How to grow guinea fowl at home how to feed?

On private farms, guinea fowl are not as common as geese, turkeys or chickens. What are the features of this bird? How to properly equip a place for growing guinea fowls? How to compose a diet and organize poultry breeding?

Who are guinea fowls?

Guinea fowls are distant relatives of turkeys and chickens. The body of this bird is elongated, has the shape of an oval. Their head is small, it has an unusual decoration. In private households, the gray speckled variety is more common, but there are others: Zagorsk white-breasted and Siberian whites.

Zagorsk white-breasted guinea fowl

Gray speckled guinea fowl

Siberian White Guinea Fowl

Bird productivity

Adults reach a weight of 2 kg, day-old chicks weigh 29 g, by 3 months they gain up to 1000-1200 g. Guinea fowl meat is not as fat as that of chickens, and has an excellent taste that resembles a partridge or pheasant. The color of the carcasses of this bird is darker due to the higher content of hemoglobin in the muscles.

Guinea fowls produce very tasty eggs (up to 120 eggs per breeding period) with strong, dark creamy shells, which are stored in the cold for a whole year. One egg weighs up to 50 grams. Small specks and dots are visible on the shell. Eggs are pear-shaped and contain high amounts of vitamin A.

Equipment of the place for growing poultry

Before you start raising birds, prepare the room where they will live. Guinea fowls are very freedom-loving, they cannot be caged. The bird is provided with a closed poultry house, where feeders and drinkers are placed, here they sleep and lay eggs.

Guinea fowls walk a lot, so set aside a large area for them (30 m2 per individual), where they will walk throughout the day. Train the birds to return to the barn, where they eat and rest, at the same time. In the morning, the guinea fowls are sent out for a walk only after they have demolished.

For walking guinea fowl, it is desirable to have a large area of ​​the site

It is not necessary to insulate the poultry room, as they perfectly tolerate cold temperatures. There should be no cracks and drafts in it; as a bedding, the entire floor is covered with a thick layer of sawdust.

Feeders and drinkers are placed in the poultry house, as well as sand baths for bathing. Bars with a section of 5 * 5 are attached to the walls at a height of 45 cm (1 running meter for 5 adult birds), they will serve as a roost.

It is better to keep the guinea fowl in the poultry house separately from the rest of the bird.

Care and maintenance rules

Guinea fowls are very sensitive to the length of daylight hours. For day-old chicks, the lighting is maintained for 24 hours, and after three weeks it is gradually reduced (1 hour per week), and by 5 months the daylight hours in the house should be 8 hours.

Video - the correct keeping of guinea fowl at home

After the caesarians are six months old, they begin to lengthen it every week by 1 hour, bringing it to 14 hours. During the breeding period, daylight hours should last 17 hours, this increases the number of eggs obtained per year by 30-40 pieces.

Floor keeping of guinea fowls in a poultry house

Here are some more basic rules for the care and maintenance of guinea fowls:

• one bird is allocated 1 sq. m. area of ​​the room;
• walking for guinea fowl is fenced off with a net, which should be at least 2 meters in height;
• on the walk, a house or a canopy must be installed in order to protect the birds from the scorching sun;
• the litter is completely changed once a month, but care must be taken to ensure that it is constantly dry;
• constantly ventilate the room where the guinea fowl live.

In the cold season, birds continue to walk a lot, but the allocated area should be cleared of snow. Indoors, a thick layer of straw is laid on the sawdust. To increase egg production, keep the house temperature at 12-14 ° C.

Incubation and hatching of young animals

Young animals are obtained using an incubator. For this, only those eggs are suitable that were stored with the sharp end down for no more than 6 days at t 2-6 ° C and in a room protected from light. Here are the main requirements for eggs that are sent to the incubator:

• weight is not less than 40 grams;
• pear-shaped, without deformation;
• the shell must not be cracked (a rattling sound indicates shell damage).

Before placing the eggs in the incubator, they are washed with a pink manganese solution and dried well. After that, they are irradiated with ultraviolet light for several minutes, this will destroy all pathogenic microflora on the shell and increase the hatchability of chicks.

Guinea fowl hatching eggs

The requirements for the temperature in the room where the guinea fowl are grown are as follows: in the first 6-7 days we maintain 35 ° C, then lower it by 3 ° C every week, after 20 days the temperature is 20 ° C.

After the chicks are fluffed up and dry, they are transplanted into boxes intended for day-old chicks. Each box can hold up to 25 animals. On the first day, the guinea fowls are placed under a quartz lamp for two minutes, this will increase their viability.

Some farmers raise chicks under a turkey or chicken, in the first case they lay up to 25 eggs, in the second - from 15 to 21. For these purposes, they use a hen that has already been tested for maternal qualities.

If a chicken is used for incubation, the eggs of the guinea fowl are placed in the nest a week earlier than the chicken eggs; it is better to do this in the dark. Chicks follow the brood hen even when they become adults.

The daily caesarians are similar to chickens, but in size they are noticeably inferior to them. In the gray-speckled breed, the fluff is brown in color.

For the first few days, the chicks move little, bask under a brooder or hen, while stretching out their legs and closing their eyes. After a week, they become active, begin to move and eat a lot. The Caesars are fully fledged by 3 months.

Guinea fowl chickens - photo

Growing young animals

Daily chicks need to remove the brush on one wing, this will avoid flying. This procedure is carried out with an electric knife (in this case, blood loss and wound infection will not occur) or with scissors, the incision site is cauterized with iodine.

Duck wing trimming

Chicks are raised in warm rooms, closed from drafts. A brooder must be installed inside. A thick layer of sawdust or sand (river only) is used as bedding. A flat feeder and a drinker are placed in the room.

