when do guineas start laying?

[cowman1970]

A lot of others have had trouble incubating last year also. I was informed that incubating after April can be pretty disappointing. This is for any an type of domestic bird. I will be looking for a few more hens this Spring. Out of the 100 that I tried to incubate only 2 made it for about 6 weeks until my dog got loose and destroyed them and the cage they were in. What luck do you have with nesting in a coop?

 

[cowman1970]

You need to hire a private investigator to find the eggs if you let them free -range... they are past masters at hiding their nests...... I found a nest with no less than 18 eggs in it - all were from my Guinea Fowl...."!!!

I found my 5 nests rather quickly. The only thing I couldn't do was protect them.

 

[PeepsCA]

A lot of others have had trouble incubating last year also. I was informed that incubating after April can be pretty disappointing. This is for any an type of domestic bird. I will be looking for a few more hens this Spring. Out of the 100 that I tried to incubate only 2 made it for about 6 weeks until my dog got loose and destroyed them and the cage they were in. What luck do you have with nesting in a coop?

Hmmm... not sure who told you that about incubating after April or why they would say that, but it most definitely does not apply to Guineas, lol. In fact April is when most Guineas are just getting going with their breeding and laying season. The sun is out, the day time temps are warm, but not too warm that they effect sperm and egg quality or viability yet and there's lots of greens and bugs for the flocks to eat. April and May are usually my best months for incubating, but I incubate all the way into late August early September. The hotter months definitely effect the egg viability and hatch rate tho.

I don't let my Hens nest in the coops, there's too many risks involved. Broody Guinea Hens like privacy, away from people, and the traffic of other poultry they share the coop with. If they are bothered too much they will just abandon the nest. Sometimes cooped Guineas will peck and break the eggs, just out of boredom too. If a Hen does tough it out and manage to hatch her keets in a busy coop, the rest of the flock can flip out and kill every single keet within minutes of hatching. So I don't even risk it. Some have great luck with it, or use broody chicken hens instead, but it all depends on the flock's temperament and the set up and space the birds have.

Not sure what the measurements of your coop and run are, but to me it looks like it could house 10-12 birds total, max. It's recommended that Guineas have at least 4 sq ft of floor space in the coop per bird (plus plenty of roosting space, up high), and 2-3 times that sq footage in the covered run to be happy/content/comfortable. More room is always better when it comes to Guineas, always, especially when they can't free range. As I mentioned before, overcrowding can cause too much aggression (and tension) in the flock, which can equate to low fertility rates. And IMO and experience with my flocks, free ranging definitely improves fertility rate and gives the birds a chance to burn off extra aggression, hormones and pent up energy. I've worked with my breeding flocks since they were young... trained them to come when called for feed or treats, and also to coop up and roost inside each night. It took some work, but I made it their routine, and we've stuck to it... they know feeding time for all the animals at the ranch here means it's time to coop up.

If you used Still Air models of the Little Giants, and set the temps to 99.5... that could attribute to your bad hatches, and some of the keets that died during or shortly after hatching. Those instructions that come with those Still Air models are for Circulated Air models (with a fan already installed), or they assume that you will be adding the fan kit (sold separately) before using that low cost model to incubate your eggs with. Still Air incubation temps need to be 101.5-102 degrees, and kept as stable as possible. Also, Guinea eggs take 28 days to hatch, rather than 21 like most chicken eggs, and they really do need a lot of humidity during the lockdown and hatching.

Anyway, good luck with your flock, hopefully one way or another you'll hatch some keets!

 

[coleridgedane]

PEEPS... have you penned your guineas? I imagine breeding true would require it but I just don't feel it's worth it. I love watching their antics & really love their bug patrol. I also view them as being more feral than other poultry & would feel bad if I had to pen them.

BTW....Just moved to SC after living in CA most of my life. Left Cotati after 12 years @ the same address. Love Grass Valley & have attended lots of dog shows there.

 

[PeepsCA]

I do pen my breeding flocks, always at night for their safety and during the day during the laying season until the Hens have laid their eggs for the day. My flocks are not separated by color, but rather by groups of colors (sorta, some times to keep the peace I have to move birds around to different flocks), so the flocks are separated by mostly Lights, Darks, Pieds, Partially Pearled etc. and the different flocks keep to their own areas/pastures (they are all rivals, like gangs, and will chase the others out of their areas, it's funny).

