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Guinea fowl hen: breeding, meat quality, feeding and egg incubation. Useful advice on the breeding of domestic guinea fowl.
Theredomestic guinea fowl, popularly known asguinea fowl hen, is a bird of African origin, more preciselyEthiopian. Theredomestic guinea fowl orNumidia meleagris, has been bred for a long time in Italy and has adapted well to our territory.
Guinea fowl hen or domestic guinea fowl
This poultry reaches 2 kg in weight, has a typically curved back profile and a plumage characterized by pearling, that is, by small and regular light spots that stand out on the background colors of the feathers.
L'breeding of guinea fowlit is practiced above all for the production of meat, more rarely for its eggs.
Guinea fowl, flavor of meat
The meats are considered to be of high quality: the flavor is close to that of wild meats but the tenderness is typical of domestic farmed meats (chicken, turkey…). The texture and flavor of the meat is greatly affected by the age of slaughter of the animals.
Guinea fowl, breeding and European legislation
Theredomestic guinea fowlit has been repeatedly subject to the regulations of the European Union which, over time, has disciplined its breeding by drawing up guidelines.
The European guidelines define three types of guinea fowl breeding which vary according to the concentration of animals and the number of cycles per year. The breeding of guinea fowl is governed by EEC regulation no. 1538/91 of 5 June 1991 and subsequent amendments and by the decree of 29 July 2004. The guidelines are necessary for companies that want to start a breeding for profit.
For an amateur breeding, the classic good rules apply to ensure the health of the animal.
How to raise pharaoh
Forraise domestic guinea fowlyou need a covered shelter and an open area where you can allow free grazing for the animal. Ideally, you should have a closed 4 × 4 shelter (16 square meters) also obtained from an old disused room. The room should be heated with lamps in the early stages of baby growthpharaohs. In the shelter there must be no lack of installers to ensure the rest of the animals; ideally, the perches should occupy about one third of the area of the room.
Other necessary equipment are: feeders, drinking troughs and a rack for herbs and forages. The grazing area can also be limited by a square mesh net about 120-150 cm high.
The hospitalization room must be equipped with a permanent bedding with a thickness of at least 10 cm of wood chips. The litter must be replaced after 3 breeding cycles.
For a breeding we buy pharaohs of 1 or 2 days of life. You can buy them from hatcheries at great prices. The price of guinea fowl increases if you buy it at a livestock market.
The first two weeks, the little onespharaohsthey must be collected in a hardboard circle with a diameter of about 2 meters and a height of 70-80 cm. Only after the second week is it possible to remove the circle and let the little pharaohs occupy the entire area of the room. The pharaohs are cold and tend to pile up under the heat source (lamp), for this reason, the lamp must occupy 70 - 80 cm of floor.
From 3 - 4 weeks of age, you can introduce the roost. From the 6 - 7 week of life, thePharaohthey can begin to access the external grazing area.
Domestic guinea fowl, feeding
Thereguinea fowl henshould be fed with specific feed based on age.
- In the first month of life, it requires feed for wild chicks with a protein content of 26 - 27 percent.
- From the fourth week of life it is possible to give cut grass and vegetables.
- From the fifth week of life, it is possible to use feed given by a part of crushed corn or mixed grains, that is with corn, wheat, barley and oats.
From the fourth week onwards, cut vegetables and herbs should never be missing from the rack.
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