I found a nest of guinea eggs!

[Moonbeam Guineas]

I found a nest of guinea eggs. None of my Guineas are sitting on the nest. I couldnt reach them, so I sent my German shepherd in to get some..she did great and brought me some but the nest is in a thicket of thorns.. Do I leave them there? Wont they rot? & attract predators? If I remove the eggs will they find a new egg spot? If the guineas are not sitting on them does it mean they are not fertile? ..this is my and my Guineas 1st egg season, so I have many questions.

 

[Moonbeam Guineas]

Here's what eggs my good dog brought to me today.. And a pic of her & my duck.

 

[SilverBirds]

Just because they are not being sat on does not mean they are fertile. Do you have a male guinea? You can crack an egg open and look for a bullseye on the yolk. You can post a picture if you can't tell yourself. They may or may not find a new spot. It could be just one bird laying in that spot or it could be multiple. And yes, if you leave them their it could potentially attract rats/mice, raccoons, opossums, snakes, foxes, weasels, and other things depending where you live.

Your pup and duck are so cute!

 

[Moonbeam Guineas]

Just because they are not being sat on does not mean they are fertile. Do you have a male guinea? You can crack an egg open and look for a bullseye on the yolk. You can post a picture if you can't tell yourself. They may or may not find a new spot. It could be just one bird laying in that spot or it could be multiple. And yes, if you leave them their it could potentially attract rats/mice, raccoons, opossums, snakes, foxes, weasels, and other things depending where you live.

Your pup and duck are so cute!

I have males and females 13 guineas total. Ok tomorrow I will get the eggs out.. And yeah, we have all the mentioned predators, including coyotes bobcat and mink.
Even if the eggs are fertile the guinea hen will leave them?

 

[SilverBirds]

How many eggs were in the nest? I've read that guineas will lay 20-30 eggs before going broody. She won't sit on them until she's decided she has enough. Or, she may not care to be broody at all and just be laying. You can either leave them there and see if she will sit or incubate them inside.

 

[R2elk]

I found a nest of guinea eggs. None of my Guineas are sitting on the nest. I couldn't reach them, so I sent my German shepherd in to get some..she did great and brought me some but the nest is in a thicket of thorns.. Do I leave them there? Wont they rot? & attract predators? If I remove the eggs will they find a new egg spot? If the guineas are not sitting on them does it mean they are not fertile? ..this is my and my Guineas 1st egg season, so I have many questions.

If you take all of the eggs, the guineas will abandon the nest. If you leave the eggs, eventually some of your hens will go broody on them. That is a very good way to lose the hens to a predator.

When I find a guinea nest, I remove the eggs and replace them with 3 fake eggs so they will continue to use the nest. This save me from having to hunt for their next nest site.

You can make a simple egg retrieval tool such as this to help in reaching the eggs.

 

[DrFyl]

How many eggs were in the nest? I've read that guineas will lay 20-30 eggs before going broody. She won't sit on them until she's decided she has enough. Or, she may not care to be broody at all and just be laying. You can either leave them there and see if she will sit or incubate them inside.

True. They are community nests, and one hen will eventually pull the short straw and be stuck on the nest for three weeks. Her mate will hang around the area where she sets. I have set the top of a large, plastic, dog create over a well populated nest, once, and the hen accepted it. The male hung around within sight range, and I counted the days till I heard peeping. At that point, I confiscated the chicks, one by one, and put them in a trough in the Guinea House. Mom followed and stayed with them. Guineas are horrible mothers and lose keets if left to roam the farm. They are not made for wet grass and dew. They are desert birds. Have always heard, "A wet keet is a dead keet."
If there are still eggs in the nest, the hens will probably continue to lay. When one starts to set, you may be able to "fence her off" but you might want to provide water and some food for her as she won't be able to go far for her occasional walk. The hens leave the nests if the air temp is warm enough for the eggs.
Sweet dog to be so gentle with the eggs.

 

[SilverBirds]

Guineas are horrible mothers and lose keets of left to roam the farm. They are not made for wet grass and dew. They are desert birds. Have always heard, "A wet keet is a dead keet."

Very true. Domestic guineas are notorious for not being the brightest (and that's putting it nicely).

 

[DrFyl]

Very true. Domestic guineas are notorious for not being the brightest (and that's putting it nicely).

Hehe! Years ago, I read this blog post on Guineas. At that time, I think I was caring for 28-36 of the stinkers. I was belly-laughing at the end of this blog.
https://thefreerangelife.com/5-reasons-not-to-own-guinea-fowl/

 

[allenw]

True. They are community nests, and one hen will eventually pull the short straw and be stuck on the nest for three weeks. Her mate will hang around the area where she sets. I have set the top of a large, plastic, dog create over a well populated nest, once, and the hen accepted it. The male hung around within sight range, and I counted the days till I heard peeping. At that point, I confiscated the chicks, one by one, and put them in a trough in the Guinea House. Mom followed and stayed with them. Guineas are horrible mothers and lose keets if left to roam the farm. They are not made for wet grass and dew. They are desert birds. Have always heard, "A wet keet is a dead keet."
If there are still eggs in the nest, the hens will probably continue to lay. When one starts to set, you may be able to "fence her off" but you might want to provide water and some food for her as she won't be able to go far for her occasional walk. The hens leave the nests if the air temp is warm enough for the eggs.
Sweet dog to be so gentle with the eggs.

28 days for Guinea eggs to hatch.