Will Guineas hatch their own eggs if I give them the chance?

[Bedford Guineas]

My 1 year old French Guineas have started laying. They're laying in a floor level nest box in the coop. I'm thinking of leaving them for a while and giving them a chance to get broody. Any thoughts/suggestions to encourage them?

 

[rum3002576]

I let mine hatch there own. The sin reason is I free range mine and there nest can be tricky to find. Out of ten pairs last year mine raised only 32 little ones.

 

[Bedford Guineas]

Ok so maybe have shot. I only have 2 male 2 female. Mine are free range 1/2 the time but in the coop at night. Last fall they were making nests all over the yard I couldn't leave the eggs out there with the predators. Now since they're laying in the nest box I'll keep them in the run for a few weeks and see what happens

 

[Sydney65]

Ok so maybe have shot. I only have 2 male 2 female. Mine are free range 1/2 the time but in the coop at night. Last fall they were making nests all over the yard I couldn't leave the eggs out there with the predators. Now since they're laying in the nest box I'll keep them in the run for a few weeks and see what happens

Keeping the ladies locked in the run is best, otherwise they'll go looking for another nesting spot, abandon the eggs they have, and lead the males from your property. End result, you lose guineas to predators.

 

[My2butterflies]

I had 3-4 broody females last year sharing a nest. They stayed on the eggs till the last week or so and then abandoned them. That was ok though. I had my incubator as back up.
It wasn’t an ideal setup from the start for mine. That many hens on that many eggs was bound to be bad.

My only advice would be to have an incubator as back up, just in case.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

It’s taken me multiple tries to get guineas as parents to work. Small nests are better than big nests. I chase mine off once a day snd collect any new eggs so she concentrates on one set of time matched eggs. Like chickens, guineas that have never hatched an egg can be confused, terrible moms when that egg they’ve been sitting on finally hatches! I’ve really liked the results though when it works as the keets have been well integrated into the flock. Best of luck and let us know how it goes!!!

 

[southwind00]

My 1 year old French Guineas have started laying. They're laying in a floor level nest box in the coop. I'm thinking of leaving them for a while and giving them a chance to get broody. Any thoughts/suggestions to encourage them?

From my own guinea experiences over 4 years and from what I have read on this forum, I'd say there is much luck involved with having your guineas brooding their own young, Flock dynamics and location of nest I have found was the key for 3 of my hens sharing a nest and brooding 6 last year . It started out disappointing with me finding a few dead keets that were only hours old in the coop and though I was tempted to grab the rest of the eggs and thrown them in the incubator I held off and nature took its course.
Be prepared for your hens to go in attack mode if they hatch some keets, something clicked in their tiny brains and they became great mother hens. Good luck

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

From my own guinea experiences over 4 years and from what I have read on this forum, I'd say there is much luck involved with having your guineas brooding their own young, Flock dynamics and location of nest I have found was the key for 3 of my hens sharing a nest and brooding 6 last year . It started out disappointing with me finding a few dead keets that were only hours old in the coop and though I was tempted to grab the rest of the eggs and thrown them in the incubator I held off and nature took its course.
Be prepared for your hens to go in attack mode if they hatch some keets, something clicked in their tiny brains and they became great mother hens. Good luck

Our first nest was a disaster! 100+ eggs, six hens, and when the eggs started to hatch, the moms (I guess) killed the keets. My guess is that they pecked them when they hatched. I pulled all of those eggs, incubated and hatched them, even though they were covered with foul smelling funk from broken eggs. Trial #2 was two of those same hens that stayed broody when I pulled the eggs. I let them keep one egg, wmd they hatched it and the keet lived. That keet that had been hen brooded was also successful at hatching her own eggs. The next hen that hatched eggs freaked out when they were hatching and kept leaving the nest but didn’t attack the keets. I find it interesting that the hen that was broody hatched had the best hatching success herself. I now have four hens that have successfully hatched eggs and I expect could do so again.

 

[Sydney65]

Our first nest was a disaster! 100+ eggs, six hens, and when the eggs started to hatch, the moms (I guess) killed the keets. My guess is that they pecked them when they hatched. I pulled all of those eggs, incubated and hatched them, even though they were covered with foul smelling funk from broken eggs. Trial #2 was two of those same hens that stayed broody when I pulled the eggs. I let them keep one egg, wmd they hatched it and the keet lived. That keet that had been hen brooded was also successful at hatching her own eggs. The next hen that hatched eggs freaked out when they were hatching and kept leaving the nest but didn’t attack the keets. I find it interesting that the hen that was broody hatched had the best hatching success herself. I now have four hens that have successfully hatched eggs and I expect could do so again.

Adorable! With your RP, keets white, RP grey, -white and tan stripe is =????

 

[Sydney65]

Our first nest was a disaster! 100+ eggs, six hens, and when the eggs started to hatch, the moms (I guess) killed the keets. My guess is that they pecked them when they hatched. I pulled all of those eggs, incubated and hatched them, even though they were covered with foul smelling funk from broken eggs. Trial #2 was two of those same hens that stayed broody when I pulled the eggs. I let them keep one egg, wmd they hatched it and the keet lived. That keet that had been hen brooded was also successful at hatching her own eggs. The next hen that hatched eggs freaked out when they were hatching and kept leaving the nest but didn’t attack the keets. I find it interesting that the hen that was broody hatched had the best hatching success herself. I now have four hens that have successfully hatched eggs and I expect could do so again.

Hmm..I wonder if there's a tendency for fratricide? Bella was 1st born. You suggested she was just encouraging her siblings when she ran over and pecked them..but she's still a nasty piece of work. Now I wonder what went on under that heat plate..