Many farmers say that guinea fowl are profitable if they are properly looked after and the requirements for keeping birds are met. With proper care for guinea fowl, it will be possible to increase the immunity of birds, as well as get strong individuals with good productive indicators.
Place for growing and territory for walking
If there is a small area, it is required to artificially create conditions for the birds as close as possible to the natural environment. This will require:
- Build a special room. It is recommended to build a house on an elevated plot or in an area with a slope. Install the windows, glaze them and tighten the inside with a wire mesh. To make the floor from boards, under them lay a bed of peat, straw, sawdust. When keeping a large number of animals, it is necessary to partition the room into sections using a fine mesh mesh, attaching the lower edge to the boards - so the birds will not crawl under them into other sections.
- Protect the part of the garden where trees and shrubs grow. In the heat, the birds will be cool in the bushes, they will also be able to eat pasture and insects.
- Protect the area with a fence made of metal mesh. Birds can fly, and the net will not allow them to leave the territory.
- Install drinkers and feeders inside. Guinea fowl should have free access to food and clean water.
- Set perches and nests. Perches are set at a height of 40-50 cm from the floor. Material for manufacturing - trims having a slightly rounded shape. The size of the nests is 40x30x30 cm. They are placed near the walls in a secluded corner. 6-8 birds have one nest.
Without letting the birds out into the fresh air, problems with their health are not ruled out. Guinea fowl love freedom and outdoor walks are important to them, no less than food.
Places are taken for walking, depending on the number of individuals. They should have enough space so that they do not push, but run freely. The roof on the territory does not need to be installed, but the canopy does not hurt - it will protect from rain or the scorching sun.
Productivity
Guinea fowl are considered massive birds. The weight of an adult hen reaches from 1.5 to 2 kg. In this case, the cost of fattening the birds is small and amount to about 3-3.5 kg per 1 kg of weight gain. Productive qualities depend on the species of bird. But in general, guinea fowl of any kind give at least 90 and no more than 120 eggs. The average weight of an adult female varies between 1.5-1.8 kg, male - 1.8-2.1 kg.
In a small area, birds do not have the ability to "run" and therefore lose weight. When fed only with grass, guinea fowl produce 20% less eggs. Sometimes laying hens are carried less because of the low temperature in the chicken coop or due to the poor sanitary condition of the dwellings. For these reasons, the barn should be at least +12 degrees, it is also important to regularly clean the premises, get rid of waste products, change the litter.
The reason for the decrease in egg production is often the low nutritional value of the feed. To restore productive indicators will help increase the nutritional qualities of food, obtaining feed with a high content of valuable amino acids.
Females reach sexual maturity at about 7-7.5 months. The egg laying season can last from six months to a year. During this period, on average, one female lays up to 90 eggs.
About what factors affect the egg production of a bird and what to do if guinea fowls have ceased to rush, read more here.
Feeding and diet
Guinea fowl are picky birds and can consume carrots, freshly chopped grass, food waste, beets, and potatoes. Birds are fed and mixed feed intended for chickens. Each bird should receive fresh herbs at a rate of at least 50 grams per day. The main feed is given in amounts up to 150 grams.
It will be possible to increase the egg production by watering the birds with yeast.
During the laying of eggs, laying hens, it is required to provide feed containing calcium or to top dress in the form of crushed eggshells. Birds like worms, snails and some insects - this fully contributes to their needs in animal feed.
If the range of chickens is limited to an aviary, it is necessary to regularly include cooked fish waste or chopped boiled meat in the diet. Guinea fowl tend to destroy Colorado beetles without harming the crop. But they should not be allowed to the cabbage - they can peck the heads of cabbage.
Guinea fowl is fed three times a day. During feeding, birds must have access to fresh cold water, in winter animals are fed only warm liquid.
Feeding the little chicks is based on a completely different principle, it differs from the nutrition of adult birds:
- Young animals need to provide about 25% of the protein in the feed, and at an older age, the protein should be about 15-20%. Chicks need green, succulent feed.
- When the chicks turn 7 days old, freshly cut grass is included in the diet. It is advisable to give the kids clover, cabbage, alfalfa, dandelions, wild cereals.
- The diet should be balanced. The menu includes not only greens, but also specialized feed, corn, wheat, millet. It is advisable to provide young milk powder and cottage cheese.
In the diet of guinea fowl, crushed chalk, crushed shell, coarse washed river sand, and crushed egg shells should be present.
Breeding guinea fowl
Guinea fowl have a poorly developed maternal instinct; birds do not hatch eggs. Only some breeds can hatch eggs, but even breeders often respond very negatively about them. Because breeding guinea fowls is not complete without an incubator and brooder.
Although guinea fowl are not prone to hatching eggs, usually there are no problems with breeding birds. With the help of an incubator and minimal care for young animals, it will be possible to obtain a new, complete herd.
