Guinea fowl: breeding and maintenance features for beginners

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Kira Stoletova

Guinea fowl are domestic birds native to Africa. The name translates as “royal bird”. The history of domestication of this species is very long. They first began to breed it in Europe back in ancient times. Then the domestic stock almost disappeared, breeding resumed only in the 15th century. Until now, the guinea fowl is a rather exotic bird in homesteads, despite the high value of meat and eggs. The main country of breeding is France, they are popular in Germany, Spain and some other European countries.

Guinea fowl

Description of the species

Where does the free guinea fowl live and what kind of bird is it? Guinea fowl are found in the dry highlands of Africa. They inhabit low forests, savannas and steppes covered with bushes, trying to nest in secluded places and dense thickets. The basis of bird nutrition is seeds and plant stems, midges, beetles, worms, small reptiles and rodents.

African wild birds have 23 species, the most famous are the vulture guinea fowl and the grey-speckled guinea fowl, the woodland and crested birds are also known. The second was domesticated, about 20 breeds were bred from it. In some regions, wild guinea fowl are hunted. After all, you can catch a bird with your own hands; in many countries entire populations have been destroyed this way.

In appearance, the bird looks a little like a chicken, a little like a turkey. You can better see what a guinea fowl looks like in the photo. Here is a general characteristic and description of domestic and wild birds of this species:

• The head and neck are completely naked
• There is a horny growth on the back of the head
• The beak is crocheted, medium
• Under the beak two fleshy processes are visible, the so-called “beard” or “earrings”
• Large body
• The back is well rounded
• The tail is lowered down, smoothly connecting to the back
• Wings shortened, with rounded tips
• The color depends on the breed, most often gray-mottled

Many people ask how guinea fowl scream. These birds are quite noisy, their voice is sharp, somewhat reminiscent of creaking or crackling. Not everyone likes the cry of domestic guinea fowl. Therefore, farmers prefer to keep them away from their own homes. For some people, the sound is so disturbing that they even dream about it. The dream book says that listening to the voice of a guinea fowl in a dream portends a divorce, but astrologers can’t come up with anything.

Guinea fowl are semi-wild birds, therefore they require a large space for walking. Males are not aggressive, but when kept with hens they can get into fights with roosters. The roosters usually win the fights, but after a few days the fights happen again. They say that crossing chickens and guinea fowl produces a hybrid, but no one has seen it. Guinea fowl fly well, so the pens for them are built high. You can simply clip the wings.

Development of guinea fowl from hatching to laying hen

A chicken or a turkey can hatch and raise guinea fowl. They are more caring towards babies than the guinea fowl. She may be with a brood, but in case of rain or danger she takes care only of herself. If the brood was entrusted to the bird, then it is necessary to organize a kindergarten. A temporary house is placed in the middle of the paddock - shelter from bad weather and for the family at night. There are perches there, food is brought there. The mother and brood are looked after for the first few days, until the guinea fowl acquire the herd reflex and identify the teacher as the leader.

If babies are kept in a brooder, then it is necessary to organize proper lighting, feeding, and provide warmth. For the first 3 months, the chicks are fed a special diet. There should always be fresh water in the drinking bowl, and gravel and shells in a separate feeder or in bulk.

The temperature in the brooder should be:

• the first 3 days – 360 C;
• from 4 to 10 days – 300 C;
• from 11 to 20 days – 270 C;
• later not lower than 180 C.

Up to three months, lighting should be around the clock, then every week the day is shortened by an hour, up to 5 months. Then they add an hour each week again, regardless of the time of year, creating 17 hours of illumination in the poultry house.

Guinea fowl eggs have unique qualities. Protein has bactericidal properties and is used in medicines for the eyes and for gastrointestinal ailments. Meat contains 95 amino acids and is useful for pregnant women, women in labor, and people weakened by disease.

Under such conditions, females become sexually mature at six months of age. The time of active laying is commensurate with the biological cycle of reproduction of offspring.

Guinea fowls begin to lay eggs actively when the weather is favorable for breeding.

Laying begins in February, but males begin mating only in March. Peak activity occurs at an air temperature of 17-200 C and a duration of natural light of 14 hours.

Raising a population of guinea fowl is no more difficult than raising other poultry. Guinea fowl meat is prized; the average cost per kilogram is 400 rubles. The production is waste-free, even guinea fowl feathers are used in art workshops, and not for stuffing pillows.

