Producing eggs is an energy-consuming exercise for a female bird but particularly for the guineafowl as they produce eggs with the thickest shell of any birds of their size. This is possibly to deter egg-stealing predators. They also produce large clutches of up to 20 eggs, especially when there have been good rains. Interestingly, a single female may actually brood up to 50 eggs, the extra eggs having been dumped in her nest by other females. The eggs are laid in a rudimentary but well-concealed nest on the the ground. Guineafowl eggs are pyriform in shape i.e. one end is more pointed than the other – a design that allows the egg to roll in a tight circle if bumped and prevents it rolling away. The eggs are a creamy colour. The parent bird keeps them hidden under her body, staying quite still to avoid detection.
