Specifics of guinea fowl breeding and their productivity indicators in poultry farming

Breeding guinea fowl allows for expanding the range of poultry products. Where the issue of producing edible chicken eggs and broiler meat is mostly resolved, there is an inevitable growth in demand for other dietary and gastronomic products. In many countries, guinea fowl are the main supplier of such products, often used as a substitute for game. In our country, the first studies on the rearing and keeping of guinea fowl were initiated by the All-Union Research Institute of the Poultry Processing Industry. In 1946, experiments at the Bratsevskaya poultry farm demonstrated the feasibility of successfully raising guinea fowl for meat in the conditions of the central zone of the country.

The live weight of adult guinea fowl varies depending on sex, age, and habitat. On average, one-year-old females weigh about 1.8 kg, and males weigh 1.5 kg. Guinea fowl have highly developed pectoral and leg muscles. From about 3—5 days of age, keets become very active, grow quickly, and at 2 months of age weigh up to 700 g or more. At 3 months of age, when reared on rations intended for broilers, the live weight of keets is 1.0—1.1 kg with a yield of over 70% edible carcass parts and a consumption of about 2.8 kg of compound feed per 1 kg of live weight gain of the keets.

Egg production in guinea fowl begins at 7—9 months of age. About 90—100 eggs are obtained from a layer per year, but guinea fowl eggs are smaller than chicken eggs and weigh an average of 45 g. They are rich in vitamins and contain more dry matter (proteins, fats, and minerals) than chicken eggs. Guinea fowl eggs can be stored at a temperature of 7—18°C for a long time, during which they do not lose their structure and are perfectly suitable for consumption. Egg production in guinea fowl begins in March—April and continues throughout the summer. By improving feeding and management conditions, one can obtain up to 130 eggs per year from a guinea fowl.

Adult guinea fowl are kept on deep litter, providing them with walks on warm bedding near the poultry house in winter. Regulating the length of daylight slightly accelerates the start of egg production and can contribute to its increase. In addition, guinea fowl are kept in cages in heated rooms. In the summer, guinea fowl feel better in poultry houses or under sheds with green runs. Feeding standards for guinea fowl have not been developed; for now, standards for adult hens and chicks of egg-laying lines can be used. Guinea fowl are fed grain, pelleted compound feed, and wet mashes. The composition of the mashes includes carrots, greens,

Table 63. Approximate distribution of guinea fowl egg production by month

Month Number of eggs Month Number of eggs January — July 19 February — August 15 March 4 September 4 April 7 October 2 May 16 November — June 23 December —

In the breeding flock, 5—7 guinea hens are kept per each guinea cock. During the laying season, to ensure the guinea hens do not lose their eggs, they are kept in a fenced area near the poultry house and are released into the run only after laying eggs. After laying 20—30 eggs, a guinea hen usually sits on them; after a break, she continues laying. Guinea fowl can also be hatched in an incubator. In practice, the incubation regime developed for chicken eggs is used.

Keets are raised up to one month of age in heated poultry houses on deep litter, placing 30 birds per 1 m² of floor space. The room temperature is 22—24°C, and near the brooder at a distance of 5 cm from the floor in the first days, it is 33—35°C. Subsequently, the heating of keets with brooders is reduced, and at 30—40 days of age, depending on the weather, the young birds are moved to field houses with green runs. Keets, especially in the first weeks of life, should not be released into the run when the grass is wet from rain or dew.

Feeding the keets begins as soon as they are dry. The first feed consists of curdled milk, finely cracked maize, wheat, bran, and tender chopped greens. From the 10th—15th day, grain can be fed 3—4 times a day, and wet mashes 2—3 times. The approximate composition of compound feed for keets is shown in Table 64.

At the age of two months, the young birds fledge: the initial brown feathers are replaced by feathers characteristic of the adult bird. By this time, the comb and wattles develop. Guinea fowl adapt well to various climatic conditions. Increasing egg production and live weight at slaughter age are necessary prerequisites for organizing the industrial production of guinea fowl meat.

Table 64. Approximate composition of compound feed for keets raised for meat (according to SibNIIPTiZh data) (%)

Age of bird (days) Ingredients 1—45 46—84 Wheat 22.0 19.0 Barley 29.0 30.0 Peas 12.0 20.0 Linseed meal 8.0 10.0 Soybean meal 5.0 5.0 Hydrolyzed yeast 6.0 3.0 Fish meal 9.0 2.0 Meat and bone meal 3.0 3.0 Non-food animal fat 4.0 5.3 Bone meal 1.0 1.0 Table salt — 0.7 Premixes 1.0 1.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100 g of compound feed contains (%); metabolizable energy, kJ 1218 1281 crude protein 23.5 20.6 crude fiber 4.1 4.2 calcium 1.0 0.8 phosphorus 0.8 0.7 sodium 5.3 0.4 lysine 1.25 1.12 methionine + cystine 0.80 0.78 tryptophan 0.25 0.22 Energy-protein ratio 518 621 (kJ: crude protein)