Excretion in an incubator is carried out under strict control. After hatching, the chickens are immediately transferred to the brooder. The content of birds in it requires compliance with certain rules:
- For 1 square. m accounts for no more than 15 individuals.
- The temperature in the brooder should be within +28 degrees. From the 14th day after birth, the temperature is daily reduced by 1 degree until it becomes optimal for the external environment.
- Daylight hours up to 1 month of life is at least 20 hours. When the chicks turn 5 weeks old, daylight hours are reduced to 16 hours.
- Guinea fowl released for walks not earlier than 40 days after birth.
Adult chickens can begin to behave aggressively towards new birds in their herd. For these reasons, it is recommended to breed birds separately so that there is no mixing of individuals of different ages in a single herd.
Features of natural hatching
Guinea fowls reluctantly rush in the nests, but the location of nests in secluded darkened corners of the house using liners can increase the likelihood of laying in the nests. Nests should be installed at the rate of 1 for 6 individuals, it is allowed in several tiers - the bird can take off. Optimally, if the size of the nests will be 30x40 cm.
A flock of birds can select one nest and rush into it with the whole herd without noticing other nests. Or vice versa, it can lay eggs in the corner, not paying attention to the nests.
Baby Care
Keeping young animals requires dryness in the chicken coop, where there are no drafts. Avoid crowding and possible crush will be possible with a loose placement of birds. Hatched guinea fowls, like other chicks, are in great need of heat. Therefore, the first 5 days they are kept near the heater, so that the temperature is 31-32 degrees. By the age of 20 days, the optimal temperature is considered to be 19-20 degrees.
One hen can warm up to 16 guinea fowl, but you can not neglect the temperature in the chicken coop. For a chicken who is more than 2 months old, it is required to provide daylight hours of 8-10 hours. Further, to increase egg production, the duration of daylight hours is increased. But reducing the length of daylight hours is a mandatory measure that affects the productive cycles of birds and further indicators of egg production.
Be sure to establish perches, starting from 2 weeks of age. As perches, it is advisable to use slats located at a height of 45-50 cm from the floor. The peculiarity of this arrangement is that, being at a height, the bird will remain dry and clean, the plumage will warm the chickens.
How is a parent herd formed?
The parent herd consists of 1 male and several females. The stage of distinction between a female and a male becomes complexity. Outwardly, they are similar, and only small signs indicate that it is a male. If we take into account that the rooster must be older in age, it is selected among the chickens of the previous brood.
The search for the male in the herd begins with determining the weight of each bird. Usually females are heavier, larger. This is the first, but not the only sign:
- Caesars have an even posture, a gait proud, a raised tail. Females almost always peck and look for food. At the same time, males constantly “talk”, and females modestly say “ooh.”
- The female and male have different head and beak structures. Females have a small graceful beak, the head is always straight. Males have a thick beak with a clearly visible growth, a curved crest. The neck is not long, the head on it is stretched forward.
- Guinea fowl - the owner of delicate earrings under the beak. The roosters have fleshy and large earrings. With age, the layers of the earrings become larger.
- Volga white and Volga cream caesar roosters have a lighter plumage.
- To determine the sex, you need to carefully take the chick, carefully open the cloaca, if there is a small tubercle - this is a male.
After finding the male, 5-6 females are selected, about 2 years old, and they are provided with a range. Birds are not prone to mating indoors. Having formed a parent flock, the collected eggs are stored in an upright position, with a blunt end to the sky. They must be clean, because dirt can clog pores, which leads to inhibition of embryo development. The masonry is collected until 12 noon.
If no hen was found among the guinea fowls, the eggs are laid in the incubator for 29 days, not forgetting to turn them over. It will be possible to remove the chicks with minimal losses while ensuring increased humidity in the incubator.
Guinea fowl content in winter
Keeping birds in winter requires a special approach. Birds feel good in a chicken coop without heating, but need perches in order not to sit on the floor. Be sure to change the litter once a month, make sure that it is dry.
The onset of cold weather - this is not a reason to lock the birds in the chicken coop, and not let out for a walk. The main thing is that the tracks should be cleared of snow, then nothing will happen to guinea fowls. On the contrary, they have increased immunity if they regularly go out into the fresh air. If for some reason it is not possible to send animals for walking, you need to take care of the good ventilation of the room.
Necessarily in the winter, farmers must take care of proper nutrition. Chickens are fed twice a day, giving them moist mash, feed, grain. In the house, gravel, a shell, chalk, and also ash and sand are poured into separate containers.
Poultry disease, vaccination and treatment
Guinea fowl are considered resistant and immune to disease, but this does not always protect them from certain diseases, which usually arise due to non-compliance with the conditions of detention.
