We caution you about two things with guinea eggs, if you get these two things right you should have a great hatch. The slightest temperature change can cause deformed, cripple keets or weak keets that don't hatch or survive hatching. Not enough humidity can cause "sticky chicks" that can't get out of the shell, delayed, slow hatches that allow the keets to breath air too long & their legs "set" & will be splayed after hatch and keets simply not being able to pip the eggs.

1. Temperature - heat & airflow affect this most
2. Humidity - airflow & environmental conditions

1. Unpack the egg cartons from the box.
2. Remove shredded paper from around the eggs. The simplest way is to take the eggs out of the shipping carton & put them into an empty egg carton.
3. Place the egg carton in a cool place (NOT cold!). Ideal storage conditions include a 55° F. temperature and 75% relative humidity. Store the eggs with the small end pointed downward.
4. Let these eggs sit for about 24 hours before setting in the incubator. This allows the embryo to settle down from the trip.
5. Set the carton at an angle during this 24-hour period. Shift ends once or twice a day.
6. Now you have 24-hours to get the incubator cleaned & warmed up.
7. Set your incubator according to the instructions it came with!
8. DO NOT incubate eggs that have different incubation periods in the same incubator at the same time unless you have a cabinet type incubator. This will result in poor hatches of both types of eggs.
9. Do not wash eggs or handle with dirty/greasy hands this can force disease organisms through the pores of the shell or some chemical to be absorbed by the embryo.

Good Luck with your birds!

What we do:
What we have used for the last 13 years is the incubator on the left. The hatcher unit along with a second incubator has been a recent addition. Notice all of them are wrapped with aluminum foil-type insulation; this helps them to maintain a steady temperature even when they are located in an un-heated/un-cooled building. We purchased the 24” size at the local building supply store along with the metallic tape it recommends. Two sheets run horizontally to cover the sides & one sheet covers the back & top. This has kept them running at the proper temperature during late cold snaps and sweltering heat.

Make sure to cut holes for your vent openings!
Picture taken when units were “packed” for storage. The hatcher unit (middle) normally sits on another table & the incubators (left & right) are in their “normal” place. This allows plenty of air circulation.

• We use a GQF 1202/5 Sportsman set at 99.5° F and a 60-65% relative humidity. This unit automatically turns the eggs every 4-6 hours; it also has an automatic water tank so humidity never drops.
• We candle eggs at 14 & 21 days to remove any dead/undeveloped eggs. It is hard to do this for a novice before 10 days. Eggs stay in this unit until about day 24-25 & then we move our birds to the hatcher unit.
• In the hatcher (GQF model) the humidity is 70-75% and set at 100°. We use a sponge type material to draw water up out of the water pan, which increases the surface of water in front of the fan.
• G.Q.F. Manufacturing Company - (912) 236-0651 - http://www.gqfmfg.com/

Egg Storage & Handling

• Store eggs in a cool-humid storage area. Ideal storage conditions include a 55° F. temperature and 75% relative humidity. Store the eggs with the small end pointed downward.
• Remove shredded paper from around the eggs. The simplest way is to take the eggs out of the shipping carton & put them into an empty egg carton.
• Let these eggs sit for about 24 hours before setting in the incubator. This allows the embryo to settle down from the trip.
• Set the carton at an angle during this 24-hour period. Shift ends once or twice a day.
• Hatchability holds reasonably well up to seven-ten days, but declines rapidly afterward. Therefore, do not store eggs more than 10 days before incubating. Remember your eggs are several days old when they arrive at your house. We ship eggs within 4 days of being laid.
• Allow cool eggs to warm slowly to room temperature before placing in the incubator. Abrupt warming from 55 degrees to 99 degrees can cause reduced hatches.

Incubators

• For continuous settings, separate incubator and hatcher units are recommended. If all eggs in the unit are at the same stage of incubation, a single unit can be used.
• Locate the incubator and hatcher units indoors to protect them from major weather changes. It is essential that the room has a good ventilation system to supply plenty of fresh air. Keeping the units indoors makes it easier to maintain uniform temperature and humidity.

