Hi all,
I have been asked if water should be added to the incubator during the incubation of guinea fowl eggs.
Hi Sara, The only query I have is that the man who sold me the eggs said that he "dry hatches" by which I presume he does not put any water in the reservoir - what do you think? Lesley"
I usually oput water in the incubator as my incubator instructions recommend this but just wondered what other guinea fowl breeders thought about this. Here is my reply:
Hi Lesley,
Glad you got the eBook ok. I hope that you find it useful.
I have always added water when I incubated guinea fowl eggs but the hatch rates have
varied. The eBook takes about what the incubator normally recommends. I know that it is
recommended that you don't add too much water when incubating quail eggs until the last
few days. I recently incubated quail eggs and only put a small amount of water in
throughout the incubation period until 3 days before hatch when I topped up the trays and I had 30 out of 42 hatch successfully within minutes of each other. I realise this isn't guinea fowl but just wanted to pass on the info & experiences I've had.
I would recommend keeping a record of water added so that you can look back and see when and how much water was added and then if the hatch is successful you can repeat this but if the hatch is not so successful you have a record of what you did so that you can think about changes.
Guinea fowl eggs have very hard shells so I think I would ask the man who sold you them
if he adds water at all or just at the end of the incubation. I thought that the humidity is important in the latter stages of the hatch as this helps the guinea fowl to break through the shell and keep the membrane from drying against the guinea fowl as it starts to hatch.
I live in the UK and was only introduced to guinea fowl about 5 years ago. I think they
are beautiful birds and am always amazed at how they respond to my voice when I want them to go in the hut at night so that the fox doesn't get them. Their eggs are also delicious.
Good luck with your hatch.
Kind regards
Sara @ farmingfriends
Let me know your opinions on use of water in incubator for guinea fowl eggs.
Thanks
sara @ farmingfriends