Here are the main rules that must be followed when growing guinea fowls:

• in the poultry house, the temperature is maintained at 20 ° С, under the brooder it reaches 35 ° С;
• the litter should always be dry;
• the heaters are not turned off during the first month, after which the temperature is gradually reduced;
• baths with sand and wood ash are installed indoors; perches or nests are not required for chicks;
• guinea fowls begin to walk in solariums (fenced walks) from 3 weeks;
• chicks must not be allowed to walk in the dew or rain.

On walks, the Caesars flock into a flock. They go long distances, but they always return for the night. They feed the chicks only indoors, where they rest and sleep. The water is changed three times a day.

How is the parent flock formed?

Initially, at least 20 chicks or adult guinea fowls should be purchased. With a smaller number of birds, they survive worse. For the formation of the herd, the best in terms of external parameters are selected, and lame, thin, emaciated birds are rejected. Individuals with signs of rickets and weighing less than 1.3 kg (at the age of 5 months) are not allowed for breeding.

A healthy guinea fowl has a strong beak, eyes are mobile and shiny. By color, males and females do not differ, sex is determined by the following features:

• in the male the wax is large, bright and tuberous, the large ridge is located vertically, in the females the wax is small and does not rise above the beak, and the small ridge is directed towards the tail;
• in males, earrings are more pronounced;
• in females at 5 months, one finger enters between the pubic bones, in males this is not observed.

The photo shows the differences between a male and a female guinea fowl.

Some farmers use the cloacal sex determination method. The guinea fowl is turned upside down and the cloaca is carefully pushed apart. The male has a visible penis, which has a cylindrical shape and a length of up to 1 cm. This procedure causes anxiety in birds, so this method is almost never used.

In a herd of 15-20 heads, 2-3 males are kept. For breeding, only those individuals are used in which sexual characteristics are pronounced. Angry, strong and agile males are excellent sires.

Features of poultry breeding

Guinea fowls do not mate in crowded and close quarters, therefore, they should be provided with a large area for mating games. Eggs to be used for incubation are harvested in the morning and stored in the dark at 3-6 ° C with the pointed end down.

Breeding birds of different colors are not kept in the same room, this will lead to offspring with lower productivity. When guinea fowls and chickens live together, hybrids are born that are highly viable, but are infertile.

After removing the male from the herd, the females lay fertilized eggs for another 10 days. The new producer is planted gradually, it is better to form a new herd of guinea fowls that are not familiar, this will avoid fights.

Breeding guinea fowls are kept for one or two seasons, after which the parent stock is renewed. For these birds, closely related crossing is unacceptable, as this will lead to the appearance of weak and non-viable offspring.

Feeding the guinea fowl

Guinea fowls are unpretentious to food. They eat little, up to 160 grams of compound feed with the addition of greens and vitamins is enough for them a day. Guinea fowls actively eat pests from garden plants, especially Colorado beetles. Here is a list of foods that are fed to poultry:

• boiled vegetables (carrots and potatoes);
• meat waste;
• compound feed or grain (corn, barley, oats);
• green food (plants);
• hay and needles (in the cold season);
• mineral and vitamin supplements.

Guinea fowls are fed three times a day. For a year, one individual eats up to 35 kg of grain or combined feed, about 15 kg of grass, 5 kg of vegetables and up to 2 kg of top dressing. With free-range, the need for additional feed is reduced by a third due to the birds eating various insects and plants.

For the prevention of intestinal diseases, once every couple of weeks, guinea fowls are drunk with a light pink solution of manganese. Once a day, the bird is given baker's yeast. The water in the drinking bowls is changed regularly, vitamin B is added to the food. Mineral dressings are poured into a separate container. It is useful to give sprouted wheat grain to guinea fowls.

Table 1.where is an approximate daily diet of guinea fowls:

Grain mix (waste)	108	120
Coarse grain mixture	30	30
Alfalfa (nettle)	4	16
Boiled potatoes	30	50
Fresh greens	—	—
Bone flour	150	120
Gravel	50	60

Feeding the young

Guinea fowls begin to feed immediately after birth. In the first week, the chicks are given a mixture of bread crumbs dipped in milk and a boiled egg. Before feeding, the food is crushed. In the summer, the guinea pigs feed on plants while walking; grain, gravel and shells are poured into the feeders.

For slaughter, chicks begin to feed from 3 months. To do this, use a dough from steamed roots and flour, but with a properly composed diet and long-term walking, additional measures for fattening are not required.

Table 2 - approximate rations for feeding guinea fowls (young animals)

Guinea fowls are very active and noisy, they loudly notify the farmer about the intrusion of strangers into the territory. Provide the birds with an area where they will be during the day, and then breeding will not give you much of a hassle.

Video - breeding guinea fowl at home, a guide for beginners

Guinea fowls are domesticated poultry that are chickens. One detachment with guinea fowls includes courses, partridges and pheasants. Breeding and keeping guinea fowls at home is beneficial. This bird was brought to Eurasia from Africa, but it perfectly took root in the Russian climate, both in the southern and northern regions.

Guinea fowl breeding and keeping at home

Bird characteristics

Outwardly, guinea fowls look like large chickens. They have a large ovoid body with a characteristic hump on the back, a small head, and a horn-like outgrowth on the crown of the head. Guinea fowls have a hook-shaped strong beak, under which there are red fleshy outgrowths - a beard. Birds are distinguished by dense plumage, which is directed downward from the spine. To escape danger, guinea fowls can discard their tail feathers. The legs of birds, like those of broilers, are powerful and hardy.

