Broiler guinea fowls are popular birds appreciated by home-bred farmers. A feature of the breed is its unpretentiousness, minimal feed consumption, great benefits. Breeding poultry brings not only benefits from sales, but also provides an opportunity to obtain egg and meat products for personal consumption.
Origin and appearance features
Broiler guinea fowls bred in France. The breeders wanted to get animals with high meat qualities. They managed to breed a bird weighing up to 4 kilograms. At the same time, the breed combines excellent egg production rates.
The animal is characterized by a large, massive oval body. The growth of an adult is about 50 cm. The gait of the broiler guinea fowl is important, proud. It has a wide and convex chest, a small tail directed downwards. The chest keel is weakly expressed. The bird has gray legs, they have no plumage. On a thin elongated neck there is a small, rounded head with a dark bony outgrowth and scarlet earrings.
Broiler guinea fowl has blue plumage on the neck. The main color is gray-mottled or pearl. Has a dense plumage. There are individuals with darker shades of gray.
Advantages and disadvantages
Positive characteristics of broiler guinea fowl:
- Breeding of broiler birds is not as popular as raising chickens, which makes it profitable to engage in such a business due to the lack of competitors.
- Broiler meat contains easily digestible protein, a minimum amount of water and fat. There is also no cholesterol. The meat with excellent taste, is a dietary product, does not lose taste during heat treatment.
- Because birds feed on worms, slugs and other harmful insects, vegetation will be protected from parasites.
- Guinea fowl egg products contain B vitamins, vitamin A and D3. This is much more than in ordinary chicken eggs. When eating broiler eggs, an allergic reaction does not occur, which allows the product to be used for baby food.
- Guinea fowl broilers are highly resistant to many infectious diseases.
- Bird feathers are used for the manufacture of various things, therefore it is no less profitable to breed broilers for the sale of this product.
- A distinctive feature of guinea fowls is their friendly nature. For this reason, it is permissible to keep birds with other breeds.
- Broilers do not require special living conditions, they are not able to understand feed.
Although guinea fowls have many advantages, they have no less negative qualities:
- To maintain performance, you will need to provide good lighting in the chicken coop.
- Due to the fact that birds are shy and have a restless temperament, they can make noise at the sight of potential danger.
- The birds are too cowardly, which negatively affects their egg production.
- Birds do not tend to lay eggs in one place and hatch. Because of this, you have to give eggs to chickens for incubation or raise chicks artificially using an incubator.
- Guinea fowls love to fly. Tall and sturdy fencing or wing clipping is essential.
Varieties
There are several varieties of broiler guinea fowls, bred by crossing individuals of different birds. Some of these species are especially popular in Russia. Experts note the prevalence of such varieties of broiler guinea fowl:
- Gray speckled guinea fowl. The name was derived from the characteristic color. This variety is also called French.
- Blue breed. It is distinguished by increased resistance to many diseases, including leukemia. This is due to the low viability of birds.
- Zagorsk broiler. Such a bird has a white breast. They managed to get the birds after crossing with chicken representatives. They have fluffy and loose plumage.
- Siberian White Guinea Fowl. Differs in endurance. But the breed is bred extremely rarely. The reason for this is low productivity.
- Cream. The rarest guinea fowl species. The birds have a gray head, which significantly distinguishes them from other species. Among other species, these birds give the smallest amount of egg production per year. Moreover, they are small in size, which is why it makes no sense to engage in breeding.
Each of the breeds, in addition to external characteristics, also differ in other features. Some guinea fowls are prone to diseases such as leukemia, while others are resistant to it. In some species, infectious diseases usually appear, the rest rarely encounter them and carry the disease without complications.
The smaller the bird, the more anxious it behaves. Many species of guinea fowl are not picky about the type of feed that farmers feed them. Depending on the variety, the palatability of meat and egg products may vary.
French guinea fowl
The most famous guinea fowl in Russia is the French (gray-speckled) broiler variety. She is easily recognized by the characteristic color of plumage. The poultry is popular with chicken farmers. A distinctive feature is overall dimensions, an oval large body, an elongated head without feathers.
