My guinea hen is laying two or three eggs a day... how is that possible?

[farmtotable]

I am new to guinea hens (although not to chickens, ducks, quails, and turkeys). We have a female and a male guinea, and I swear the female lays at least two if not three eggs a day. How is that possible? Although she does share nesting boxes with the chickens, her eggs have such a distinctive tear drop/speckled look that I know I'm not getting them confused with other type eggs.... I collect the eggs three times a day, so it's not like I'm accidently missing one or two. Did I just happen to get a miracle guinea, or is this common? Is it bad for her? She seems pretty fat and happy, but she's my first one! Thanks!

 

[red horse ranch]

I am new to guinea hens (although not to chickens, ducks, quails, and turkeys). We have a female and a male guinea, and I swear the female lays at least two if not three eggs a day. How is that possible? Although she does share nesting boxes with the chickens, her eggs have such a distinctive tear drop/speckled look that I know I'm not getting them confused with other type eggs.... I collect the eggs three times a day, so it's not like I'm accidently missing one or two. Did I just happen to get a miracle guinea, or is this common? Is it bad for her? She seems pretty fat and happy, but she's my first one! Thanks!

Are you sure the male is really a male? I've never heard of a guinea laying more than one egg a day.

 

[farmtotable]

Yes, I'm positive. He has a completely different set of calls he makes. That was my first thought, too - so I researched it and listened to the male/female sounds online. Just one girl! Weird, huh? This afternoon I pulled three guinea eggs out of the nesting box! I don't think anyone else around here has guineas (you'd think I would have heard them, cuz dang, they loud!) but that's the only other thing I can think of? Someone is sneaking in and laying eggs?

 

[farmtotable]

And it's not like she's hoarding the eggs inside her and laying them all at once, I got two guinea eggs yesterday. Not that I'm complaining, I just seriously can't fathom how that is even biologically possible. I know the process, and it doesn't make sense, but yet there's the proof in the box!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Hello:

Well you have me stumped. Unless you have a Chicken hen that is laying an egg that is like a Guinea hen egg you have a very pressing question and situation.
I would move the two Guineas from the Chickens for a while and see what happens.
My "wild" hens do lay eggs that look very similar to a Guinea hen egg.
I would think that laying two eggs per day would be an unhealthy attribute.
Guinea G.

 

[BarbaraNH]

I had one guinea hen that would rarely lay two eggs in one day, usually very early in the AM and then again late in the evening. She was my most prolific layer of all of the guineas, and she lived to be 10 years old. She was a rather large pearl guinea, but not as big as the French pearls. She was healthy, and I don't remember her having any other egg laying "issues." I do think that laying two eggs in a day is very unusual, but I have witnessed it, so I know it can happen. I just don't know WHY it happened. LOL I can't imagine that it would be possible to lay three eggs in a day, though, unless one of the eggs didn't have a properly formed shell.

 

[farmtotable]

She's only laid three eggs in one day a few times, thank goodness. I've tested the shells, since I thought the later two eggs would have super thin shells, but no, they're all exactly the same. Two eggs per day seems to be her norm. Now that you mentioned yours laying the second egg late in the day, I realized mine does that too. I collect eggs three times a day - once at dawn when I let them out, then around lunch, then just before dark. She seems really healthy - her feathers are beautiful and her eyes are bright and shining.... She eats a lot, but I would too if I had that kind of output!

Regarding Guinea Goonies comments, thanks for the advice! I will try separating them from the chickens, although I don't think they'll be too happy about it. I don't think the "extra" eggs are chicken eggs, since the guinea eggs have that super thick shell and the chicken eggs don't. Unless having a really thick shell is weird? Like I said, these are my first two guineas, and apparently one of them is an over achiever so maybe other guineas don't lay eggs with thick shells? They're really consistent though, they've been the same since she started laying. I am worried because that much laying can't be healthy!

 

[BarbaraNH]

It really looks like you have a very special guinea, farmtotable. You can help her by making sure she gets enough calcium and protein to help with her egg laying demands. If she's like mine, she will live a long life and lay eggs for many years. Mine was still laying eggs when she was 9 years old, which was strange since I thought she'd stop laying sooner than any of the other hens because she'd have laid more eggs in a shorter amount of time. But, in the end, she continued to lay longer than any of her "sisters." Your hen may be stronger and healthier than you'd think.

 

[GuineaFowling]

My guineas also lay really thick shelled eggs. So I think that is common in guineas. As for laying two to three times a day, Whoa where can I get one like yours? My guineas only lay when they want to hatch babies.