one from outside looks like he's drying up, but egg 25 still looks moist.
27 eggs good to hatch and 2 pips on day 25.
Keet #1 from egg 2
Keet #2 from egg 1, also with keet #1 in this pic.
Many more keets have hatched
Tammy, purebred R.I.R. from McMurray hatched 3 out of 4 keets but lost one. She now has 2 babies.
This is the egg from outside. He looks like a white too, but he's having an awful hard time getting out. If he's alive in the morning Dads thinking we should wrap him in a wet paper towel before we go to Church.
Egg 25, still going after over 3 days of pipping. Do you think he has much of a chance? Dads thinking we'll wrap him up too if he lives till morning. Should we help him?
And here are all the healthy babies. 13 total, all pearls, and 2 pied pearls.
So we have a dozen more eggs which will hopefully hatch, they're just late. Before we throw them out I want to "pip" them on the end with the aircell to make sure that they're dead. That's pretty much it. I'll try and 'keep you posted'.
If you've got any advice for the rest of this hatch or the next hatches, please share it
Also, any advice on pipping the maybe dead un-pipped eggs? (The eggs were supposed to hatch on the 11th, and we've had no new pips since the 10th)
Thanks if you've read all that
We're down to 5 adult guineas, 2 cocks and 3 hens. So far the lavender hen has made 1 nest but got scared off, we're incubating those eggs, and she has just recently started her 2nd, or "replacement" nest, which is just below the chicken run. This should hopefully help with the predators, we'll just have to watch out and make sure the dogs don't get her nest. Here's some pictures.

She has 4 eggs, and she's laying 1 a day. Her last nest had 24 eggs total, and I hope she gets up to at least 20 this time.

Looking through the chicken wire of the chicken run. The nest is almost right up against the run fencing.

The pretty pair.
Our last Pearl Grey hen also has a nest. Her's is about half way in our neighbors field. She has about 16 eggs. I think we're going to put a dog crate over her and if she gets broken up, oh well! Better having her alive then predator food. Sorry I don't have pics of the nest, but I do have one of her and her white cock.

Pearl hen and white cock
I don't think our white hen has a nest, but she might. I'll have to follow her some day.

White hen
From our first batch of keets this year (Randomly collected white, pearl, and lavender eggs) we got 7 keets.(Out of 16 eggs) 3 Lavender and 4 Pearl Grey. I almost lost one of the lavenders when they were 3 weeks old, but thanks to some help from Munchies and Jobmcd he made it through and they'll be celebrating their 6 week birthday tomorrow. Here's some pics. They're fully feathered now I think, and I'll be expecting some buck-wheating coming from them soon


On their roost in their brooder

Here are 6 of them. 1 Pearly Grey is pied and 2 of the Lavenders are pied.

Alreay grouping themselves together

The little baby Lavender infront is the one who was sick nearly 3 weeks ago.

Checkin' me out.

Their brooder
Now onto our second batch of keets for this year. 42 eggs were set (Various of our eggs, some almost a month old, and some from our friends) 10 were infertile and 5 died along the way. We set the remaining 27 eggs for hatching on the 8th. By then (3 days from hatching) we already had about 2 pips! Egg 1 and egg 19 started pipping on the 8th. By the 9th eggs 2, 40, and 35 had pips. Egg 1 still had not hatched and we were getting worried. By bedtime(11:34PM) of the 9th we had 1 keet, egg 2 had hatched. He is a pied pearl



27 eggs good to hatch and 2 pips on day 25.

Keet #1 from egg 2

Keet #2 from egg 1, also with keet #1 in this pic.

Many more keets have hatched

Tammy, purebred R.I.R. from McMurray hatched 3 out of 4 keets but lost one. She now has 2 babies.

This is the egg from outside. He looks like a white too, but he's having an awful hard time getting out. If he's alive in the morning Dads thinking we should wrap him in a wet paper towel before we go to Church.

Egg 25, still going after over 3 days of pipping. Do you think he has much of a chance? Dads thinking we'll wrap him up too if he lives till morning. Should we help him?

And here are all the healthy babies. 13 total, all pearls, and 2 pied pearls.
So we have a dozen more eggs which will hopefully hatch, they're just late. Before we throw them out I want to "pip" them on the end with the aircell to make sure that they're dead. That's pretty much it. I'll try and 'keep you posted'.
If you've got any advice for the rest of this hatch or the next hatches, please share it

Thanks if you've read all that
