This document discusses rearing guinea fowl, a bird native to Africa that is raised for both meat and eggs. It describes guinea fowl's hardiness and disease resistance compared to other poultry. There are three main varieties - pearl, lavender, and white - as well as hybrids. Guinea fowl reach sexual maturity later than chickens, lay fewer eggs per year, and have lower productivity overall but richer meat. Their management requires less intensive housing and feeding than other poultry due to their foraging ability but still benefits from standard brooding and feeding practices. Guinea fowl have higher innate disease resistance than other poultry.

1. PoultryScience,PVNRTVU
GUINEA FOWL REARING

3. Introduction
 Numida meleagris
 ORIGIN – AFRICA
 Reared for both meat and egg
 Gamy meat flavour

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)
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6. Pearl
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7. Lavender
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8. White
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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
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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
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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
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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%
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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 .
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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%
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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.
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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)
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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
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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
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19.  Young chicks pinioned by cutting off last joint of one
wing,
 Also for egg type birds make flightless by amputing
extremity of wing.
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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%
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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 .
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22. Thank
you..
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