4. special features of guinea fowl
Hardy birds
• Resistant to many common diseases
• No requirement of elaborate and expensive housing
Low cost of production.
Premium quality of meat.
Greater capacity to utilize green feeds.
Better capacity to scavenge insects and grains.
Better ability to protect itself from predators.
Better resistance to common poultry diseases like
Ranikhet and Fowl pox.
• More tolerant to mycotoxin and aflatoxin
• Guinea fowl meat is rich in vitamin and low in
cholesterol
5. Varieties
Three main varieties-
Pearl
Lavender
White
Cross of pearl or white with lavender= splashed.
Cross of chicken x G.fowl = Guin-hen (sterile)
dr gurram srinivas
9. Sexual Dimorphism
Male Female
Helmet Tall, longer Small than male
wattles Courser Less courser
Body Narrow Bigger
legs Long legs shorter
Call One syllable Two syllable
sound Ke-Ke-Ke (Buckwheat-buckwheat) or
Putrock-putrock
dr gurram srinivas
10. Genetics of immune competence
Guinea fowl has a high reputation for inbuilt disease
resistance potential
Resistance to RNA tumors
Resistance to tick infestations
Low aflatoxin susceptibility
dr gurram srinivas
11. Productive performance
Age at first egg-250 days
Egg weight : 41-45 grams
Egg production – 100-120eggs/yr.
Egg production up to 2-3 yr well.
Age of marketing for meat 12 weeks
FCR – 3.3 (meat type).
Dressing percentage 77%
Less fat and cholesterol but more of B complex
dr gurram srinivas
12. Reproductive performance
Age at sexual maturity : 21-22 wks
Adult body weight : 1.5 kg
Sex ratio - 1:4 (domestic)
1:6-8 (confined)
(seasonal breeder),
laying begins at 28 weeks.
Starts laying march continue up to October
Fertility -90%, Hatchability -80%
dr gurram srinivas
13. Meat and egg characteristics
Egg weight : 35-40 gm
Protein % in meat: 12%
Fat percent in meat : 4%
Calories /100gm meat : 134%
Red lean meat having strong gamey flavour.
Rich in vit B & vit E and iron an
Egg contain low cholesterol 550 mg/100 gm .
dr gurram srinivas
14. Hatching
Incubation period : 26-28 days
Chicken hens commonly used for hatching Guinea
eggs as guinea hens are too wild to set anywhere.
In Hatchery,
Setter for 24 days temp : 99.5⁰F
RH : 58%
Hatcher temp : 97⁰F
RH : 60%
dr gurram srinivas
15. Management
Brooding-
Range system G.fowls are poor mother, broody hen that
hatched guinea fowl eggs will make good caretaker of keets.
Intensive system- 100 keets placed in 4 feet diameter brooder
guard under hover or gas brooder (100⁰F)
For 0-8 week floor space 0.5 sq ft/bird and later 1 sq ft/bird.
Cage brooding can done up to 12 wks
These bird can not been totally domesticated hence require
perches.
dr gurram srinivas
16. Feeding
Under native conditions guinea fowls has a reputation of meeting
nutritional requirements successfully through scavenging and foraging
Brooding-
CP : 20-24%
ME : 3000 kcal/kg
Grower
ME: 3200 Kcal/kg
Layer-
CP : 16-18 %
ME: 2900 kcal/kg
Ca: 3.35
Bird consume 115-120 gm /bird/day.
(oguntona,1983)
dr gurram srinivas
17. Aflatoxin in feeds and performance
Guinea fowl has a natural tolerance to aflatoxin
Damaged and moldy grains can be utilized with
harmful manifestations
Diets has high as 1.00 ppm aflatoxin should no
adverse effect on wt gain ,avg feed consumption or
feed efficiency
Autopsy showed absence of gross pathological
lesions
dr gurram srinivas
18. Grower and Layer G.Fowl management
Require enough space with perches
After 16 wks of age floor space : 2sqft/bird
Grower and layer house well ventilated
Linear or trough feeders and waterer with water
guard provided
6-8 cm feeder space,3 cm waterer space
1 nest provided for 4-5 birds
12 hr light and 12 hr darkness give better results
dr gurram srinivas
19. Young chicks pinioned by cutting off last joint of one
wing,
Also for egg type birds make flightless by amputing
extremity of wing.
dr gurram srinivas
20. Health care and disease control
Higher innate disease resistance to indigenous
guinea fowl no vaccine ,deworming is required
Livability 0-8 weeks -85-92%
9-24 weeks -97%
dr gurram srinivas
21. Cont….
Routine postmortem investigations and mortality
monitoring indicated
Highest deaths during brooding period particularly rainy
season
Coccidiosis caused highest damage in growers
Deaths due to smothering and overcrowding were next in
order
Others include enteritis ,unabsorbed yolk, emaciation,
hepatitis and osteomaicia
Mortality in adult female was mostly due to egg bound
and egg peritonitis .
dr gurram srinivas