This species of birds was domesticated relatively recently, therefore, guinea fowls differ in activity and mobility that are not characteristic of chickens, geese or turkeys. They retain some of the habits characteristic of wild birds: the habit of laying in secluded places, which is why you have to look for eggs throughout the house; the desire to stay in the pack; attempts to fly away when strangers or animals approach.

To date, four breeds of guinea fowls have been bred in Russia.

Keeping the guinea fowl does not require any complex equipment or specific feed. The bird feeds on seeds, plant food, insects and their larvae. At the same time, guinea fowls can spend most of the day in the warm season in the garden or in special areas for walking. Some farmers keep birds in special enclosures, in which the movement of birds is sharply limited. This reduces the egg production of the guinea fowl, but stimulates a rapid gain in mass.

Guinea fowls are very shy. They get along well with other birds: geese, turkeys, chickens. However, guinea fowls react to dogs, strangers, loud sounds and other stimuli with a loud cry and an attempt to fly away. Therefore, to keep the birds, you need to determine a quiet place. It is also recommended that 1-2 people take care and feeding of guinea fowls.

Guinea fowl can be bred together with other birds

In the wild, the egg-laying season for birds begins in the fall-winter months, when heavy rains end in Africa. Domesticated birds also lay more eggs during warm and dry seasons, and hatched chicks do not tolerate dampness and lack of light. However, grown chicks at the age of 2-3 months successfully adapt to any conditions and even tolerate a rather harsh climate well.

Guinea fowl eggs have an elongated pear-shaped shape, they have a strong shell that prevents the penetration of various pathogens. This ensures the long-term preservation of the eggs.At a temperature of about 2-5 ° C, they do not deteriorate within 3-4 months.

Guinea fowl eggs

Characteristics of rocks

Guinea fowls are rather large birds. The mass of an adult is from 1.5 to 2 kg. At the same time, the consumption of feed for growing guinea fowl is relatively small and amounts to about 3-3.5 kg per 1 kg of weight gain. The most popular in Russia are three breeds of guinea fowl.

	Gray speckled or silvery gray	Differs in delicious dietary meat. The female weighs approximately 1.5-1.6 kg, and the male 1.8 kg. The egg production of one individual is on average about 87-90 eggs per year, while the weight of each is about 45-47 grams
	White-breasted Zagorskaya	The birds are distinguished by the absence of plumage on the head and neck, the plumage is gray, the chest and belly are white without blotches. The breed was bred by breeding silver-gray guinea fowls and Moscow roosters. The weight of the female is about 1.7-1.8 kg, and that of the male is up to 2.1 kg
	White Siberian	The breed was developed relatively recently. Birds are distinguished by high egg production: the female lays about 115-120 eggs per year. These guinea fowls have a characteristic matte milky or white color, on which, upon close examination, you can find small bright white blotches. The weight of the guinea fowl is about 1.6 kg, and that of the caesar is 1.8-1.9 kg.

Females begin to lay at about 7-7.5 months, and the egg-laying season can last from six months to 12 months. During this period, one individual lays up to 85-90 eggs. Fertilized eggs hatch strong chicks, whose survival rate is more than 95%. Breeding guinea fowls does not require complex equipment or many specific skills, but it has its own characteristics.

Benefits of breeding guinea fowl

Breeding guinea fowls, both for personal needs and for business development, has a number of advantages. The main advantages of these birds:

• guinea fowls lay large enough eggs throughout the year;
• birds do not need special feed or synthetic vitamins;
• Guinea fowls, in contrast to chickens, have a very high survival rate. From a litter up to 7-8 months, more than 95% of young animals survive;
• birds can be released for walking in the garden: they do not rake the beds, but destroy ground beetles, beetles and other insects that harm plantings;
• adult birds rarely get sick and are practically not susceptible to diseases common among chickens and turkeys;

Adult guinea fowls practically do not get sick

• guinea fowls get along well with various farm animals. You can place a poultry house in a shed, where chickens, geese, quails, etc.;
• birds are distinguished by very good health and high resistance to adverse climatic conditions. Guinea fowl survives at temperatures ranging from -50 to + 45 ° C;
• dietary guinea fowl meat, reminiscent of turkey, but more tender;
• the eggs of these birds are of high nutritional value, while during the year the egg production of one female ranges from 90 to 160 eggs;
• guinea fowls can be grazed both in special areas for walking or in vegetable gardens, and in meadows and pastures. In this case, the birds independently get their own food, and after the end of daylight hours they tend to return to the poultry house.

Poultry meat is of particular value. It is tender but not greasy. At the same time, in terms of taste, it is similar to game. Guinea fowl meat is maroon in color, it has little fat and moisture, high percentage of dry matter. In addition, it is rich in iron, vitamins A and E, amino acids.

The poultry carcass has a characteristic bluish tint.

How profitable is guinea fowl breeding?

In Russia, guinea fowl breeding is not yet very popular. Basically, in rare private farms, they acquire a small number of individuals for personal needs. A person who decides to engage in professional guinea fowl breeding has the opportunity to occupy an almost free niche in the market. It is worth highlighting a number of advantages of this type of business:

• Guinea fowls adapt well to any conditions, they are unpretentious and do not require complex equipment for keeping;
• It doesn't take a lot of investment to start a business. One bird at the age of 4-5 weeks costs about 500 rubles, and an adult will cost 3000-3500 thousand rubles;
• Guinea fowl meat is very tasty, resembles game and is quite in demand on the market;
• Breeding guinea fowls is a great idea for a business in rural areas where there is a shortage of jobs;

Breeding guinea fowls is beneficial

• A fairly high profit is also ensured by a low mortality rate among young animals. And adult birds are practically not susceptible to diseases at all. In addition, in the vast majority of cases, they are not carriers of pathologies dangerous to humans;
• Guinea fowls have very healthy eggs. They are high in calories, do not provoke allergic reactions and contain a large amount of vitamins A, E and K.