Guinea fowl productivity

Breeding and keeping guinea fowl at home is becoming increasingly popular. Of course, the population of this species is not as large as that of chickens, ducks, geese and even turkeys. But more and more farmers are paying attention to royal birds. The fact is that they have very valuable meat. The breast contains about 95% amino acids; in a broiler this figure is slightly more than 80%. Guinea fowl meat and eggs also have a very high iron content.

The meat tastes like game, soft and tender. For example, French cuisine cannot do without it. Pheasant has similar meat. Eggs have very thick shells and can be stored at 10°C for up to six months. In addition, guinea fowl eggs are very healthy.

The productivity of royal birds on the farm pays off, as they are easy to keep and eat little. Here are the main product indicators:

• The weight of a male guinea fowl is 1.6-1.9 kg, a female is 1.5-1.7 kg
• Egg production – 80-180 eggs per year
• Weight of one egg – 40-45 g
• Egg shape is pear-shaped
• The color of the testicles is brown or brown-red, speckled

Guinea fowl begin to lay eggs at the end of February and finish in the second half of September. Egg production begins at 6-7 months and continues until 2-3 years. Therefore, it is recommended to keep the parent flock for breeding guinea fowl at home for two seasons. We must not forget that this species of bird has beautiful decorative feathers. They look especially original in the gray-speckled breed. The main color is dark gray, in the center of each feather there is a white dot surrounded by a black rim.

Of course, the productivity of different types of guinea fowl does not compare with the productivity of other poultry. But you shouldn’t make a hasty conclusion; breeding and growing them is very profitable. The cost of a one and a half kilogram carcass is about 1000 rubles, and a dozen eggs cost 200-300 rubles. We must not forget that storing eggs is permissible for 6 months.

Egg production

Guinea fowl begin to lay eggs at sexual maturity - from 8 months, in some cases - from six months.

Kingbird eggs are beige/pale brown in color, with an average weight of 45 g. They are slightly smaller than chicken eggs, but richer in dry matter, lipids, vitamin A and carotenoids. Eggs have a fairly thick shell, which increases their shelf life.

Guinea fowl egg production is seasonal. Its active period is from April to September. On average, females lay 80-110 eggs per season.

Creating comfortable conditions close to natural will double egg productivity.

Guinea fowl breeds

Over centuries of breeding guinea fowl at home, many breeds have been developed. They differ from each other in color and plumage pattern, live weight, and egg production. Most varieties are adapted to cold climates. Below are the characteristics of guinea fowl breeds and a brief description of them.

Grey-mottled breed

The grey-speckled breed of guinea fowl is the most popular. It is not highly productive, but it is completely unpretentious and has magnificent decorative feathers. They are dark gray in color, with white spots bordered by a black rim. Black stripes are clearly visible on the wings in flight. The earrings under the beak are bright scarlet, and the growth on the back of the head is blue.

The weight of a female speckled guinea fowl is about 1.6 kg, a male – 1.8 kg. They can be distinguished from each other by the fact that the male has a larger head, a more clearly defined tubercle under the beak, and larger earrings. The egg production rate of the gray speckled breed is average, at the level of 80-90 eggs per year, the weight of one egg is about 45 grams. The ability to lay eggs well lasts up to 3 years, then young birds are needed.

White Siberian guinea fowl

The Siberian white guinea fowl is very well adapted to cold weather. The breed was developed on the basis of grey-speckled, descended from albino parents. A distinctive feature of the species is its white matte plumage. Productivity is slightly higher than that of the speckled grey. In a year, she can lay up to 120 eggs; an adult bird weighs 1.6-1.8 kg. If white guinea fowls are given good care and proper feeding, they recover very quickly.

Cream or suede guinea fowl

The breed is very young, it has just begun to be bred. As in the previous case, its ancestor was a speckled gray guinea fowl, in which a mutation occurred. Unlike the Siberian varieties, the feathers on the breast of these birds are a delicate cream shade, on the back they are gray with white speckles, and the neck is bare. This breed is in the process of development and cannot boast of its high production indicators. Weight ranges from 1.5 to 1.7 kg, there are not too many testicles, up to 70-80 pieces per year, weighing up to 45 g.