The table shows the frequent diseases of guinea fowls, ways to combat them:
Disease | Symptoms | Treatment / Prevention |
Pasteurellosis | With the disease, birds suffer from high hyperthermia, become lethargic and inactive. They have yellow, gray or green droppings with bloody discharge. Mucous secretions are released from the nose. | There is no cure. Pasteurellosis infected birds are destroyed. |
Mycoplasmosis | Animals sneeze, wheeze, suffer from suffocation, secretions of fluid from the nose, redness of the eyes, and indigestion. | The disease is treated with streptomycin or biomycin. For prevention, it is recommended to feed young birds with Enroxil or Baytril. |
Trichomoniasis | The disease often affects young animals, consuming dirty feed or water infected with Trichomonas. The disease is accompanied by frothy yellow diarrhea, loss of appetite, intense thirst, lack of exercise, and drooping wings. Mucosal plaque appears on the pharynx and goiter, which makes it difficult to breathe and eat food. | As a treatment, the drug Cardinosole and Ipronidozole are used. Anthelminthic therapy of all guinea fowls is carried out. |
Pullorosis | The bird practically becomes motionless, poorly oriented in space, litter becomes white or yellow. | Sick guinea fowls are rejected, and the whole herd is soldered with Penicillin or Biomycin. |
How many guinea fowls grow before slaughter?
The process of mass gain in guinea fowls is much faster than in chickens. For 1 kg of weight gain, 3-3.5 kg of feed is consumed. After individuals reach 3 months from birth, their weight reaches an average of 1.1-1.3 kg. During this period, the bird is sent for slaughter. The set of muscle mass stops at 5 months, guinea fowl weigh about 1.5 kg, males about 2 kg.
Guinea fowl content: positive and negative points
Breeding guinea fowl has a few drawbacks, but there are many more positive points. It is especially important that raising birds is permissible not only for personal consumption, but also for business development. The advantages of this activity:
- guinea fowls carry large eggs almost the whole year;
- it is permissible to let the birds go for a walk next to the garden: they do not spoil the beds, but cope with various insects that damage the plantings; It is permissible to send broilers for walking to special areas or to vegetable gardens, pastures, meadows;
- birds independently earn their livelihood when it gets dark, return home;
- Guinea fowl eggs have high nutritional value;
- birds have good health and increased resistance to adverse climatic conditions;
- Guinea fowl can establish contact with various farm animals, they are lodged with chickens, geese, quails, etc .;
- birds do not need special feeds or synthetic vitamins;
- adult hens rarely get sick and practically do not undergo common diseases;
- Guinea fowl meat - dietary, tender, like turkey, but many times better.
Farmers consider poultry meat a special value - it is tender, but not fat. Taste characteristics remind game. The color of guinea fowl meat is maroon. The product contains a minimum of fat and moisture, is endowed with a high percentage of dry matter, is rich in amino acids, vitamins A and E, and iron.
The main disadvantage of guinea fowls is that they are noisy. In any stressful situation, birds begin to make screams - they may be afraid of people, strange sounds, animals. It is problematic to breed these birds in the territory where many neighbors live or cars are passing by.
Is the business profitable?
In Russia, the cultivation of guinea fowls is not particularly popular. Usually rare private farms choose broilers in small quantities for breeding for their own needs. If the farmer decided to raise birds on a large scale, he will not lose anything, on the contrary, he will only get good benefits, due to the fact that this niche is practically free in the market.
There are several advantages of such a business:
- Guinea fowl eggs are very healthy. They are high-calorie, allergic reactions do not occur when consumed.An egg product contains many vitamins.
- Guinea fowl adapt perfectly to any conditions. Animals are unpretentious and do not need special equipment for keeping.
- At the start of the minimum costs. A 4-5-week-old bird costs about 500 rubles, and the cost of an adult varies from 3-4 thousand rubles.
- Benefit for rural residents. Starting a business by breeding guinea fowl in rural areas is an ideal option, because there is a lot of labor, but few places for employment.
In addition to selling egg products and meat carcasses, a farmer can sell live poultry, fertilized eggs for breeding, feathers of guinea fowls. From this they get extra profit.
Breeding difficulties
Farmers who have started breeding guinea fowl may encounter such troubles:
- breeding of young animals;
- lack of maternal instinct;
- laying eggs by females not in a nest, but, for example, in a secluded corner.
Although the birds are unpretentious to feed and living conditions, it is difficult to breed young animals. First of all, this is connected with the collection of eggs that birds can lay in any part of the range. Females are considered to be bad hens; they can constantly throw eggs if something scares them. Because of this, you often have to use an incubator for excretion.
Guinea fowl - birds, unpretentious in care, slightly shy and occasionally aggressive. But farmers speak well of broilers, noting good productive indicators, resistance to severe frosts, good health. A breeding business can be a major source of income.
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Ukraine. City: Kryvyi Rih
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