When will she start laying?

[Mixedbirdies]

I have a male and female guinea and I wanted to know when my female will start laying. Also how will I be able to tell wether an egg is fertilized or not?

 

[Joeschooks]

I think Guineas start laying around 16 weeks but I’m no expert. You could try incubating and candling a couple of eggs to check fertility or the easier option is to crack the egg and check the blastoderm (just google images - a fertile egg blastoderm looks like a bullseye).

 

[R2elk]

I have a male and female guinea and I wanted to know when my female will start laying. Also how will I be able to tell whether an egg is fertilized or not?

Your guinea hen should start laying in April this year. It is possible she could start as soon as later this month. Mine here in Wyoming start laying mid to late April.

Other than sacrificing a few eggs for visual inspection, there is no way to tell without incubating them. Just like chicken eggs, a "bullseye" means a fertile egg and no bullseye means infertile.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

 

[BoogieBug]

Mine started laying at the beginning of this month for the first time, and they will be a year old in May!

 

[R2elk]

Mine started laying at the beginning of this month for the first time, and they will be a year old in May!

Since you are in a southern state it is to be expected that your guineas will lay earlier than those of us in northern states. My guineas will not start laying until next month.

 

[BoogieBug]

Since you are in a southern state it is to be expected that your guineas will lay earlier than those of us in northern states. My guineas will not start laying until next month.

I was just surprised that it took so long. I read that they start laying as early as 16 weeks, but mine will be a year in May. They did have a bit of trauma at around seven weeks of age, so perhaps that delayed them.

 

[R2elk]

I was just surprised that it took so long. I read that they start laying as early as 16 weeks, but mine will be a year in May. They did have a bit of trauma at around seven weeks of age, so perhaps that delayed them.

Normally guinea hens start laying in the spring of the year that they will turn one year old. If they were a late hatch, they may start laying at a younger age than those that were in an early hatch.

It is not uncommon for guinea hens to start laying for a short period in November and December in the southern states but even those will stop laying after a short time and then begin again in the spring.

 

[DusktillDawn]

Mine started laying in March. It just depends I guess.