Blue guinea fowl

The blue domestic guinea fowl is a rare breed with high productivity. The feather of a guinea fowl has a special lilac or blue tint. Against this background, the specks are clearly visible, forming even rows and stripes on the wings. Males weigh 1.5-2 kg, and females weigh 2-2.5 kg. Laying hens lay 120-150 eggs per year, brown in color, with small black dots, with a very hard shell. Testicle weight – 40-45 g. Unfortunately, breeding and keeping this breed at home is not yet popular; it is rarely seen in homestead farming.

Volga white guinea fowl

The white Volga guinea fowl was bred from the white Siberian one. It is especially characterized by good adaptability. The plumage is white, without cream or yellow. The productivity of the Volga variety is average, the weight of birds is from 1.65 kg to 1.75 kg, egg production is in the range of 85-90 pieces per year, individual laying hens can lay 100 pieces. Chick hatching rate is just over 50%.

Zagorskaya white-breasted

The Zagorsk white-breasted guinea fowl also comes from the speckled breed. A distinctive feature of the variety is the white, very lush, uniform plumage on the chest and belly, and light yellow skin. Product indicators are quite good. Females weigh 1.7-1.9 kg, males - 2-2.2 kg. The female carries 120-140 testicles per year and retains these indicators for up to 2-3 years.

Crested guinea fowl

The crested breed of guinea fowl comes directly from a wild ancestor and is quite rare in domestic conditions. On the top of the bird's head there is a beautiful crest of feathers, similar to a cap. The color of the feathers is black. The rest of the head and neck are bare. The plumage on the body is dark with white dots and a blue tint. The beak is blue and its tip is yellow. The weight of the birds is about 1.5 kg, the body length is within 45-50 cm. The number of testicles per year is 55-100 pieces, depending on the maintenance and feeding regime.

Keeping an adult bird

Breeding and caring for guinea fowl does not require any complex measures: it is enough to observe the light regime, clean the feeders daily, change the water in the drinkers and periodically add a fresh layer of litter.
It is also recommended to install several boxes with a mixture of ash and sand on the territory of the aviary and in the poultry house: birds love to bathe in it, thus cleaning their feathers and getting rid of parasites. When forming a breeding herd, guinea fowl create families of one male and 4–5 females. Thanks to this proportion, the birds of each group stick together and build their own nest, where they subsequently lay their eggs in turn. Several such families of the same age form a flock that perceives newcomers extremely negatively, so it is advisable to keep young and adult guinea fowl separately.

It is useless to build special nests for females, since they independently choose a suitable place for laying. It should be taken into account that guinea fowl lay eggs mainly in the first half of the day, and therefore it is better not to release them into the enclosure until 14-15 hours in order to avoid the need to collect eggs throughout the entire walking area.

The productive period for females lasts 6–7 months. It is undesirable to leave them for the second year, since egg production in two-year-old guinea fowls decreases by 25–30%, making further keeping of birds unprofitable. Young animals for fattening can be partially sent for slaughter at the age of three to four months with a weight of 1.0–1.2 kg, and partially kept for up to eight months and slaughtered with a live weight of 1.8–2.0 kg.

Maintenance and care

We told you what a guinea fowl looks like and what breeds can most often be seen in farmsteads. You have received information about the productivity of the species. But it is advisable to learn everything about guinea fowls before bringing these beautiful birds home. Only proper care and maintenance at home can make their breeding cost-effective and profitable. This is especially important for beginning farmers.

Semi-wild birds need to roam freely; cages are not suitable for them. They need a fairly large area, approximately 30 m of territory per individual. The place should be open, with sparse bushes and tall grass. An area in a field or a small meadow is ideal for this. To prevent domestic guinea fowl from flying away, you need to build a two-meter fence around the paddock. If you do not provide the livestock with free range and drive it into a barn, its productivity will drop sharply - the number of eggs will decrease, and the rate of weight gain will decrease. Due to this, cellular maintenance is absolutely unprofitable.

Despite the fact that the guinea fowl is an African bird, it tolerates cold well. The poultry house can be built without heating. No more than 2-3 individuals can live on one square meter. Be sure to provide perches for the royal birds and guinea fowl so that they do not sleep on the floor. The bedding is standard, like for chickens. Its thickness should be about 10 cm. Straw with sawdust and peat is best suited.