In addition to eggs and meat, you can sell live poultry, fertilized eggs for breeding, as well as the plumage of guinea fowls.

When selling birds, meat, eggs and guinea fowl feathers are in demand

Conditions for breeding guinea fowl

Guinea fowls are very active birds. They graze with pleasure in meadows, vegetable gardens and lawns. For their breeding, it is necessary to provide a suitable area for walking. Guinea fowls can also be kept in a closed aviary, however, such conditions negatively affect the egg production of birds.

Guinea fowls are happy to graze in the meadows

As a place for grazing birds, a house adjoining site is suitable. Guinea fowls love to eat various insects, while they do not harm the beds and flower beds, since they do not break the ground. Free range will allow not only to significantly save on feed, but also to rid the garden of pests. Birds calmly react to other inhabitants of the yard and can drive off the offender if necessary. But it is worth considering that guinea fowls are distinguished by their noisy behavior. In danger, they emit a shrill loud cry. Such a reaction can be caused by a passing car, the appearance of an unfamiliar person or animal on the site. Therefore, it is recommended to set aside a fairly secluded and closed territory for birds.

It is recommended to set aside a fairly secluded and closed territory for guinea fowls.

As a place for walking, you can use the territory of nearby meadows, forest glades or clearings. In this case, the feeding regime of the birds should be strictly observed. As a result, the guinea fowls will independently return to the poultry house at a certain time. However, you should not leave birds on self-grazing for a long time. Otherwise, they will cease to recognize the owner and run wild.

Guinea fowls can take off and fly over fairly high obstacles. To prevent this, birds often have their wings clipped. If the birds are grazing in an open-air cage on the ground, it should be fenced off with a high net. Guinea fowls will feel more relaxed if the pen is partially covered with a canopy, and inside the walking area there are heaps of sand or ash and a couple of shrubs.

It is recommended to equip a closed aviary with a weather canopy and a sufficiently high mesh fence

Guinea fowl can be kept both in a large farm and in a small private farm. To increase efficiency when breeding poultry, a number of recommendations should be followed:

1. When buying one male, you need to purchase five or six females. Otherwise, some guinea fowls may remain unfertilized, since in the wild, guinea fowls are characterized by selectivity in mating;
2. Provide the birds with as much walking space as possible. This will significantly increase the egg production of females;
3. For a longer preservation of eggs, it is recommended to lay them down with the tapered end. In this state, they remain up to 12-14 days;
4. When hatching guinea fowls from eggs, it is necessary to observe a higher humidity in the incubator than when working with a chicken egg. The incubation period for guinea fowl is about 27 days.

There should be from 4 to 6 females per male

For the normal life of birds, each aviary must be equipped with a feeder and a drinking bowl, in which there must always be clean water. In no case should guinea fowls be deprived of the opportunity to drink enough, otherwise the birds may get heatstroke.

There should always be clean water in the guinea fowl room.

Read also: Automatic chicken feeder

Video - Cutting the wings of guinea fowls

Equipment for poultry houses

There is no need to equip a separate room for breeding these birds. They get along well with other animals. However, when setting up a poultry house, it will be necessary to take into account some recommendations.

Step 1. Guinea fowls are fairly large birds. Therefore, allocate for them at least 50 cm² of area per individual. Such territory is necessary if they will spend less of the day in the aviary. Guinea fowls, which are constantly kept in cages, require about 1 m² for each bird. If chickens need an insulated barn, then an adult guinea fowl feels comfortable even at a fairly low temperature.

Equipping a poultry house in a heated room will only be an advantage, as this will ensure stable egg production even in the autumn-winter period.

Step 2. Equip the room with perches. Guinea fowls can take off and are very fond of being located on elevations. There should be no more than five to six individuals per roost.

In the poultry house, it is imperative to equip several perches.

Step 3. Arrange enough drinkers and feeders. If birds become dehydrated, they will become sick and lose weight. To prevent this, place several oblong drinkers in the aviary. Thus, each individual will have free access to water.

It is recommended to choose feeders and drinkers for poultry with an oblong shape.

Step 4. Cover the floor in the house with a clean bedding of shavings, hay, sand or straw, large sawdust. The average thickness of the flooring is about 15-20 cm. It is not recommended to use shavings of resinous trees: pine, spruce, plums. It can stick to the plumage of birds. It is recommended to change the flooring every 3-4 weeks or more often in case of rapid contamination.

The floor in the house is covered with hay and sawdust

Step 5. Ensure that the room is clean and well ventilated. Guinea fowls have a fairly strong immune system, but they can get sick if they are constantly in a contaminated poultry house in conditions of a lack of oxygen. Fresh air and regular cleaning in the bird shed is the key to good health and good egg production of guinea fowls.

Air ventilation scheme in the poultry house

Step 6. During the winter season, especially in the northern areas, turn on the lights in the house at 7-8 in the morning. This will increase the egg production of birds and will have a beneficial effect on their well-being. You can turn off the lights at 10-11 pm.

It is important to properly adjust the light in the house.

Although birds get along well with other living creatures, it is not recommended to keep them directly in the same aviary with other subspecies. Otherwise, the guinea fowls may start to fight for food or places in the poultry house.

On the street for guinea fowls, it is recommended to set aside a well-lit area on the south side of the yard. These birds bask in the sun with pleasure. They also like to hide in tall grass or bushes. In winter, guinea fowls can graze outdoors if the site is covered with peat or covered with straw. This measure is necessary to protect the bare skin of birds from hypothermia.

