25 Guinea Eggs in the Bator - Final Photos - 8 hatched

[MissPrissy]

MC, I only have 1 hen. We won't cull and eat any guineas this year until we can make sure which ones are hens. They are a free range bird here and I don't have a coop for them. By the time they are large enough to eat I won't be able to put my hands on them. So, without a growout pen for them I think I should rehome them because I don't want to raise the pied pearl here.

Come help me build more pens and I'll raise these 3 for eating.

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

The ones with white on the face do not seem to have enough white on the body to be pieds. I will bet they all feather out pearl. This pic is from the site link given earlier and is a pearl:

Whereas the pied keets have almost half (or more) of their body being white. I think your "off" ones will feather out totally pearl with maybe the exception of 2-3 primary feathers...

 

[MissPrissy]

These 3 little ones are half white. The only dark is on the back.

 

[Marlinchaser]

How do you keep guineas out of the chicken coop, or your chickens dont freerange. Mine all go in the coop that is when you can grab them here, or they will come into the coop to get treats.

 

[MissPrissy]

My hen house is closed to the guineas. They can't open the door to get in

 

[GwenFarms]

Miss Prissy, why do you think your hatch didn't go better? I have 40 guinea eggs in my bator due to hatch Tuesday. I know from candling I should get about a 3/4th hatch, so I'm hoping to get about 30 hatchlings. This is my first time incubating myself. Usually we put them under broodies, or give out eggs on half. Let me know if there is something you think you should have done, or if you think your eggs were just infertile. I don't want to lose them this close to hatch.

By the way, I have a lavender in the brooder now and it is almost silver all over as a keat. Its really hard to predict what guineas are going to be when they hatch. I've seen lavender bred to lavender throw all colors. I suppose if you had a real stringent breeding program you could breed down to true. If you want guaranteed color order from www.guineafarm.com I think you can get eggs, or keats from them.


P.S. I wish you were closer and we'd combine an order. I want some of those jumbos for butchering and I'd love to have some powder blues...have you ever seen a powder blue? They are beautfiul!

 

[MissPrissy]

Thanks, Gwen.

My guineas eggs where shipped eggs. 1 doz pearl and 1 doz lavander. Only 6 of each began to develop and the one egg from my Guinea hen we found at the barn and popped in there.

I had 13 eggs make it with movemenr to day 18 when I last candled. I had planned monday to take them out of the turner and set the humidity for the hatch and went in that morning to find them hatching. Temps were 100 and never flunctuated more than half a degree. i kept the humidity at 45%. Nothing happened int he incubation. It was all uneventful. They were not supposed to hatch until today. They all hatched monday.

I don't know why they hatched early. I don't really know why the other 5 eggs died before Monday.

I am at a loss.

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

I think I read in one of your posts that they hatched like on day 26? Mine always start hatching on day 26 and are just finishing up on day 28.

 

[MissPrissy]

No they hatched on Day 25. Not pipped. Fully hatched, all yolks absorbed, perfect little birds on Day 25.

 

[ozark hen]

Well I just candled the five guinea eggs in the bator and not a one was fertile....so it is off to the field I go to steal the nest of eggs out there. The guineas are not setting on them as yet..stock piling? I will put what I find in the bator and candle them in seven days.