Incubating Conditions

• Start the incubator a day or two before incubating the eggs. Be certain that it is operating properly before incubating the eggs.
• Poor results are most commonly produced with improper control of temperature and/or humidity. Temperature or humidity that is too high or too low for a sufficient length of time interferes with the normal growth and development of the embryo. Poor results also occur from improper ventilation, egg turning and sanitation of the machines or eggs.
• Obtain the best hatch by keeping the temperature at 100° F. throughout the entire incubation period when using a forced-air incubator. Minor fluctuations (less than ½ degree) above or below 100° are tolerated, but do not let the temperatures vary more than a total of 1 degree. Prolonged periods of high or low temperatures will alter hatching success. High temperatures are especially serious. A forced-air incubator that is too warm tends to produce early hatches. One that runs consistently cooler tends to produce late hatches. In both cases the total chicks hatched will be reduced.
• Check the thermometer! Is it accurate? An error of one degree for days can seriously interfere with embryonic growth. Check the incubator thermometer's accuracy by placing the bulb next to the bulb of a clinical (the kind used to measure body temperature) or good laboratory thermometer. Hold both under lukewarm tap water and compare the readings. Compensate for any variation of the incubating thermometer by increasing or decreasing by the amount of variation. A thermometer with a split or gapped mercury column will not give an accurate reading, discard it.
• Humidity is carefully controlled to prevent unnecessary loss of egg moisture. The relative humidity in the incubator between setting and three days prior to hatching should remain at 58-60% or 84-86° F., wet-bulb. When hatching, the humidity is increased to 65-70% relative humidity or more.
• Too much or too little humidity in the incubator will cause hatching problems and the death of embryos.
• Rarely is the humidity too high in properly ventilated still-air incubators. The water pan area should be equivalent to one-half the floor surface area or more. Increased ventilation during the last few days of incubation and hatching may necessitate the addition of another pan of water or a wet sponge. Humidity is maintained by increasing the exposed water surface area.
• Ventilation is very important during the incubation process. While the embryo is developing, oxygen enters the egg through the shell and carbon dioxide escapes in the same manner. As the chicks hatch, they require an increased supply of fresh oxygen. As embryos grow, the air vent openings are gradually opened to satisfy increased embryonic oxygen demand. Care must be taken to maintain humidity during the hatching period.
• Eggs must be turned at least 4-6 times daily during the incubation period. Do not turn eggs during the last three days before hatching. The embryos are moving into hatching position and need no turning. Keep the incubator closed during hatching to maintain proper temperature and humidity. The air vents should be almost fully open during the latter stages of hatching.
• The eggs are initially set in the incubator with the large end up or horizontally with the large end slightly elevated. This enables the embryo to remain oriented in a proper position for hatching. Never set eggs with the small end upward.
• If the eggs are turned by hand, it may be helpful to place an "X" on one side of each egg and an "O" on the other side, using a pencil. This serves as an aide to determine whether all eggs are turned. When turning, be sure your hands are free of all greasy or dusty substances. Eggs soiled with oils suffer from reduced hatchability. Take extra precautions when turning eggs during the first week of incubation. The developing embryos have delicate blood vessels that rupture easily when severely jarred or shaken, thus killing the embryo.

Sanitation

Thoroughly clean and disinfect the incubator and hatcher before each usage with a warm detergent solution and rinse with a disinfectant solution. When dry, turn the unit on and bring to proper temperature and humidity conditions prior to filling with eggs.

Useful links - take care most are about hatching chickens

Build your own incubator - University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension
Hatching problems from Ohio State
Reasons for Poor Hatches
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Mississippi State University
Poultry Help.com
Candling eggs
Candling Pictures by Frits Farm for Guineas
Candling Pictures by The Easy Chicken for beginners for chickens