The poultry house for keeping guinea fowl at home in the summer can be mobile. In the pen, they make a small house with their own hands with perches, like a large cage, where the birds can hide at night. In the morning they leave the house and graze in the pasture all day. The livestock should be released from the barn for a walk only after the hens have laid eggs. Otherwise, they will lay eggs anywhere and a large number of eggs will simply be lost.

In winter, guinea fowl should be kept in a permanent barn. If you make it heated, you can prevent many diseases, colds and increase the productivity of the herd. But this condition is not mandatory. The lights in the poultry house are turned on at 7 a.m. in winter and turned off at 10 p.m. You can keep this species with other birds; guinea fowl and chickens get along well, and they do well with turkeys. Even in cold weather, birds will benefit from walks in an aviary cleared of snow.

How to trim wings?

When keeping birds at home, they should have their wings clipped to ensure they retain the ability to fly.

The best option is to trim one wing brush immediately after the chicks are born. The wing trimming operation should be carried out only in the evening and immediately on all young animals 1–5 days old.

You should heat a knife or kitchen scissors designed for cutting fish on a fire and cut off the first phalanx of one of the wings. The wound should be treated with an antiseptic - brilliant green, hydrogen peroxide, iodine.

The wings of older individuals can also be docked. The procedure is painless, but deprives the birds of their beauty.

To do this, one of the wings is turned 100 degrees and the first order of terry feathers is trimmed. After pruning, skin formations will remain - stumps about 10 cm long. No treatment is required. A similar operation is performed three times a year as the wings grow back.

Feeding guinea fowl

The diet of a guinea fowl in a household varies depending on the time of year and the purpose of specific birds (for fattening or for the parent flock). In summer, birds can obtain part of the food on their own. They happily peck green grass, bugs, even hunt small rodents and lizards; the Colorado potato beetle is completely destroyed by guinea fowl. In winter, the basis of the diet is grain, but you should not forget about greens. Here is the approximate daily menu of one individual for the spring months, during the period of intensive egg laying:

• Oats – 20 g
• Wheat bran – 20 g
• Ground barley grains – 20 g
• Chopped millet – 10 g
• Ground corn kernels – 20 g
• Meat and bone meal or dry fish waste – 20 g
• Grated carrots – 20 g
• Hay (clover is best) – 15 g
• Green pine needles – 15 g
• Feeding yeast – 6 g
• Fish oil – 3 g
• Crushed shells – 5 g
• Fresh nettle – 30 g

In winter, the amount of hay is increased to 25 grams per day per individual, since there is no greenery at this time. A very important component of the diet is pine needles, especially in winter. It contains a lot of vitamin A, which guinea fowl need for normal development. At the end of February, vitamin supplements are definitely included in the menu. After the end of the egg-laying period, the amount of food, especially grain, must be cut off so that guinea fowl at home do not become obese. Then their egg production, fertilization of eggs and hatching of chicks will decrease.

The herd must be fed three times a day, in one place and at one time. Then they will stick to the pen and will not run away. It is best to give food at 6, 12 and 16 hours. You can shift this time by 1-2 hours. The menu for the first and last meals is mainly grain, with greens and vegetables for lunch. The more greens a guinea fowl eats in the summer, the better it tolerates the winter. It is added to the diet gradually, eventually reaching almost 10 g per day.

Investments and income

Breeding guinea fowl as a business - profitable or not? To determine the profitability of a home farm, you need to make some calculations.

Suppose a farmer has a suitable room of 50 m² in which he can simultaneously keep a flock of 200 birds (100 adult guinea fowl and 100 fattening young animals). In this case, you can start a business by purchasing 300 one-day-old chicks at the beginning of summer, of which 200 will be sent to slaughter four months later, and 100 will be left for breeding until next autumn. According to the business plan for raising guinea fowl, expenses during the first year of operation will be as follows:

First year expenses

At this stage, the farmer will receive a profit from the sale of 200 guinea fowl carcasses weighing 1.2 kg each. With a wholesale cost of meat of 350 rubles/kg, the income will be 84,000 rubles. Thus, the loss for the first year of operation will reach 203,724 rubles.

The situation looks slightly different in the second year of work: at the beginning of the breeding season, 300 eggs should be placed in the incubators twice, from which 600 chicks can be expected to hatch. The young should be distributed as follows:

• A third sold to other farmers at one day of age;
• Leave a third for fattening for up to four months;
• A hundred are sent for slaughter at eight months with a weight of 1.8–2.0 kg;
• From the remaining ones, form a breeding herd in the proportion of 80 females to 20 males.