In winter, guinea fowls can be grazed outside if the area is covered with straw.

If the house also contains chickens, then the daily room temperature should be at least 35-36 ° C.As the guinea fowl grows, the air in the room needs to be made more and more cool. By the end of the third week, the temperature can be around 25 ° C. In general, when regulating the climate in the poultry house, it follows on the behavior of the young: frozen chicks nestle against each other, and at too high a temperature they spread their wings and open their beaks.

Frozen chicks flock

Feeding features

Guinea fowls are unpretentious in nutrition. They can eat both worms and insects, as well as plant foods: roughage, herbs, chopped or chopped vegetables and fruits. At the same time, more than 60% of the daily ration of birds should normally be plant food, especially greens.

Guinea fowls are happy to destroy various pests: snails, Colorado beetles, caterpillars. In order for the birds to peck on beetles, preliminary preparation must be carried out: within a few days, add them to the guinea fowl's diet. Having become accustomed to such a diet, the birds will independently search for and destroy beetles.

During the summer months, the birds get most of their daily diet on their own.

In the summer, guinea fowls receive most of their feed from walking in meadows and pastures. This makes their keeping at this time extremely beneficial, since the birds require a minimum of additional nutrition. In late autumn and winter, it is necessary to more carefully compose the diet of birds so that they do not suffer from vitamin deficiency. You can add wet meat waste or blood meal, fermented baked milk and cottage cheese, fish oil and grain to the feed. Adequate nutrition allows birds to lay throughout the year.

Guinea fowl daily diet

Types of feed	1-19 days	20-39 days	40-59 days	60-80 days
Oats	1,0	7,0	5,0	5,0
Wheat shot or flour	4,5	7,0	10,0	20,0
Millet	2,0	5,0	7,0	0,0
Cottage cheese	1,0	5,0	5,0	2,5
Greens	3,0	8,0	20,0	20,0

Guinea chicken feeding rules

Breeding

To start breeding guinea fowls, it is recommended to purchase grown chicks. It is best to buy poultry from experienced livestock breeders who have been raising guinea fowls for a long time. So you can not only choose the chicks that are most suitable for you in age, but also clarify various questions about their maintenance and rearing. Inspect each chicken carefully before purchasing. Caesarians should be healthy, without wounds and bare skin.

Be sure to consult about the usual diet of birds.

Caesarians must be healthy, without wounds and bare skin.

The cost of one individual directly depends on age:

• an individual aged 3 days - 50-60 rubles;
• guinea fowl 3-4 months - from 450-500 rubles;
• adult couple - from 700 to 3000 rubles, depending on weight and breed.

The price of a bird varies by age and breed

Guinea fowl breeding can begin with the acquisition of both chicks and adults. The following factors should be considered when purchasing chicks:

1. Choose strong guinea fowls at the age of 2-3 days. To create a farm, you need to take at least 18-20 chickens.
2. The best time to start bird breeding is late spring. During this period, chicks will be able to spend most of the day walking and receive a large amount of nutrients and vitamins.
3. Be sure to teach the guinea pigs to your presence. So they will stop being shy and hiding when you appear.
4. Even if the chicks graze on the lawns, they need to be fed with wet food during the day and feed in the evening.
5. Feeders and drinkers for chicks should be low and elongated. This will allow chicks to easily access feed.
6. Chicks that have reached 15-20 days of age can be released for walking.

Many breeders prefer to purchase already adult birds in order to reduce labor costs for raising chicks.

Be sure to inspect the chick before purchasing

Features of growing poultry

Guinea fowl chicks hatch 27 days after laying the eggs. When breeding chicks, it should be borne in mind that these birds react extremely fearfully to any noise or the appearance of strangers.Therefore, very often they leave both the nest with hatched eggs and the newly hatched chicks. In most cases, the farmer has to independently incubate the eggs and raise the guinea fowl. You can also use guinea fowl eggs under the chicken or turkey.

The eggs can be hatched by the guinea fowl itself, an indowka, a chicken or a turkey

The development of chicks after hatching occurs as follows:

1. The hatched chicks should be kept in a wooden box filled with hay, along with the brood hen.
2. There should be about 18 chicks per m2. In this case, the box itself is recommended to be covered with paper. It is convenient to change it if necessary. A lamp is placed above the box, which should heat the air to + 35 ° C. From above, the resulting nest, if necessary, is covered with gauze to prevent drafts.
3. In such conditions, the chicks stay for 8-10 days, after which they need to allocate an area in the poultry house, covered with sand or peat. The temperature in the chick zone should also be kept at + 25-27 ° C with a lamp.
4. On days 15-20, chickens can be released outside. Be sure to ensure that chicks return to the enclosure when it rains. Young animals are very easily overcooled and catch cold.

You can release chicks for walking when they reach 15-20 days

To hatch guinea fowls, whole, without cracks and damage, eggs weighing about 45 grams should be selected. It should be noted that strong chicks emerge from eggs of the correct shape and age no more than a week.

Whole eggs should be selected for incubation

Caesarians gain weight very quickly. The mass of chicks at the age of 2-3 months exceeds 900-1000 grams. When they reach about 7.5 months, the females begin to lay eggs. Males are either retained for breeding or slaughtered at 5-6 months of age.

Birds gain weight quickly, so you can slaughter them when they reach 4.5-6 months

Guinea fowls are a type of domesticated birds from the order of chickens. With proper organization of the conditions of keeping and feeding, breeding guinea fowls can be a profitable investment both in the case of creating both a home poultry house and a large farm.

Guinea fowls in the wild (in warm countries) are bred in places covered by a dense, low forest, among which there are open meadows, in steppes with high grass, on high plateaus, in mountains up to 3000 m above sea level and slopes covered with rich vegetation ...

