Information guinea fowl laying and brooding habits

[KimChick]

I'm hoping someone here has had experience with guinea fowl and their laying and brooding habits.
We have some guinea fowl that had an unsuccessful nest in the front corner of our field. I kept taking eggs and leaving 2 until the 2 went missing (by a nighttime predator).
The hens started a nest in the barn, and there the eggs stay.
The big question is: Generally, if the hens go broody, how many eggs would they be sitting on?
I thought a hen was broody yesterday because she was all puffed out and was on the eggs for quite a while. Later in the day, no hen was on them, and no hen is on them today.
As of today, there have to be about 40 eggs; I thought a hen would have gone broody before then.
So, DH and I have to figure out what action to take.

[KimChick]

Cautiously speaking, "So far, so good."
Two guinea hens have been on the multitude of eggs (about 50) for 2 days now.
This is with me going in and out of the pen, putting out feed, collecting eggs in laying boxes above them, refilling the water fount and scraping off droppings where some chickens sleep at night.
Having done a bit of research on the topic, I do not make eye contact; I move slowly and consistently keeping my back to them.
Whether or not the hens will continue to brood will remain to be seen.

[KimChick]

Today the 2 guinea hens took a short break and then went back onto the eggs. There is a week and half to go.

[KimChick]

Now we are in the waiting period to see how many, if any, guinea keets hatch and show themselves.

[KimChick]

This morning, out in the barn, there was a broken guinea fowl egg out of the nest. When my hand went down to pick it up, I got a guinea hen growl. I do believe there is some success, so far, with the broody guinea hens.

[KimChick]

Interesting development:
1. I saw a keet peek out from under a hen;
2. When I went to gather eggs from the nesting boxes above the guinea nest, I noticed 2 dead keets and removed them;
3. DH installed a heat lamp very near the nest, and directed toward the eggs;
4. We witnessed a keet go out from under a hen; the hen would not let it back under her, she kept pecking at its head;
5. DH grabbed the keet and put it under the heat lamp in the brooder with our week old chickens, and will make a separate little area for that and any other keets that need it.
Boy, this was not in my research of guinea hen behaviour.

[KimChick]

This morning, there was another keet that had hatched and is sitting by the heat lamp, with a few unhatched eggs, away from the guinea hen.
We'll most likely grab it and put it with the other one, in the small enclosure, in the large brooder with the week old chicken chicks.

[KimChick]

So far, we have counted 6 hatches - 3 live and 3 were found dead (2 of which did not look dried off but were away from the nest). That is why, from now on, we will be grabbing any fluffy keet we see and putting it with the other keets.
DH made a circular enclosure that is in the big brooder so the larger 1-1/2 week old chicks don't bother the tiny, younger keets.
The guinea hens, for such "bad mothers", really get nasty when we put our hands near her. I had to shoo her off so that I could grab a moving keet! The hen returned to the nest even before I left the barn.
Only 39-44 left to hatch, but we all know that not all will.

[KimChick]

Here is the keet enclosure. Too bad the heat lamp always makes a red photo.

[Killerbunny]

Hi there @KimChick I have changed this to INFORMATION in case someone needs it.