The main expenses in the second year of operation of the farm are related to the purchase of feed for chicks, young animals and adult guinea fowl:

Second year expenses

At the end of the breeding season in September, the parent flock is also sent for slaughter, since in the second year of life the guinea fowl’s egg production decreases significantly. However, from the beginning of spring these females will produce about 9,600 eggs, of which 9,000 can be sold at a price of 15 rubles each. Income for this period will be:

Second year income

Taking into account the costs, at this stage you can expect not only a full return on investment in the business, but also a net profit of 74,289 rubles. In the future, the farm will annually generate an income of 278,013 rubles.

Guinea fowl diseases

It is impossible to tell everything about guinea fowl at home without talking about the pathologies that occur in this species. Timely detection of symptoms and proper prevention can often save an entire livestock. Diseases of domestic guinea fowl are infectious and non-infectious. Infections include the following pathologies:

• Trichomonosis. Caused by the intracellular parasite Trichomonas. It manifests itself as diarrhea, loss of appetite, sick guinea fowl scream quietly, without timely help they die in a few days
• Pasteurellosis. Caused by a bacterium, the main symptoms are gray-yellow diarrhea, inactivity, high fever
• Pyllorosis. Very often the entire flock, both adults and chicks, die from the disease. The birds' behavior changes, white-yellow diarrhea appears, and coordination is impaired.
• Mycoplasmosis. The disease is caused by protozoa in guinea fowl and affects the respiratory tract. The main symptoms are cough, shortness of breath, sneezing, nasal discharge.
• Worms. They are often asymptomatic; in advanced cases, the bird grows poorly and gains weight, loses activity, and feathers become dull.

The most common non-communicable diseases are:

• Dyspepsia
• Avitaminosis
• Ophthalmitis
• Rhinitis
• Gout

If you properly care for your birds, feed them fresh food and keep the chicken coop and aviary clean, they will not get sick. Timely vaccination will protect them from infections. If a dangerous epizootic occurs in the herd, the entire livestock is sent for slaughter. The premises are thoroughly disinfected. Your guinea fowl will benefit if you contact your veterinarian on time. Perhaps the bird can be saved. After all, only a doctor can determine what a guinea fowl is sick with and what it needs for treatment.

Equipment and materials

Obviously, a business plan for breeding guinea fowl should include the purchase of incubators, hatchers and brooders with sufficient capacity. In addition, a separate cost item will be associated with the construction of the farm, including the arrangement of floors and perches, installation of lighting and ventilation systems, feeders and drinking bowls, and installation of enclosure fencing. Finally, to process poultry you will have to equip a small slaughterhouse - purchase tables, a refrigerator, cutting boards and a feather removal machine. Summarizing the above, we can make an approximate list of equipment for a poultry farm:

Farm equipment for 200 heads

You can learn about other advantages of this area of ​​poultry farming from the video “Raising guinea fowl at home”:

Guinea fowl breeding

When raising guinea fowl, the parent flock begins to be selected when the chicks are 6 months old. For 5-6 females, one male is enough to breed an entire livestock. This species has one feature that makes breeding much easier. Females carry fertilized eggs for another 20 days after mating. Even if the male died, fell ill, or was removed from the house, material for incubation can be collected for almost another month.

It is best to take eggs for breeding from a household farm at the end of April or beginning of May. Males mate successfully when the outside temperature rises to 17-20 degrees. Even if the female lays eggs, the eggs are empty until the end of April, and chicks cannot be hatched from them.

Breeding guinea fowl at home can be problematic. The fact is that the maternal instinct in birds is reduced; they do not sit well on the nest indoors. Not all laying hens hatch eggs well. Therefore, a turkey or a large bantam chicken is often used as a brood hen. After laying the eggs, the birds can be trusted to raise the young. It is also possible for guinea fowl to be hatched in an incubator. The conditions are the same as for chicken eggs, only the humidity is slightly increased. Hatching occurs after 21 days.

If a turkey incubates the eggs, the newborn chicks willingly follow her and hide under her wings. The only problem is that the turkey can take the chicks out for a walk in wet weather and the little guinea fowl catch a cold. Therefore, during the rains, the hen and her young are kept indoors, without being released into the enclosure. The chicken is not such a good mother; tiny guinea fowls get used to it worse. But she can also raise the princess’s children. The problem can be solved by manually placing the chicks under the wings of the chicken. After a while, she begins to call them to her, and the chicks calmly run to their foster mother.

