When do Guinea fowl start to lay eggs?

[darkgizmo1211]

do they mate all year or do they mate seasonally to

 

[R2elk]

do they mate all year or do they mate seasonally to

Seasonally.

 

[ludwing]

And can only mate if they are in good conditions

 

[ludwing]

*year round*

 

[MeepBeep]

They generally mate/lay eggs spring/summer but they can mate/lay eggs all year if conditions are right and/or for whatever reason...

Most of mine are seasonal layers as they should be and is common, but last year one of mine kept laying all through the winter, even went broody in the dead of the winter and sat for about about 20 days before giving up...

 

[Mysterious]

My only hen looks like she would start to lay eggs but hasn't. She is a little over a month. Why does she act like this.

 

[andysgirl]

Ok Guinea experts!! I hav a flock of chickens 14 hens and 1roostr. I also have a male and female Guinea pair. My chickens are about 18 weeks. Guinea maybe 20 weeks. Not sure on them. Any how.. The male Guinea likes to surprise any random bird with a furious peck. A few days ago I came running out of the house to a commotion. I saw the male Guinea chasing my rooster with a beak full of his tailfeathers! After this, it seems my rooster has quit trying to crow. ( he was only learning yet) I also hav ONLY seen the rooster mate the female Guinea. Not any of his hens. Nor hav I seen the male Guinea mate at all. I guess I'm afraid that the crazy male Guinea is taking charge of my whole flock and the rooster just cowers.

Any thoughts??

 

[R2elk]

Ok Guinea experts!! I hav a flock of chickens 14 hens and 1roostr. I also have a male and female Guinea pair. My chickens are about 18 weeks. Guinea maybe 20 weeks. Not sure on them. Any how.. The male Guinea likes to surprise any random bird with a furious peck. A few days ago I came running out of the house to a commotion. I saw the male Guinea chasing my rooster with a beak full of his tailfeathers! After this, it seems my rooster has quit trying to crow. ( he was only learning yet) I also hav ONLY seen the rooster mate the female Guinea. Not any of his hens. Nor hav I seen the male Guinea mate at all. I guess I'm afraid that the crazy male Guinea is taking charge of my whole flock and the rooster just cowers.

Any thoughts??

Pretty much normal behavior for a small number of guineas forced to live in close quarters with chickens. Guineas are a flock bird and do best when kept with at least a minimum of 10 guineas. They do not have the same mannerisms as chickens and only other guineas understand their behavior. When kept with lots of room and enough other guineas they will tend to keep to their own kind. They can even ostracize other guineas if they are a different color than the rest of them.

That you have not seen the guinea cock mate with the guinea hen is normal. The guinea breeding act occurs very quickly (hit and run) and is seldom seen except by very vigilant owners.

I raised guineas housed with chickens and turkeys. Because of the stress that the guineas put on all the rest of the poultry, I now house my guineas separately. I can free range the guineas, turkeys and chickens all at the same time in the same area without any problems. The guineas keep to themselves.

 

[andysgirl]

Thanks that was helpful.

 

[Jpajinag]

We have a mixed flock: adult chickens, teenage chicken the same age as our teenage guineas (2 males and 4 female I believe) but I guess our “teenagers should now be called the young adults but the name just stuck. We also have some juvenile chickens not let laying. The “teenagers”, guineas and chickens are all about 5.5 months old. We are in Louisiana so it’s warmer than the north but it still gets cold and we’ve had multiple nights well below freezing. Our teenagers all started laying about 3-4 weeks ago, the guineas first. Most of their eggs we find in nesting boxes and only one we have found outside the coop (we allow all to free range from sunup to sundown). We have two coops and each has a hen house. Only the larger has nesting boxes since we close the divider and use the smaller when we have new babies to introduce to the flock/ protect. Today I found 7 guinea eggs in a nest in the floor of the small coop hen house. It has straw and wood chip bedding for warmth. I didn’t notice any a few days ago but wasn’t looking either. I’m debating if I should leave the eggs or pick them up. Do you think a young hen will set and raise them in the winter? Not sure which or if multiple females are laying here. We still find guinea eggs almost daily in the nesting boxes. When we eat the eggs they have all been fertile and we’ve seen the guineas mate before. We have what I believe are 2 white, one light lavender/ whitish, and one dark female. We have 2 dark males with white chests. At least based on their wattles this is my sex quesses. Thank you for any input.