None of my birds breed true, they all have varied backgrounds and more than half of my adults are Pied (none of them hatchery stock and all carry tons of hidden recessives), which is fine... that's what I breed for, variety (and pest control), lol.

I too enjoy their antics, and I have maintained a full-time free range flock on my 10 acres for years...

...both because they are fun to watch and because I needed the ticks, rattle snakes and big hairy wolf spiders taken care of here. Guineas definitely are feral by nature, but I've worked with all of mine and trained them all to come when called, and to coop up at night, they all know when bedtime/coop-up time is, and when feeding time is AM & PM. Sounds crazy but they actually love their coops/pens and the Hens prefer to lay there than the bushes, and will want back in to lay their egg if I let them out too early (I close the pens after I let them out so they have to go free range for bugs and seeds etc, plus burn off energy). And you should see the look on people's faces that are here to buy keets when I call my birds and all of a sudden there's 25-50 birds running and flying towards us from every direction of my property... lol. I get lots of comments like "Wow, my dogs don't even come like that when I call them!" LOL

The predator load is super high in my area and I have lost a lot of birds over the years, but with the routine I have going now I have only lost one of my breeders in the past 3 yrs (1 got over the back fence which is 6 ft tall and it clucked and fussed for only about 5 mins before a predator snuck out of the brush and nabbed it), but I have to replenish my free range flock every couple of years... feeling bad for penning them doesn't even come close to comparing how it feels to lose them one by one to predators. My land is finally completely fenced and cross fenced now, so ground predators aren't such an issue, owls are the main culprits now, and penning is the only defense against that.
Anyway... life's not so bad here for my birds, they do get to free range... and I'm pretty much tick, rattlesnake and big hairy wolf spider free here!

SC is a lonnnnnng way to move away from Cotati! Maybe a little culture shock for ya I bet? I'm originally from Mendocino County, born and raised on the coast (Ft Bragg, then Mendocino), but I moved over here in late '04. I know the Sonoma and Marin counties well too tho, lots of family there (Novato, Petaluma and Santa Rosa areas). I miss the coast and the cooler weather (even the fog!), it just got insanely expensive to live there, I was on 2 1/2 acres and I needed to buy some a place with more acreage, and I ended up moving over here close to my Mom, stepdad and brother. I always say I'll move back to the coast in a heartbeat if I had the chance... but my roots have grown pretty deep here now, so looks like I'm staying put. (I hate the hot summers tho, after 7 1/2 yrs I am still not acclimated, Blah!!!)

 

[guineachicken]

 

[guineachicken]

My guinea's have strated laying eggs as well..... Mine are free range & I will tell you how I find their nests... once they lay all their eggs and start to lay on them.... they will return once a day to eat.... I watch for this to happen and lock her up for about 15-20 minutes. When you let her back out, she will make a B-line back to her nest... You have to try and act like you are not following her.... look away when she looks your way... because there has been many times where she will mess around & then give me the "slip" & disappear when I look away for a second... I can't tell you how many times I have been right next to her nest and haven't seen it.... For not being smart birds... They can be pretty amazing in fooling us!!! Good luck finding them... and watch when you get the eggs... they can get pretty whicked.. afterall, we are kidnapping their kids... lol Any time I have ever let them hatch their eggs.... they don't care for the keets.. they are terrible mothers... good thing there isn't "Guinea keet services".... haha

 

[chipgirl434]

I need to know when will a guinea start laying again after raising her young? Mine had 14 keets May 16, 2012 but I have not had any more eggs from her. Will she have any more this year? thank you for your help teresa

 

[PeepsCA]

It's getting late in the normal laying season and the day light hours are already shortening, so you may not see any more eggs from that Hen this season (but not all Hens follow the rules, lol). Have you penned her up to make sure she's not laying? Are her keets still tagging along with her and sleeping with her each night etc? That's a little long for her to be doing that, but if she is still brooding her first batch of babies, she probably won't be laying.

 

[chipgirl434]

thank you for the information the babies are still tagging along with her and an other one I can not tell if it is a male or female. I do not have the them penned up they are free ranged. I guess it will be next year before I get more babies. I just have to wait. thanks again for the information