Business Features

The guinea fowl is a medium-sized domesticated bird with colorful plumage, introduced to Europe from Central Africa. Its closest relatives are ordinary chickens and turkeys, and therefore raising guinea fowl at home with a simple poultry house does not require the farmer to purchase complex equipment or study new technology.

Despite its origin, the bird feels comfortable in the conditions of the Middle Zone, easily withstanding both frosts down to -30°C and summer heat. In addition, due to elevated body temperature, it is immune to various infectious diseases, including salmonellosis.

As a business, raising guinea fowl involves making a profit primarily from the sale of eggs and meat, although some additional income can also be generated by the sale of down, feathers and dry droppings. The easiest way to start raising poultry is in rural areas or in a country house, where there is a building suitable for a poultry house, a walking area and a food supply.

Studying the breeding of guinea fowl at home, one can note several positive and negative aspects characteristic of this activity, determined by the morphology, anatomy and habits of the pets.

The main advantages include the following factors:

1. Thanks to their increased immunity, guinea fowl almost never get sick;
2. When kept on litter, birds successfully withstand winter cold;
3. The low aggressiveness and peacefulness of guinea fowls allows them to get along well with other inhabitants of the poultry house - chickens, turkeys, ducks;
4. Pets eat common plant foods, regular grain mixtures and insects, quickly gaining weight under any feeding regimen;
5. Lean guinea fowl meat is equal to game and costs much more than chicken;
6. Dietary eggs with a rich vitamin composition are considered more useful than quail eggs;
7. Breeding guinea fowl at home is discussed in detail in many articles and teaching materials, and therefore studying the technology will not turn into a difficult task for the farmer;
8. There is practically no competition in this area of ​​poultry farming.

There are not many difficulties and problems that accompany the business of raising guinea fowl, however, overcoming them will require the entrepreneur to make some efforts:

• At the sight of danger or during the mating season, birds emit loud, piercing screams that can cause indignation among neighbors;
• Females are poor brood hens and rarely care for the chicks, leaving the farmer no choice but to breed the guinea fowl in an incubator;
• Birds run quickly and are capable of flying well, so the aviary for walking needs to be covered with a net both around the perimeter and on top;
• Guinea fowl are shy and afraid of any sharp sounds - even thunderclaps cause them to temporarily reduce egg production.

Feeding and caring for young animals

Most often, farmers buy day-old guinea fowl and feed them until autumn. With this technique, care should be taken to properly care and feed the young animals. The room where chickens live should be dry and with good lighting. In the first 3 days, the temperature there should be maintained at 35 degrees, until the 10th day - 31 degrees, until the third week it is reduced to 27 degrees, and at 30 days the young animals feel good indoors at 21 degrees. The best way to raise guinea fowl chickens is to use a brooder.

In the first days, guinea fowl are fed boiled eggs and steamed millet. Then finely chopped greens, sprouted grains, and wheat bran are added to the menu. At three weeks you can already give ground raw wheat, oats, and barley. By the age of one month, the young animals are transferred to adult feeding. For normal development, the diet includes fish oil and flour, yeast, and vitamins. Guinea fowl grow quickly, already at three months they weigh more than 1.5 kg, and at 4 months in most breeds they reach full weight.

How much do daily allowances for guinea fowl cost? The price depends on the breed and the number of individuals purchased, ranging from 120 to 200 rubles per head. A hatching egg costs 60-70 rubles. The price of adult guinea fowl is 500-700 rubles per individual. If you take into account the high price of meat and the low consumption of feed (about 3 kg per kilogram of live weight), you can understand how profitable it is to keep guinea fowl at home. It is best to start breeding by purchasing day-old chicks (at least 20 pieces), forming them into a parent flock and getting your own offspring the next year.