But, despite the fact that the homeland of guinea fowls are warm countries, these birds tolerate colder climates well and quickly get used to the domestic lifestyle.

Guinea fowls are known to be up to 23 species, but the common guinea fowl is the most widespread. There are three known varieties: gray-speckled, blue and white. Gray-speckled is found in two shades: light or gray and dark, or lilac.

Breeding guinea fowls at home

Despite their love of freedom, guinea fowls are well kept indoors - in poultry houses. Still, it is recommended to provide them with places (even at long distances), free to unhindered movement: meadows, shrubs and forests. However, if the guinea fowls are not driven into the house for the night, they will spend the night in the trees and may become wild.

Therefore, giving the guinea fowls relative freedom, it is necessary to accustom them to feeding at certain hours in the poultry houses; in the morning, the guinea fowls are not released until they are demolished.

Numerous experiments in keeping guinea fowls show that this bird does not require special rooms, since they tolerate the cold well. The building intended for chickens is quite suitable for keeping guinea fowls. Considering that guinea fowls require more space, their placement in the poultry house should be calculated with 2-3 heads per 1 m2 of floor.

With the onset of warmth, the guinea fowls can be transferred to walks (at the rate of 30 m2 per 1 head). The walks should be fenced off with a wire mesh 2 meters high so that the guinea fowls cannot fly over it.The area for walking is selected with natural shrubs to create the proper conditions for this type of bird.

In the middle of the walk, a mobile standard house is placed. With the onset of darkness, the guinea fowls enter (or are driven) into the house and perch, and at 6 o'clock in the morning, before the morning feeding, they are released to walk for the whole day. Mass cases of guinea fowls flying over hedges and leaving for the forest are not observed. Sometimes one or two guinea fowls can fly over the hedge, while they do not go further than 5-10 m and tend to again get into the fenced walk.

Guinea fowls that have wintered in the same room get used to each other and stay in the same group during the walk. They quickly get used to the service personnel and willingly listen to them. However, as soon as a stranger appears on the farm, the guinea fowls instantly raise a cry and calm down only when he leaves.

Sawdust serves as a bedding for guinea fowls during the winter period. In summer, you can also sprinkle sawdust on the floor of the house for the convenience of cleaning the droppings. All the necessary equipment - feeders, drinkers, buckets, etc. used the same as for chickens.

Guinea fowls, like chickens, love to dig (swim) in the ground, for which it is necessary to have sand or put ash baths on walks. it is recommended to place ash baths in the poultry house, since guinea fowls are willing to use them.

Care, maintenance and breeding of guinea fowls

Wild guinea fowls live in pairs. At home, there is no need to keep guinea fowls in pairs, and most poultry breeders keep one male for 3-4 females. With this keeping, guinea fowls are more likely to lay eggs close to home and even in the same nest, which makes it easier to find nests and collect eggs.

Guinea fowl females start laying from the end of February, but mating of males with females begins from mid-March. The sexual instinct in males begins to manifest itself with the onset of spring and reaches its full development by the end of May, when the average outside air temperature is 17-20 ° C and the day length is 14 hours or more.

The load on one male during the breeding season, based on 5-6 females, is quite real.

Feeding the guinea fowl

The food of wild guinea fowls is very diverse and variable depending on the country in which they are found and the time of year. In the spring and during the rains, insects are the main food; later, the guinea fowl eat berries, leaves, buds, grass poppies and, finally, all kinds of seeds; readily chase small reptiles and mice.

The main food for guinea fowls at home is corn and other grain feed. When feeding, you can take a chicken diet as a basis. An approximate diet of guinea fowls is shown in table 1.1.

Table 1.1 - Diet of guinea fowl (March)

Name of feed	Quantity, g
Oats	20
Barley	20
Corn	21
Wheat bran	20
Fish flour	5
Carrot	20
Hay clover	25
Spruce needles	15
Yeast	6
Shell	3
Fish fat	3
Salt	0,3
Total	166,3

However, given that wild guinea fowls consume a lot of greens, finely chopped needles, carrots and clover hay should be introduced into the diet. Guinea fowls need carotene, which can also be obtained from pine needles in winter.

With the onset of oviposition, grain and fishmeal are introduced into the diet. Instead of clover hay and needles, finely chopped greens (nettles, lettuce, etc.) are added at 60-80-100 g on average per head per day.

The ration with an approximate amount of feed set in April and May is presented below.

Table 1.2 - Diet of guinea fowl (April - May)

Name of feed	Quantity, g
Oats	20
Wheat bran	20
Ground barley	20
Ground millet	10
Ground corn	20
Fish flour	15
Carrot	20
Clover hay	15
Spruce needles	15
Yeast	6
Fish fat	3
Seashells	5
Nettle	30
Total	199

Guinea fowls are fed, both in summer and in winter, three times a day: at 6 o'clock, 12 o'clock and 18 o'clock. ...

Guinea fowls can eat more feed and fatten quickly.To maintain them in the same average body condition and take into account feed consumption, the guinea fowls are weighed at the end of each month.

The annual need for an adult guinea fowl in grain feed should be considered equal to 33-36 kg. In winter, 76 g of grain feed and 3-4 g of animals (per day per head) are enough for guinea fowls, if they are in a warm room; at the same time, the greens they abundantly consume must be replaced with root crops, needles and good clover hay.

Grain and animal feed should be gradually increased from February to prepare the guinea fowl for laying. So, for example, with 80-90% egg-laying of grain feed, it is necessary to design 90-100 g, animals - 15-17 g per day per head. With a decrease in egg production (about the 2nd week of September), the feed intake by guinea fowls decreases, and from this time it is necessary to reduce the amount of grain feed, preventing obesity of the bird.

