What to do with these guinea eggs???

[lazytrucker]

I just found 6 guinea eggs in some weeds inside my chicken yard where i had put a golf ball. i'm assuming they may not be very edible since at least one has been sitting in the heat for 6 days. I would love to have some keets especially since this nest is in a safe place but not sure about a few different things.
Whats the likelihood that the female would lay a bunch of eggs and never sit on them at all?
Is there anyway to add some more golf balls to fool her into thinking she has enough eggs to start setting on them?
If i mark them with a sharpie or something would the chemicals damage the eggs or run her off?
I've had a crazy ride to get to this place and this is a younger female that i just got about a month ago with another male (who is MIA). The old male and the new female have pretty much been staying in my chicken yard that is about 50'x25'

 

[roosterhavoc]

You can just leave the eggs. If she’s laying in a nest she should eventually sit on them. If your male is missing though I’m not sure how safe she would be.
I had a guinea setting on eggs in the edge of my woods and she started going nuts in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. I ran over there and killed a raccoon only inches from her. Neither would give an inch. It was a younger raccoon and he was more interested in the eggs or she would have been killed. Same exact thing happened with an opossum on the side of my house in the garden. If she does set on them watch her closely.

 

[lazytrucker]

That helps. Thanks! Wasn't sure how likely she was to set on them so hated to waste that many eggs if she just abandoned them. She wasn't terribly neat about putting them in the nest but 3 were in it and the other 3 were less than a foot away. My original agressive male guinea is still around, just not the one that came with her. The main reason I thought it might be worth a try is because the nest is in such a safe place. its a very small chicken yard with my dog patrolling outside the fence.

 

[roosterhavoc]

That helps. Thanks! Wasn't sure how likely she was to set on them so hated to waste that many eggs if she just abandoned them. She wasn't terribly neat about putting them in the nest but 3 were in it and the other 3 were less than a foot away. My original agressive male guinea is still around, just not the one that came with her. The main reason I thought it might be worth a try is because the nest is in such a safe place. its a very small chicken yard with my dog patrolling outside the fence.

It can’t hurt to try. I would put all the eggs back in the nest though. Your in TX so it may not be an issue for you but I’ve had guineas hatch eggs in the fall when it was getting cooler. The guinea hen will march her keets through the wet grass not realizing the keets will be freezing. In my case I took them from her and raised them because they weren’t gonna make it because it was just getting too cold. I will say I don’t like guineas very much. They are not the brightest birds in the world. How they survive in the wild in Africa I have no idea. Oh and man they are loud and annoying. Lol

 

[perchie.girl]

You would be surprised at how resiliant those eggs are.

deb

 

[lazytrucker]

I guess the weather is why I'd like to fake her out and get her setting . We're almost in Kansas so it could be an issue but since the nest is less than 10 ft from the house I should be able to monitor ok.

You would be surprised at how resiliant those eggs are.

deb

I had heard the eggs were pretty tough. Just was worried about her laying a bunch of eggs and ignoring them. Would rather eat them than waste them.
So the big funny is I just found these eggs yesterday after I gave in and bought keets from the local Atwoods.. Go figure.

 

[red horse ranch]

I often mark eggs with a sharpie or a pencil in the spring. I haven't noticed it hurting the keets that hatch from those eggs. I just put a small mark on the egg but some people put the date that the egg is laid. That way you can use a few of the fresher eggs while leaving enough for her to hatch. She may lay around 20 eggs before going broody on them. But I've had hens go broody on 6 or 8 eggs if it's late in the season.
Good luck!

 

[lazytrucker]

I often mark eggs with a sharpie or a pencil in the spring. I haven't noticed it hurting the keets that hatch from those eggs. I just put a small mark on the egg but some people put the date that the egg is laid. That way you can use a few of the fresher eggs while leaving enough for her to hatch. She may lay around 20 eggs before going broody on them. But I've had hens go broody on 6 or 8 eggs if it's late in the season.
Good luck!

Super helpful! Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll start setting on them quick. Wasn't sure if they had an internal way of keeping track of how many eggs they laid or if they just decided to set when the nest was full. I just went out and put numbers on them this morning and she had another egg. Maybe i'll switch to dates...
She hasn't been leaving my chicken yard but this morning was out wandering around by herself acting lost. Kinda wonder if she's looking for the other male that is missing.