POULTRY FARMING CHAPTER 1 GUINEA FOWL

 

Guinea fowl are indigenous African birds and derive their name from the West African country of Guinea. Eight different species of guinea fowl are found in Africa. There are two types of guinea fowl in Malawi: indigenous (or wild) guinea fowl, and domestic guinea fowl. Indigenous guinea fowl are birds that cannot be tamed and kept by people for breeding because they are completely wild and Domestic guinea fowl are the guinea fowl commonly kept by people in Malawi. They are not indigenous guinea fowl - they were bred from indigenous helmeted guinea fowl, for domestic purposes. Guinea fowl(nkhanga) have been domesticated for many centuries. The first domestic guinea fowl probably came to South Africa from Europe with the Dutch settlers in the 16th and 17th centuries. All of the guinea fowl raised by people in Malawi are of the domestic type. This blog explains some important details for a farmer to venture into this farming.

So why should a farmer choose to start guinea fowls farming? Here are the reasons, first of all Guinea fowl do not suffer from many pests and diseases when compared to chickens, they also do well on free range and move large distances to find their own food. They can therefore be fed quite cheaply. Guinea fowl are also prolific layers for instance each guinea fowl hen can lay an average of 100 eggs in each year. These eggs can be incubated using chickens or an incubator to produce guinea fowl chicks or keets. Another reason is that Guinea fowl provide protein. The flesh of young: guinea fowl is tender and has a flavor like indigenous game meat. Guinea fowl flesh is firmer and tastier than chicken. The yield of edible meat after cooking is high (80%), compared to 65% for chicken. The meat is lean (i.e., has less fat) than chicken. Lastly Guinea fowl are popular birds in Malawi. Because of their size and their attractiveness, they can be sold for more than double the price asked for chickens.

When it comes to housing guinea fowl are not that different from chicken. Guinea fowl can be raised in intensive system, semi-intensive and extensive. intensive system where they are raised inside a house such as a deep litter house where they will be feed without going outside and also, they can be raised in cages for a massive production just like chickens. Semi intensive simply mean they can have a deep litter house or a chicken coop where during somedays of the week they are left to go out but not far as the house is covered with a wire fence. While extensive system is a local way of raising guinea fowl and sometimes referred to s free range systems of raising guinea fowl. In thus system they are left to Rome around during the day and during the night they will go inside a house. Extensive system is mostly practiced by small farmers and its way cheaper compared to other ways of raising guinea fowls. Free range the fowls will go and find food themselves this make it to be cheap method of raising guinea fowl.

Guinea fowls raising on free range together with chicken

Feeding and diet Domestic guinea fowl thrive and breed well when they are allowed on free range during the day. They usually move together in groups and scratch for food such as insects, snails, seeds and berries with their feet or their bill. Although they do pick up food while on free range, they should still be fed each day. Feeding your guinea fowl ensures that they remain healthy and productive. By providing food and water inside the guinea fowl house, the guinea fowl are trained to return to their house each evening. Ideally, food for guinea fowl should be easily available, relatively cheap and nutritionally balanced. Guinea fowl need to be fed a well-balanced diet in order to gain weight and produce many eggs. You will not have a healthy virile population of guinea fowl if they are fed madeya or maize (ufa) only. A diet of madeya or ufa (i.e., carbohydrate, a type of starch) is not adequate for these birds. They will not produce many eggs if they are fed madeya or ufa only. In order to have healthy birds which produce a lot of eggs and healthy chicks, they must be fed a balanced diet. A balanced diet consists of a mixture of different types of food which contain protein, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and water. All of the foodstuffs needed for a balanced diet for guinea fowl can be found locally in Malawi.

Breeding is also just like in chickens, they lay eggs and sit on them for about 28day and they hatch but guinea fowls are slightly different from chickens and they will lay a lot of eggs about 100 eggs for one hen on laying season. This simply means it can not hatch or stay on all the eggs. As a farmer there is a need of incubator or a chicken that is laying eggs to act as incubator. The best way to hatch guinea fowl eggs is to give the eggs to a chicken, this is done by replacing the eggs that the chicken rid with guinea fowl eggs. Some chickens can hatch up to 15 eggs and some even more. as in such case it is good to note that guinea fowl eggs can only stay fresh for 7 days only so make sure to give the chicken during those seven days or they will spoil.

Lastly it is important to note that caring of the houses is very much important just the same as in chickens, clean houses will prevent a lot of pests and diseases.