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Guinea Eggs

May 4th, 2013

When I got my new guineas, we also picked up two for our neighbor.  A few days later, she mentioned that they had found a guinea egg in their coop.  I headed out and checked in the guinea room, sure enough, there were a few eggs.
guinea eggs 1
They’re tiny, about half the size of chicken eggs. We’ve been finding two or three every day since.
guinea eggs 2
I’ve never met an egg I didn’t like and guinea eggs are no different. I’m wondering if they’d hatch a clutch if I left the eggs in the coop. They’re not laying them in one dedicated area yet, so maybe I’ll set up a little nesting area to see if they’ll hatch a few.

Have you ever tried eggs other than the ones from a chicken?

15 Comments to “Guinea Eggs”
  1. Jennifer Fisk on May 4, 2013 at 6:55 am

    I had a Standard Bronze Turkey hen whose eggs I ate. Big but pretty much the same as chickens.
    I’ll bet you would have luck with the Guineas hatching a clutch. I’ve heard when they are loose, they like to make nests in fields and along woods lines which becomes problematic for survival of all.

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    • Susy on May 4, 2013 at 7:27 am

      I don’t know what it is about these guineas, but they refuse to leave the coop. We have an enclosed run and leave the pop door open for them, but they seem happy hanging out inside. We even tried to herd them out without luck. I guess when they finally feel comfortable enough they’ll venture out. I’m hoping this means they’re well imprinted on this coop and are more likely to return when they finally venture out – we shall see…

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. Lemongrass on May 4, 2013 at 7:37 am

    How lovely, eggs from your guinea birds. Growing up I eat duck, turkey, guinea bird and chicken eggs. Thanks goodness I never eat a bird’s egg.
    The guinea eggs are smaller and I remember my mom baking with them. She used 2 guinea eggs in place of one chicken egg. And the flip side she would use one turkey egg in place of two chicken eggs. The guinea birds will lay in a cluster. The ones we had made their next outside. Never was able to get them to lay inside. What we did thought was when we suspect that they were laying, we would entrap the hens in a cage and keep them in for a few hours. Then we would set them free and they would go directly to their nest. Easy way to find their hidden nests. Enjoy your birds………they have lots of character and they follow their own path, at least the ones we had did on acres and acres of land.

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  3. Mich on May 4, 2013 at 7:56 am

    Yes have eaten duck, goose, guinea and quail eggs. The oddity was eating gulls eggs they did taste bit odd!
    If you want to hatch some keets I’d use a broody hen or an incubator, guineas aren’t very good at parenting if they do go broody.

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  4. Linda on May 4, 2013 at 9:09 am

    Simple question… is there a male? If not, those eggs will never hatch.

    Reply to Linda's comment

    • Susy on May 4, 2013 at 12:31 pm

      Yes, there is a male. One guy and four ladies.

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  5. pinepod on May 4, 2013 at 9:15 am

    We’ve tried duck eggs! When we used to have guineas, they did hatch a bunch of babies but they’re not good mothers at all though, we did raise some in our incubator though.

    Amy

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  6. whit on May 4, 2013 at 10:05 am

    I’ve only tried duck eggs, and unfortunately i am allergic to them n whole or baked good forms. Went a whole month thinking i was pregnant with morning sickness before i figured out it was the duck eggs. Makes me leery to try other’s besides chicken eggs, which i am not allergic to at all.

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  7. amy on May 4, 2013 at 10:50 am

    Did it taste like a chicken egg? I have never eaten one. I do use my duck eggs to bake. They are the very best. My family eats them regularly but I cannot bring myself to give it a go.

    Reply to amy's comment

    • Susy on May 4, 2013 at 12:32 pm

      Yep, taste just like a chicken egg.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  8. Natalie on May 4, 2013 at 11:53 am

    My husband had quail eggs in Russia and loved them. I’ve had duck and goose eggs in the long ago past.

    Reply to Natalie's comment

  9. Adriana on May 4, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    Last year one of our turkeys laid a few eggs. It was truly a surprise since we were raising them for meat and didn’t think they would be around long enough.

    Reply to Adriana's comment

  10. Sheila Z on May 4, 2013 at 3:17 pm

    Guinea fowl won’t squat and fluff out their feathers to warm the baby keets the way a hen will brood her chicks. Guinea’s are native to warm dry grass lands where the keets won’t get wet and die from hypothermia. The guinea hens just run and if the keets keep up, fine, if they don’t well they just die. Chickens hens seem to be much more in tune with their chicks and notice if they are cold and take actions to protect and warm them up. I’ve always hatched guinea eggs in an incubator. Guinea’s have a longer incubation period than a chicken, so if you were going to try using a hen then I wouldn’t mix in any chicken eggs or the hen will leave the nest before the guinea’s have a chance to hatch.

    Reply to Sheila Z's comment

    • Lemongrass on May 4, 2013 at 4:47 pm

      Give the hen the guinea eggs first then add the chicken eggs later. If the guinea eggs take 27 days to hatch and the chicken eggs take 21 put the chicken eggs six days later. We did it all the time with no hens leaving the nest.

      Reply to Lemongrass's comment

  11. Amy on May 5, 2013 at 12:03 pm

    I was going to second the above comment along the vein that Guinea hens are supposed to be notoriously horrible mothers, leading their babies straight through deep puddles and things, keets dying along the way. Guineas are supposed to make great guard birds (noisy when strangers approach) and bug catchers, but parents? Not so much.

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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