In addition, French guinea fowl have a bluish horn formation next to the beak. The extended neck makes the bird look like a turkey. The bird has flying qualities, due to the considerable muscularity of the wings. The back is slightly inclined to the tail, lowered to the ground.
The gray-speckled guinea fowl has a gray shade of feathers with white blotches, located chaotically throughout the body. The neck is slightly bluish. Guinea fowl of this species is called the royal bird, the reason for which is a solid body weight.
The bird is famous not only for its excellent egg production, but also for its good meat performance. That is why farmers prefer to breed such chickens, which allows them to get good benefits from selling eggs and meat carcasses.
Productivity indicators
Each variety of broiler guinea fowl has various productive indicators:
Variety | Weight of an adult (average), kg | The number of eggs per year, in pieces |
Gray-speckled (French) | 3,0-3,5 | 140 |
Volzhskaya | 2,0 | 110 |
Blue | 2,5 | 150 |
Cream | 1,7 | up to 100 |
Siberian | 2,0 | 150 |
Zagorskaya | 1,8-2,0 | 130 |
Guinea fowl egg is characterized by dietary properties and many useful elements. During the heat treatment, the meat acquires a light shade. Possesses high taste.
Broiler maintenance
Guinea fowl are considered unpretentious birds in nutrition and maintenance. They are able to provide for themselves, eating pasture. It is imperative for the farmer to feed the birds high-calorie food with a lot of minerals. In the wild, birds live in undergrowth and bushes, consuming berries, insects, vegetation, seeds.
Birds are not inclined to harm the beds, because they do not loosen the soil in search of food, they are beneficial by collecting pests. A feature of the French cross is aggressiveness towards strangers.
How to equip a poultry house?
Wild guinea fowls live mainly in Africa in a very hot climate, but they can perfectly tolerate low temperatures.
The poultry house is equipped in compliance with some rules:
- Construction on the sunny side. The building must be protected from northerly winds. Install windows, their area should not exceed 10% of the total area of the walls. Birds love the sun, bask in its rays. It is better to install a chicken coop in the part where the windows will face the south side.
- Lighting. Birds of the slopes lay eggs in the afternoon, which is why they need artificial lighting in the winter.
- Warming of the room. By protecting the building from drafts, it will be possible to reduce the likelihood of bird disease. The air temperature in the house should be no more than 15 degrees Celsius on the mark. They also take care of the availability of good ventilation.
- Perches and nests. Perches are set at a height of about 40-50 cm above the floor. There is one nest for 6-8 females. The size of the nests is 40x30x30 cm. It is advisable to install them in places where the sun does not fall. Eggs are collected only when the hens are absent from the house, but a few eggs are left.
- Feeders. There is 1 feeder for 5-6 chickens. It is filled with food so that it does not crumble. It is better to make oblong feeders - the birds will not interfere with each other.
- Litter. It is made from straw, sand, peat, sawdust. The thickness should be about 20 cm. Be sure to change the litter at least once a month.
It is imperative to glaze the windows and tighten them with a metal mesh - so chickens will not try to fly out the window, which can lead to their injuries.
Bird care rules
Parasites, droppings, helminths and other pathogens often become the cause of the disease in chickens. Because of this, the following conditions must be met:
- clean the poultry house of droppings at least once every six months;
- disinfect the chicken coop from parasites once every 6 months;
- carry out general cleaning (disinfection of perches, walls, etc.) at least once a year;
- wash drinkers and feeders once a week.
Handle and clean nests and implements outdoors. Treat metal surfaces with a gas burner, and walls with lime mortar. Perches need to be painted over, drinking bowls and feeders should be disinfected with a solution of soda with calcium and water. With complex disinfection with modern means, it will be possible to prevent fungal, viral and infectious diseases.
Walking area
For walking the birds provide a covered yard - they pull the net around the perimeter, be sure to cover it with a roof. There is at least 2 square meters of area per bird. The floor is covered with sawdust, straw and hay litter. So birds are released for walking even in winter time or in the rain. The height of the mesh should be 2-2.5 meters.
