Friday, April 13, 2012

Guinea eggs - 2 weeks to hatch

Our 31 guinea eggs should have about 2 weeks till their hatch date.  Today I numbered each egg in a photo.  I'll have to write the number on the eggs to keep track of them. 


I reviewed the shell color of the eggs.  I learned last year that certain guineas lay darker shells and others lay lighter shells, based on the color of the bird.  So it makes sense that the shell color could predict the color of the keet inside.  I want to maintain a good mixed flock.

And so, I made a chart of the colors.  Here's my totals:

Dark brown: 15
Medium brown: 3
Medium brown with spots: 3
White: 5
White with spots: 5
Total: 31

The darker eggs will probably be pearl gray, the white eggs will be white, the spotty eggs may be lavender.  I assume the medium brown eggs will be lavender.  We'll see.  Here's a guinea fowl color chart for quick reference. 

I also attempted to candle the eggs using a flashlight.  They all looked "spotty".  I could see an air sac in the top.  I could not see a developing keet, which really worries me.  They are halfway through the process, I would think I should see something in there.  But I candled in the middle of the day, and I only shone a flashlight up to each egg.  Maybe tonight when it's dark in the room I'll attempt to candle again, and maybe then I'll get better results.  Also tonight I'll use a tissue box.  Here's an interesting candling guide.

I'll attempt to take photos of the candling tonight and will keep you posted.

8 comments:

LindaG said...

Hoping for you. *hugs* ♥

Farm Girl said...

I hope they are all there.
I will be glad to see how your candling goes.
I do hope you get that many guineas.
That would be nice to have some of the flock that was dinner a few weeks ago.

Rae said...

How exciting! I don't know that you'd see a keet just yet. While my eggs are goose I think I just saw vessels at that point and a large dark mass at one end of the egg. You should check out Pete's incubation guide on backyardchickens. While he uses goose eggs, his pictures are excellent. I think this is the link.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed

Best of luck with the hatch! I can't wait to see what colors you get! :)

CaliforniaGrammy said...

This is getting exciting to me. Sure hope tonight's candling gives you a better idea of what's going on inside the shell!

Kessie said...

Here's to a big hatching! I hope you get some of every color. Maybe you'll beat the odds and more than half will hatch. Time will tell. Aren't eggs exciting?

Gail said...

NCIS does admirable work. I am proud to know some one who is connected with that.

Chai Chai said...

That is so interesting about the egg shell color, I'll be very interested to see if your theory is correct.

If you hatch most of these eggs you are going to be very busy and overrun with guineas!

Razzberry Corner said...

LindaG - Thanks! :)

Farm Girl - Our plan is to always have guinea keets every year to keep the flock going. We'll see if it works out.

Rae - you give me hope, thank you! Thanks for the link, will check it out now.

CAGrammy - The candling just confused me further.

Kessie - Yes, hatching eggs is exciting! :) Thanks for your motivation!

Gail - I love my job. I wish I could talk more about it. Just yesterday, there was this amazing case......and that's all I can say! And so, I talk about guineas.

Chai Chai - I'd be happy having 31 keets! I wish they'd all hatch! :)

~Lynn