534 



The Guinea Fowl. 



[dec, 



heard at any other time, and by this means the whereabouts of 

 the nest can be located. 



It has been stated that the guinea cock is monogamous, but 

 this is not strictly correct, though in order to secure fertile eggs 

 it is best to keep equal numbers of cocks and hens. If there 

 are many eggs in a nest at the time it is discovered they should 

 be taken away a few at the time, for whilst the guinea hen 

 may not be able to count, she can see the difference in the 

 nest if, say, a dozen eggs are taken away at once and only 

 one or two left as nest-eggs. But if the number is gradually 

 reduced from a dozen or a score to one or two the difference is 

 not detected, and the hen does not forsake the nest. The hen 

 will desert the nest, however, if it is considerably disturbed, or 

 if the surrounding weeds or bushes are trampled. 



The eggs are about two-thirds the size of the ordinary hen's 

 e gg> Dut of excellent flavour. It is important, however, that 

 they should be fresh, as contact with the earth or grass in a 

 nest will after some days give them a most objectionable taste ; 

 it is therefore necessary to gather the eggs daily. 



Hatching. — The eggs take from twenty-six to twenty -eight 

 days to hatch, and as it is desirable to have the chicks hatched 

 •as early in the year as possible, it is advisable to set the eggs 

 under ordinary hens. If the guinea hen hatches her first nest 

 of eggs she will not lay again for the season, but she may be 

 kept laying to September, or later, by preventing her from 

 hatching. It is then too late to hatch guinea eggs, for late- 

 hatched chicks will seldom live through the winter, and even if 

 they should survive they remain small and of little use for 

 marketing in February or March, which is the season for guinea 

 fowls. A barn-door hen of average size can hatch about twenty 

 eggs, and when the chicks are hatched their foster-mother cares 

 for them in a more satisfactory manner than the guinea hen 

 would, for the common hen is mere tractable, and can be kept 

 with her brood in a limited space. 



Care of the Chicks. — The chicks leave the shell very soon 

 after the appearance of the first chip, and almost immediately 

 they are inclined to stray. In this way some may be lost unless 

 a close nest-box is provided. For the same reason it is neces- 

 sary to attach a closely-wired run to the coop, in which the 