Shrubs, tall grass should be present on the territory. Birds in the bushes not only rest, but also equip nests. Animals like the lighted area.
Diet
The diet should contain dry cereal mixtures, food waste. Birds are fed with industrial compound feed, herbs, grain mash.
Dry cereal mixtures may include barley, corn, oats, wheat, millet. For 1 bird, 200 grams of feed per day. When keeping chickens in cages, proteins of animal origin, meat and bone meal, grass meal must be present in the diet. In such conditions, the birds are fed 4 times a day. Additionally, the menu includes salt, chalk, shells to replenish the diet with minerals. Separately, gravel is poured into the feeder.
For adult broilers
It is optimal to feed adults by combining different feeding methods. If the birds do not go out for a walk, they are fed 4 times a day. When kept with a walk, it is enough to feed the birds three times a day. On the run, when the grass grows abundantly and insects appear, the guinea fowl replenishes its daily diet by 50%.
The following components should be present in the diet of adult birds:
- vitamins, chalk, fish meal, yeast - 5%;
- sunflower cake - 5%;
- soybeans - 10%;
- peas - 10-15%;
- barley - 15%;
- wheat - 25-30%.
During the laying period, be sure to feed the birds with fishmeal and grain - these ingredients help to supply the body with important elements. Additionally, the diet includes shells, grain, chalk. Wet mixers need to be prepared on whey, which contributes to the enrichment of animal protein nutrition.
For little chicks
Chicks, depending on the stage of development, are fed according to a certain scheme:
- In the period up to 1 month, it is recommended to feed the guinea fowl with industrial compound feed.
- Daily chickens are fed boiled, finely chopped eggs and cottage cheese. The feed rate is 10-12 grams, water - 3 milliliters. On the first day, chicks need little feed, but it should be high in calories.
- In the first week, babies are fed with Prestart compound feed, which contains soy, fishmeal, corn, wheat, vitamins and minerals - all these substances are necessary for growth and weight gain. The composition also contains coccidiostatics and antibacterial antibiotics - they are able to protect the baby from infectious diseases. Chicks are fed with this food up to 10 days of age, giving 15-35 grams per day.
- From 10 to 20 days from birth they are given “Start” food - 40-75 grams per day. The food helps to strengthen the chick's immunity and the development of the skeleton. When feeding babies with food, it is necessary to additionally give them a boiled egg and cottage cheese, fresh greens. Sprouted grain in the diet will not hurt either - 10 grams per 1 chick.
Breeding Features
Broiler guinea fowl is considered a poor brood hen, the reason for this is its timidity and arousal. Its eggs are laid on other hens or in an incubator. It is better for females to be several months younger than males. The ratio of the number of females to males is approximately 5 to 1.
Birds mate after a long walk indoors, but this happens extremely rarely. Fertilized laying eggs are laid for 3 weeks after mating. Eggs are required to be collected in the morning, folding with sharp ends down; before incubation, store for no more than 2 weeks. Eggs weighing 45 grams are suitable for incubation, they are checked for the presence of an embryo, and after 4 weeks, small chickens are obtained.
On the first day, the chicks eat poorly, sometimes they can even just scatter food. A few days later they are fed a mixture of cereals (oat, barley, corn, wheat) with milk powder. On the 5th day after birth, shells or small gravel are given, then they are already transferred to wet mash with greens.
Incubation of eggs
If you provide the guinea fowl with optimal conditions, it can be carried 6 months a year. While maintaining a constant temperature and daylight hours, this period can be extended to 9 months. To obtain fertilized eggs, bird families are kept, where there are 5 females for 1 male.
The selection of material for laying in an incubator is an important stage. Preparation involves enhanced feeding of females. This is done in 3 weeks. The diet of birds should consist of a mash, which contains cottage cheese, meat waste, and finely chopped fish. The mash is kneaded in whey or sour milk.