Purchase of young animals

Purchasing breeding young stock can turn into a difficult task for a farmer, since not every region has large enterprises and specialized nurseries that breed purebred guinea fowl in accordance with technology requirements. To purchase ready-made or form your own broodstock, you must choose one of three methods:

• Purchase of hatching eggs. The entire batch is carefully checked using an ovoscope, rejecting specimens of irregular shape and color, with damaged shells, weighing less than 38–39 g, or with double yolks. The cost of hatching eggs ranges from 60–85 rubles per piece;
• Buying chicks. Large nurseries sell guinea fowl chicks aged 1–10 days at a price of 150–300 rubles per head. Healthy individuals are distinguished by shiny bulging eyes, fluffy plumage, smooth orange legs, a clean cloaca, and the presence of a reaction to sound. It is best to purchase chicks at the beginning of summer, so that by winter they have time to grow and become stronger;
• Buying adults. By purchasing several families of adult guinea fowl, you can immediately begin breeding them. The cost of a male at the age of 8–12 months is 500–600 rubles, a female - from 700 rubles. Healthy birds have clean nostrils and eyes, dense shiny feathers, a clean cloaca, smooth paws with strong claws, and a wide chest bone.

Common breeding problems

Adult guinea fowl fly excellently, and if their wings are not clipped, they can easily overcome a high fence or fly up a tree. You can trim the feathers by 5 cm on one wing, but for reliability it is better on both. In addition, the bird is quite shy. She is afraid of loud sounds and sudden movements, while she herself makes an unpleasant piercing sound.

It is better to care for livestock using special headphones, otherwise hearing may deteriorate over time. Another feature of the bird is a weak incubation instinct or its complete absence. To hatch chickens you will have to purchase an incubator.

Diseases and various disorders occur rarely in guinea fowl, and are usually caused by poor feeding and improper living conditions. Typical problems when breeding and keeping guinea fowl :

1. 
   Poor healing of the umbilical wound. Pathology develops due to the use of defective eggs, as well as due to disturbances during incubation. Sick chicks look lethargic, disheveled, do not eat, and sit motionless for a long time. Chickens are treated with synthomycin, adding it to the water at the rate of 0.5 g for each individual. Prevention measures include feeding laying hens a variety of foods and immersing hatching eggs for 3 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate (0.01%).

2. Avitaminosis. It develops when the diet is poor in vitamins D, B, A. Sick individuals become sedentary, eat poorly, and are stunted. For medicinal purposes, give a mixture of sprouted grains and baker's yeast, adding them at the rate of 5 g per 1 adult bird and 3 g per chicken.
3. Peritonitis. The cause of the disease is an unbalanced diet. In sick guinea fowl, the peritoneum and internal organs become inflamed. Prevention comes down to proper nutrition. For medicinal purposes, 15−20 days before oviposition, potassium iodide (1 mg per head) and feed choline chloride (0.3 mg per head) are given.
4. Pullorosis. Infectious diseases. Develops in young animals at the age of 5−10 days. Furazolidone (2 mg each) and chloramphenicol (5 mg each) are used for treatment. Course - 8-10 days. For the purpose of disinfection, drinkers, feeders, perches and the entire room are treated with 1.5% formaldehyde or 3% sodium hydroxide solution. After 3 hours, the room is ventilated.
5. Colibacillosis. An infectious disease that affects the intestines. It develops when sanitary standards are not followed. A sick bird is given synthomycin (5 g per head) for 10 days.
6. Salmonellosis. Intestinal infection. All livestock are given furazolidone at the rate of 2 g per head per day. The course of treatment is 10 days.
7. Pasteurellosis. The infection cannot be treated; the sick bird is destroyed.
8. Trichomonosis. The disease can be recognized by this sign: guinea fowl do not eat, but drink a lot. The feathers look ruffled and the wings droop. Young animals aged 7−10 days suffer. If left untreated, the chick dies within 6-8 hours. For 5 days they are treated with sulfadimezine (0.2 mg per head per day), in the next 5 days furazolidone is given.
9. Helminthiasis. Birds of any age can have parasitic worms. Treatment with nilverm, which is added once to the feed in an amount of 60−90 g per 1 kg of live weight, is effective.
10. Dyspepsia. Disorders of the digestive tract. Guinea fowl under 3 months of age are affected. The reason is low-quality, musty, contaminated feed. The situation can be aggravated by vitamin deficiency. Sick chicks diarrhea, refuse to eat, and become lethargic. For therapeutic purposes, give a solution of copper sulfate (0.2%), potassium permanganate (0.02%) or baking soda (0.03%).

If you cannot determine from the symptoms what the guinea fowl is sick with, you should consult a doctor. Some bird infections pose a danger to animals and humans, so treatment must be qualified.

Is it possible to keep chickens together?