It is especially necessary to pay attention to the presence of vitamin A and vitamin B2 in the diet of guinea fowls. If the diet lacks greens, it is necessary to introduce vitamin A in the form of fish oil or a preparation of vitamin A dissolved in oil.

Growing young animals

It is recommended to keep young guinea fowls in the first two weeks of life in a dry, sunny place sprinkled with sand.

Some farmers believe that it is best to grow guinea fowls under a brood hen. With good walks and good dry and warm weather, guinea fowl and turkeys are suitable for this role, but in case of rain or heavy dew, they are completely unable to cover the guinea fowl, but lead them on wet grass, as a result of which the guinea fowls get wet, catch a cold and die.

When the Caesars are old enough to climb the perches, they must be taught to them, driving them there and regularly giving food in this place. After the hatching of the guinea fowls is completed and the guinea fowls become stronger, so that they can leave the nest, they are taken out with the chicken to a special room - the poultry house.

One of the disadvantages of a hen as a brood hen for guinea fowls is that it tends to stay in the yard, and the conditions of the yard are not suitable for growing guinea fowls. For this, the chicken coop must be placed far in the field. Here the hen will be forced to stay until the Caesars grow up to be able to perch.

For the first two days, the chicken must be kept in the hen house, and the princes must be given the opportunity to freely go out and enter it. A few days later, the crown princes get so used to their adoptive mother that they never leave her. On the third day, the chicken recognizes the chicken coop as its house and will walk more freely, without fear of getting lost. By nightfall, she returns to the poultry house with her brood.

The chicken coop must be protected from rain, moved a short distance daily, so that the soil under it (it is arranged without a field) is always fresh and clean.

Since the Caesars on the first day of life have a wild disposition, do not crawl under the hen, gather in groups in a secluded place (in the grass, under a leaf or in the corner of the house) and sit separately, they must be planted under the hen. By the end of the first day, they themselves get used to it.

The turkey with the guinea fowls is placed in a standard house with a wooden floor. On the 3rd day of life, the guinea fowls are released for a walk after the dew has melted, and at the age of 8-10 days - from 6-7 o'clock in the morning. In a rain or storm, the Caesars do not always go to the house, they stay on the walk and hide under the hen.

The turkey is a good mother: in the early days, when the crown princes did not crawl under her, she herself pushed them under the wings. The guinea fowls get so used to their foster mother that even at the age of 5 months, when they reach the weight of an adult guinea fowl, they do not leave her.

It is impractical to move the house to a new place every day during the growing period of guinea fowl with guinea fowl. To maintain proper cleanliness in the house, it is enough to clean daily, ventilate the house and sprinkle the floor with sand or sawdust.

Artificial cultivation of guinea fowls in an incubator is also possible.

Feeding the young

The first food for the guinea fowl can consist of a hard egg mixed with bread crumbs, or bread soaked in milk, squeezed a little and chopped into small pieces before feeding.

Guinea fowls should be fed three times a day. If the poultry house is located on a pasture where there is green food, the guinea fowls will provide themselves with food, otherwise they must be supplied with sprouted oats, dandelion leaves, lettuce and finely chopped onions.

Water, gravel and shells should be kept in drinkers and feeders at all times.

Table 1.3 - Feed ration for guinea fowls aged from 1 to 120 days (in grams per 1 head per day)

	Age of guinea fowls in days
	1-3	4-10	11-20	21-30	31-40	41-50	51-60	61-90	91-120
Mix of concentrates
Wheat bran	1	1,83	3	4,6	5	4,5	10,6	10,1	7,4
Ground corn	1	1,83	3	4,6	5	—	6	1,5	—
Seeded oat flour	1	1,83	—	5,7	6,4	5,5	8,2	10,5	13,5
Sifted flour	—	—	3	—	—	—	—	0,6	3
Millet grain	—	—	—	—	5,7	21	17	11,1	20,7
Ground barley	—	—	—	—	—	4,2	6	5,2	3
Fish flour	—	1	1	1,6	2,7	3	2,2	3,4	5,3
Total in the mix	3
Boiled eggs	1,2	1,4	1,6	—	—	—	—	—	—
Yogurt	3	5	8	11,4	26	24	24,6	14	—
Greens (salad)	2	6,7	12,6	18,7	20	25	28	36,7	—
Clover hay	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	13,3
Yeast	—	—	—	1	1,2	1,8	2,3	3	5
Oats - add. corn	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	16,8	38
Total feed per day	9,2	19,59	32,2	47,6	72	89	102,1	112,9	110,2

At the age of 3-4 months, the guinea fowl are already suitable for fattening. They should be fed on freedom with a dough made up of their flour and steamed roots. However, there is an opinion that it is absolutely not necessary to fatten the guinea fowls, since by the age of 4 months they themselves fatten up meat well, become fatty, suitable for slaughter.

Slaughter and processing of carcasses should be carried out in the same way as for chickens.

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Today, it is not uncommon to find in private farmsteads not only the chickens and geese that are familiar to us, but also guinea fowls. These birds are distinguished by a kind, curious character and attractive appearance. Refers to meat and egg orientation. Many people who decide to acquire such birds are wondering what to feed the guinea fowl.

How to feed guinea fowl at home

Food

Food for guinea fowls in the wild is very diverse. In the spring, the basis of the diet is protein food: beetles and worms. Later, with the appearance of greenery, the diet is expanded with berries and all kinds of vegetation, supplemented by small mice and lizards. How to feed guinea fowl at home, every novice poultry breeder should know.