Selection of eggs
Eggs with a clean shell, smooth surface, no defects and damage, and regular shape are selected for setting. Dirty eggs are unsuitable for incubation, as the dirt will break the shell and clog the pores - the chicks will not be able to breathe and develop normally.
Laying eggs
The incubator is installed in a room where the temperature is not higher than 18 degrees Celsius. Eggs are preliminarily brought into this room for a couple of hours, which contributes to adaptation and warming. Experienced farmers recommend treating the shell with a solution of potassium permanganate. The integrity is checked with an ovoscope.
The incubator is warmed up to a temperature of 38 degrees 48 hours before laying, and disinfected. Be sure to check that it works correctly.
In the incubator, the eggs are loaded in a horizontal position in the case of using a model with a manual revolution. If an automatic flip incubator is used, the bookmark is carried out with the blunt end up.
Control and mode
Guinea fowls require a certain incubation regime. Embryos are considered quite demanding in terms of conditions. To implement the successful withdrawal of guinea fowl in an incubator, it is recommended to follow this regimen:
- 1-7 day - temperature 38-38.2 degrees, humidity - 70%, turns - 4 times a day;
- 8-25 day - temperature 37.8 degrees, humidity - 60%, turns - 4-6 times a day;
- 26-28 day - temperature 37.5 degrees, humidity - 85-90%.
From 15 to 25 days, it is required to cool the eggs for 15-20 minutes twice a day. With a manual turning system, eggs must be turned at least 5 times a day.
Young growth care
Young chicks need to provide a temperature regime. If they are in a room with cold air, the chicks will begin to gather in small groups, which can lead to strangulation of the health of some individuals. Fatalities can also occur if the chicken coop is wet and damp. Be sure to observe the drinking regime - it is better to give the babies water in limited quantities, which will help prevent drowning of the chicks.
Feed is served in containers. After the birds are 10 days old, it is permissible to feed them with low saucers or small plates. In the future, it is allowed to switch to the same feeding as in ordinary chickens. You can’t feed birds with expired or musty feeds - this can lead not only to poor health, but also death. Considering that birds tend to co-eat, this often leads to the death of most of them.
Be sure to include various greens in the diet of young animals, which supply the body with vitamins. If adults do not need such food, then chicks are simply necessary for better growth. With age, guinea fowl are able to feed on small worms and even snails. When they grow even more - collect Colorado beetles.
Reviews
Broiler guinea fowls respond well. Below are a few reviews from farmers deciding to build a business with these birds.
Andrey, 34 years old, farmer.I have been raising French broiler guinea fowls for 5 years. When the chicks are three months old, their weight reaches about 3 kilograms. The diet contains corn, grass and wheat. My family and I really like the taste of guinea fowl meat, besides, it is tender and dietary. I consider the shyness of guinea fowls a negative moment and the fact that in danger they begin to rush about, scream, make a lot of noise. They are not afraid of me, but at the sight of a stranger they immediately hide.
Valery, 41, a breeder.I managed to bring out the guinea fowl only the second time. The first time he gave eggs for hatchery to hens, because the guinea fowl transferred all the eggs. The second time, it turned out to get 15 babies from 20 eggs. They grew up very beautiful, most of them are males. Unpretentious in nutrition. But they need to be given proper care to keep them from getting sick. I send for slaughter in 3 months. The bird has tasty and tender meat, excellent large eggs.
Igor, 54 years old, a businessman.I started breeding broilers solely for selfish purposes. He wondered which birds are better, and got to Guinea fowl. I like that with minimal expenses, I get excellent profit, which is enough not only for food, but also for the development of my business. In general, the birds are calm, but shy. But the fact that laying hens give more than 250 eggs a year is a huge plus.
Hide
Add your review
Broiler guinea fowls are profitable birds that have many positive aspects. When breeding, it is advantageous to give preference to gray-speckled (French) guinea fowls, because they give a greater number of eggs per year, and also gain a good body weight.
Posted by
3
Ukraine. City: Kryvyi Rih
Publications: 110 Comments: 0