Guinea fowl can easily coexist in the same poultry house with chickens, but they have certain differences that should be taken into account when arranging joint housing.

The advantage of such cohabitation is the same living conditions. Together they use perches and nests for hatching eggs and require a certain temperature, cleanliness, and air humidity. To create comfortable conditions for their living, it is worth keeping the bedding dry and clean, and providing good heating and lighting.

The same diet allows you to get high-quality meat when preparing one menu for two types of birds, which will reduce the amount of time and effort for cooking. The individuals get along well with each other. Only roosters can cause confusion, and therefore it is recommended to keep birds together from a young age.

Poultry house with chickens and guinea fowls

There are also certain disadvantages of such incubation:

• chickens can live in cages and small poultry houses, and guinea fowl require freedom;
• chickens can breed in a closed space, and guinea fowl only in a paddock;
• chickens and guinea fowl can mate with each other, resulting in hybrids.

Note! The main advantage is the moment of hatching the eggs. Guinea fowls do not like to do this, and therefore chickens often perform their duties.

Growing area and walking area

If there is a small area, it is necessary to artificially create conditions for the birds that are as close as possible to the natural environment. To do this you will need:

• Build a special room. It is recommended to build the poultry house on an elevated area or on an area with a slope. Install the windows, glaze them and tighten them with wire mesh from the inside. Make the floor from boards, lay a bedding of peat, straw, and sawdust under them. When keeping a large number of animals, it is necessary to partition the room into sections using fine mesh, attaching the lower edge to the boards - this way the birds will not crawl under them into other sections.
• Fence part of the garden where trees and shrubs grow. In hot weather, the birds will be cool in the bushes, and they will also have the opportunity to eat pasture and insects.
• Fence the area with a metal mesh fence. Birds can fly, and the netting will prevent them from leaving the area.
• Install drinking bowls and feeders inside. Guinea fowl should have free access to food and clean water.
• Set up perches and nests. Perches are installed at a height of 40-50 cm from the floor. The material for manufacturing is strips that have a slightly rounded shape. The size of the nests is 40x30x30 cm. They are placed near the walls in a secluded corner. There is one nest for 6-8 birds.

Without letting birds out into the fresh air, problems with their health are possible. Guinea fowl love freedom and outdoor activities are as important to them as food.

Places are allocated for walking, depending on the number of individuals. There should be enough space for them so that they do not push and run freely. There is no need to install a roof on the territory, but a canopy will not hurt - it will protect from rain or scorching sun.

Diet preparation

The main food of adult males and females is fresh plants and grain. They also need animal proteins and microelements. Young animals also need nutritious and varied food. For the first 7 days, they are fed a mixture of mashed chicken yolk and bread crumbs. For the next 8 weeks, the basis of the chicken menu consists of the following products :

• cottage cheese;
• clover;
• carrot;
• alfalfa;
• fish;
• cabbage;
• nettle;
• leaf salad;
• peas;
• meat;
• raw and boiled potatoes;
• corn, wheat and barley grits.

All components are thoroughly crushed, otherwise the chicks may choke. Feed is given in small portions 5 times a day. The uneaten remains are thrown away so that they do not turn sour. When the guinea fowl turn 2 months old, they are transferred to three meals a day: at 6-7, 12-13 and 18-19 hours. During a walk, you can safely release the bird into the garden. Guinea fowl will not harm the crop, but they will happily eat the Colorado potato beetle. First, they are accustomed to this food: the collected beetles are crushed and added to the main food. Having tried new food, the chickens will later peck adult beetles and larvae.

The only bed to which the guinea flock should not be allowed is the cabbage bed. Birds peck heads of cabbage, like other greens, very willingly. If you don't keep track, you may miss the harvest.

An adult bird consumes about 150 g of feed per day. Under natural conditions, 90% of this amount is greens; at home, 30% is enough. The rest of the menu is cereals, fishmeal, shells, chalk. Instead, you can give poultry feed, but it must be of high quality and balanced in composition.

Guinea fowl must be provided with 24-hour access to drinking water. Drinkers are installed in enclosures at the rate of 2 cm in length per adult and 1.5 cm per chick. Guinea fowl broiler crosses from 3 months. fattened for meat. At this time, it is useful to add flour products (in the form of crackers) to the food. Enclosures and walking areas must have gravel, without which the bird will not be able to digest food.