Feeding guinea fowls at home is mainly done with grain mixtures. Many farmers feed guinea fowl in the same way as chicken. Feeding guinea fowls in March looks like this:

• oats - 20 g;
• barley seed - 20 g;
• crushed corn kernels - 20 g;
• wheat cake - 20 g;
• fish or meat and bone dust - 5 g;
• root vegetables - 20 g;
• dried herb - 25 g;
• needles - 15 g;
• yeast and fish oil - 3 g each;
• salt - 0.3 g

Successful maintenance depends on how comfortable the conditions are for the breeder. Feeding adult guinea fowls should also be as close to natural as possible. In the wild, the bird eats a large amount of greenery, so at home they are injected with needles, root crops and hay from clover. The body of the guinea fowl needs a sufficient amount of carotene, which is also obtained from pine needles at home in winter. Care and feeding of guinea fowls during puberty, and, accordingly, the beginning of egg-laying will need to be diversified and enriched with minerals. How much food to feed also depends on the season.

During the onset of active egg-laying, feed for guinea fowls is enriched with calcium. Chalk, fish dust, green food are introduced. In April-May, the total amount of feed per individual increases by 30 g. The feeding regime for guinea fowls is three times a day. In the morning and at lunchtime, it is preferable to make wet mash, and in the evening to give grain crops.

At the end of each month, flocks are weighed to allow feed adjustments to control obesity.Birds need protein, and in order to kill 2 birds with one stone, they are used to combat garden pests. Guinea fowls are happy to eat the Colorado potato beetle, so if you do not know where to put the pests, you can safely launch guinea fowls into the garden. At home, feeding adult guinea fowls implies a gradual decrease in the amount of feed in the winter and an increase before the start of laying. On average, about 36 kg of grain feed is needed to feed one guinea fowl per year.

Nutrition of offspring

When raising birds, a natural question arises as to how to feed the guinea fowls in the first days of life. Day-old chickens are fed with chopped hard-boiled chicken eggs and bread soaked in milk. Guinea fowl chicks are fed three times a day. If the poultry house is located near the grazing area, it will not be difficult for the princes to get themselves green food on their own, otherwise they will have to get greens for them.

At the age from 1 day to 4 months, the diet of the guinea fowl includes:

• wheat cake;
• ground corn;
• peeled oat flour;
• Wheat flour;
• millet seed;
• barley flour;
• fish dust.

Composition of wet mash: boiled egg, sour milk, lettuce, clover hay, yeast.

Feeding for fattening

Four-month-old chicks are fed with flour dough and steamed roots. Provide them free range on the pasture. Some breeders argue that there is no need to feed guinea fowls on purpose, because by 4 months, with appropriate maintenance and feeding, they already have sufficient muscle mass and are ready for slaughter.

Nutrition in the first days of life

In general, raising and feeding small chickens in the first days of life is identical to caring for the guinea fowls. The body of day-old chicks requires more crude proteins, about 24%, so their diet in the first days is enriched with cottage cheese, sour milk and boiled cereals. The older the birds get, the less crude protein they need. Compared to small chickens, guinea fowls need much more green fodder. In the diet of birds, chalk, crushed shellfish must be present. To replenish calcium, you need to give crushed eggshells that have undergone preliminary heat treatment.

Nutrition and disease

A properly composed diet is the key to good immunity, so the answer to the question of how to feed any guinea fowl is as follows: by introducing exceptionally balanced feed. The body's resistance of guinea fowls is quite high, however, they often undergo diseases associated with an excess or lack of protein in the diet.

For all the simplicity in food, guinea fowls do not like fishmeal and barley, but these products must be given without fail so that the birds receive adequate nutrition. Gastrointestinal diseases in poultry are caused by excessive moisture and hypothermia. During the mating season, birds should be given wet mash with the addition of yeast and a manganese solution as a drink.

Guinea fowl / Keeping, feeding, breeding / Pros and cons of guinea fowls

Keeping guinea fowl. Farm Volozhanin

Guinea fowls and their nutritional needs

Guinea fowl eats a variety of foods in the wild. When bred in captivity, she is not particularly picky in nutrition and maintenance. The metabolic processes in these birds are much faster than in other birds. The king bird is happy to eat crushed corn with wheat cake. River sand, crushed shells should be poured into separate boxes. The garden plots are full of insects in the summer. Guinea fowls are happy to eat the Colorado potato beetle, and they do not damage the potato tops and do not break the beds. Even frogs or field mice can become prey of birds. In late summer - early autumn, you can feed the guinea fowl with melons and gourds. Such a dessert will have a feathered taste.

In winter, clover needles and hay are introduced into the diet.How to feed day-old guinea fowl chicks? The same as small chickens. On the first day, after drying, the chicks feed on a hard-boiled crushed egg. Also, sour milk and cottage cheese are introduced into the diet, then lettuce greens are gradually added and all sorts of important mashings are made, over time they are transferred to compound feed for broiler chickens.

From 4 months, free-range feeding begins with dough. The dough is made from peeled oatmeal or wheat flour and boiled vegetables. To control the fat content of the offspring, the livestock is weighed every month. For chickens to run well and produce good quality chickens, there must be enough calcium in the diet. It is advisable to introduce such products as boiled, chopped eggshells, chalk, meat and bone meal.

Final part

Now you know how to feed young guinea fowls. Proper balanced nutrition is the key to good health of the birds. Lack or excess of protein can cause illness. With an excess of protein, feather loss, peeling of the skin is observed.

Dampness and cold can provoke digestive problems in birds, therefore, to maintain immunity, they are given moist mash with the addition of yeast. In general, feeding guinea fowls is not difficult.

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